(Translation)
ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF
FINLAND
TO THE SENATE OF SPAIN ON 2.2.1999
I thank you for your kind and appreciative observations on my
country. Finnish and Spanish parliamentarians have an old
tradition of cooperation and what you have just said showed
convincingly how close and rich in diversity relations between
our countries have become.
Europe has changed markedly in recent decades. The Cold War era
is over and cooperation and integration have gained strength. The
changes have not been painless everywhere, but the trend of
development has been positive overall.
Every country in todays Europe is making decisions through
which it is adjusting to the new circumstances. Finland joined
the European Union four years ago, in January 1995. We are also
determined participants in the NATO Partnership for Peace,
working actively in the Council of Europe and the Organisation
for Security and Cooperation in Europe, preparing to join the
Schengen arrangement and were among the eleven countries that at
the beginning of the year adopted the euro.
All of this is bringing closer relations between my country and
Spain, whose positive attitude to Europe and constructive
approach to cooperation we have learned to appreciate.
The 20th anniversary of the Constitution was recently
celebrated in Spain. Coincidentally, your Constitution Day, 6
December, is also our Independence Day. Spains political
transition to constitutional democracy has been carried through
in an exemplary manner. Your country has flourished also in the
economic sense during that period. Trade between Finland and
Spain has enjoyed record growth in recent years, but I understand
that there is still room for further growth and diversification.
I can tell you that tomorrow, together with a delegation of
senior representatives of Finnish companies, I shall be attending
a business leaders meeting hosted by CEOE, the
Confederation of Spanish Industry and Employers, to discuss
precisely these questions.
We in Finland are marking the 80th anniversary of our
Constitution this year. It is presently being revised and in this
conjunction the changes that our membership of the European Union
have caused in our political system, which has remained stable
for a long time, will be taken into account.
Our democratic traditions are much older than even our
Constitution. Beginning as early as 1362 Finnish representatives
were among the electors of the Swedish King, of whose realm our
country was then the eastern part. Finns sat in Swedens
Riksdag from 1809 to 1917, when Finland was a grand duchy under
the Czar of Russia, we had political autonomy and our own
legislative assembly, the Diet. In 1906, eleven years before we
attained independence, a radical parliamentary reform was carried
through in Finland. We went directly from a Diet composed of
several estates to a unicameral Parliament elected directly by
the people on an equal and universal franchise. In this
conjunction, Finnish women became the first in the world to
obtain full political rights. Indeed, gender equality is an
essential feature of our democracy. At the moment, 67 of the 200
deputies in our Parliament are women. Also Speaker of Parliament
is a woman.
A clear majority of the Finns voted in a referendum to join the
European Union. Opinion polls indicate that if the same
referendum were to be held today, the result would be largely the
same. A referendum on accession was also arranged in the Åland
Islands, which have had a precisely-defined autonomous status
since 1920. The people of Åland decided to join the Union. Thus
we can note that continent-wide integration is possible whilst
still preserving traditions of self-government.
As you know, Finland supports enlargement of the European Union.
In our view, it is important that applicant countries be
supported to enable them to be ready for accession soon.
Membership on the part of the three Baltic States will have the
effect of making the entire Baltic Sea region stronger and more
united. Already now, all of the northern European countries are
participating, on different levels and in varying compositions,
in multilateral cooperation. The European Union is paying
attention to its Northern Dimension for largely the same reasons
that it pursues an effective Mediterranean policy. In
Finlands view, both dimensions are important and
complementary. Here, too, Finland and Spain have shared interests
to attend to.
I am confident that the excellent relations between our
countries, and in which parliamentarians play an essential role,
can be further deepened and that there is a willingness to do so.
I wish you success in your work.