SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF FINLAND,
MR. MARTTI AHTISAARI, AT THE "FINLAND NIGHT"
IN NAGANO, 16.02.1998

It is a great pleasure for me to greet you all here at the Nagano Finland Night. An event like this enables us Finns to return the generous hospitality that we have so amply enjoyed during these Olympic Games. Nagano has shared with us the poetic beauty of its natural surroundings and the friendliness of its people. The exceptional Japanese hospitality has not, of course, come as a surprise to me. On the contrary, I personally cherish warmest memories of my official working visit here in Japan last September.

This time my visit is linked to sports, which are an indispensable element of the Finnish lifestyle and culture. It is the winter sports, for obvious reasons, that have a special place in our hearts. I can assure you that during these two weeks, through TV and other mass media, Nagano and the 1998 Olympic Games will have an overwhelming presence in the living rooms of almost every Finnish household.

There is another good reason for us to pay special attention to the Winter Olympics this year. Only last month the Finnish Olympic Committee sent the International Olympic Committee a Letter of Intent containing the application of Helsinki, the capital city of Finland, together with the Lahti International Ski Centre, to organise the Winter Games in 2006. The Finnish Olympic Committee has agreed with its Norwegian counterpart to hold the Alpine events in Lillehammer. This arrangement is now possible under the revised Olympic rules. The joint venture of Helsinki and Lillehammer will be referred to as "the Nordic Olympic Winter Games", as suggested by President Samaranch.

The Finnish team in Nagano is our biggest ever in the history of the Winter Games. Mika Myllylä and Jani Soininen as well as other members of the team have already given our sports-loving people great moments of joy and pride. I am convinced that they will do their best in the coming days also, as all the athletes here in Nagano are doing.

Dear athletes, I wish you the best of luck with the 1998 Olympic Winter Games.