NEW YEAR'S SPEECH BY THE
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF FINLAND 1.1.1999
International comparisons project
a positive picture of the state of our country. Especially in
surveys measuring quality of life, we rank among the highest in
the world league. The figures indicating the state of our economy
are exceptionally positive. In the light of those numbers, we
have recovered astonishingly well from the economic plight in
which we found ourselves in the beginning of the decade.
These positive observations do not, however, tell the whole
truth.
In the foreword to the report of the "Hunger Group"
committee that he chaired, Bishop Eero Huovinen of Helsinki notes
the following:
"More and more Finns have been falling, for a variety of
reasons, through societys safety nets. People have great
difficulty in obtaining a livelihood and are grappling with other
problems that make it harder for them to cope with everyday life.
-- Increased poverty has manifested itself even in the form of
outright hunger. -- Despite the countrys economic growth,
the need for help has further increased."
We are paying an intangible bill for the recession, but we must
also do some soul-searching about our values. A time of
transition is a tough challenge for everyone. There are no simple
answers, but solutions must be sought.
There is a special need now to be concerned about young people.
What do these terrible acts of violence tell us? Why are the
amounts of intoxicants and drugs being used constantly
increasing?
I have had discussions in several conjunctions with teachers and
other educators. In their everyday work they see on a practical
level all of the problems that children and young adults have to
suffer.
It is too easy to emphasise the responsibility of the authorities
and educators outside the family. It often feels difficult to say
that the greatest responsibility lies with childrens
parents and no one can transfer it away from them. If parents do
not support their childrens development, encourage them and
also set limits for them, the work that other educators do will
mainly consist of dealing with symptoms. Children need the
support of their parents and of their educators for a long time.
Bringing up children requires a genuine presence; it is not
distance work.
In bringing up young people fairness and responsibility must be
brought onto the practical level. Trial programmes in Finland and
abroad have shown that the instance of malicious damage has been
reduced when offenders have to expiate their wrongdoing. Broken
windows are repaired and graffiti painted over. In this way
people see, through their own deeds, the difference between right
and wrong.
In Finland as elsewhere, the world of values has turned in a
clearly more selfish and harder direction. Freedom changes into
unscrupulousness when people lack the humility and commitment to
serve their own community. A good society is born of the love for
ones neighbour that one feels in everyday life. As Eino
Leino wrote in one of his poems:
"Kindness does not come shouting;
it moves softly whispering."
Many painful decisions have had to be made in economic policy
during this decade. Our economy is now in better shape than in
the cases of many other countries that have put off their
difficult decisions.
However, the purpose of economic policy is to safeguard the
wellbeing of citizens, not just the achievement of certain
numerical values in international comparisons. It is the results
achieved in the battle against unemployment that reveal whether
economic policy has been successful.
The development has been largely positive. New jobs have been
created and our unemployment rate is now the same as the European
Union average. Yet we cannot be satisfied with the overall
situation. There are groups for whom things are still not going
well. They include the elderly long-term jobless and unemployed
single parents.
Many a 50-year-old who is still well-capable of work is
threatened with exclusion from the labour market. Companies are
reluctant to engage employees of a more mature age. It often
feels that this segment of the population is regarded as some
kind of ballast. That they are not. They are a resource. We need
everyones work input.
In this decade, unemployment has hit single parents a lot harder
than the rest of the population. Many of them become the target
of discrimination in the labour market because they cannot be as
flexible as others about working time and because they must stay
home from work more often due to their children falling ill.
These problems call for special measures.
There were setbacks in the international community during the
year just ended. Dark clouds gathered over the world economy. The
broadly-based cooperation that has been built up over a decade is
being put to the test. Our goal must be to strengthen the role of
the United Nations in resolving crises. A coherent security
order, one that neither divides nor differentiates, must be
created in Europe. In our continent, stability essentially
shadows the development of the European Union.
Finlands international position is now stronger than ever
in our history. Membership of the European Union is a central
factor in this.
The solutions that we have made in the sector of security policy
have proved correct and won the broad support of citizens.
The economic and political situation in our neighbouring country
Russia has become more difficult in the past year. Persons who
have been active in defence of democracy and minorities have
become targets of violence. These things prompt many questions.
Data on the countrys fundamental economic and social
structures are not encouraging. The majority of the
countrys inhabitants are struggling for their daily
livelihood.
Russia faces a long and painful period of reforms. It is no
longer enough merely to treat symptoms; attention must be focused
on the real causes of problems.
Finland and other countries can only support the launch of this
effort, but it is the Russians themselves who will have to do the
actual work. For our neighbouring country to be able to institute
reforms and maintain enough internal cohesion, cross-border
contacts on the level of the citizen are very important.
Companies, non-governmental organisations, authorities and
educational institutions ought to begin considering how they
could offer a greater number of young people from our
neighbouring country the opportunity to gain practical experience
of how democracy works. Here, there is a task for the European
Union as a whole.
Today, Finland enters the euro area together with ten other
member states of the European Union. The economic stability that
this creates has already benefited our country. Our experiences
in the early years of this decade showed us what an unstable
currency meant for mortgage-holders and small businesses.
Another challenge facing the European Union is enlargement.
History has taught Finland the bitter lesson of what drawing
lines of division in Europe means. It is important that no new
borderlines, either economic or political, are drawn in our
continent. The emergence of new markets in our immediate
geographical vicinity will strengthen also our economy. This,
too, is an argument in favour of enlarging the European Union.
Finland will hold the Presidency of the European Union for the
latter half of this year. We can anticipate a stint of work that
will be demanding in many ways.
The significant cooperation projects that we have proposed and
will take place under the auspices of the EU will now have an
important task to fulfil.
In a democratic society, power resides with citizens, who express
their will through the ballot box. A high turn-out at election
time is a characteristic feature of a well-functioning democracy.
I hope that every Finnish citizen of voting age will exercise
this fundamental right in the forthcoming elections.
I wish all citizens a good New Year and the blessing of God.