SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF FINLAND, MR. MARTTI AHTISAARI AT A CEREMONIAL SESSION OF THE PERMANENT COMMISSION OF THE CONGRESS OF MEXICO ON 23.2.1999

Let me begin by thanking you for your kind reception and cordial words about myself and my country. I consider it a great honour to have the opportunity to address your legislature. My gratitude is all the greater because you are welcoming me during the break between the autumn and spring sessions, when all of you ought to be enjoying a well-deserved rest from your legislative work before facing the challenges of the next session.

It gives me great pleasure that the presiding figure in this august body is an old personal friend. In the 1980s I had the pleasure to work together with Mexico’s then UN Ambassador Porfirio Muñoz Ledo laying the groundwork for Namibian independence, which then came to be in 1990. For me that event meant the end of one of the most important and challenging stints of work in my life and the accompanying satisfaction of having been able to play a role in helping the Namibian people to create their own independent state.

Mine is the first state visit by a President of Finland to beautiful and fascinating Mexico. Contacts between our countries have a long history. Finland declared herself an independent republic on 6 December 1917, and Mexico was one of the first Latin American states to recognise us. On 5 February of the same year, the Mexican Revolution gave birth to a new Constitution, the 82^nd anniversary of which you recently celebrated in Guerétaro.

I was greatly impressed by the solemnity and respect that the Mexicans accord this charter of your democracy, a document that remains in force to this day. You, distinguished members of the Federal Congress, have honourable traditions to cherish. Your Constitution provides a solid foundation for your work as you make your own contribution to building a Mexican political, economic and social system capable of responding to the challenges of the new millennium in a way that satisfies your citizens.

Finland and Mexico share a strong will to defend their national sovereignty and territorial integrity. In this respect our countries’ historical experiences follow similar lines. We are also united in the values that we share with regard to promoting democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms, the rule of law and sustainable development.

Your national hero Benito Juárez gave us all - both individuals and nations - a piece of advice that remains valid and obligating when he said: "Respecting the rights of others is peace." I know that these wise words are written on the wall of the session chamber in your legislature to remind lawmakers, the Government and all citizens of the importance of respecting other nations, cultures and opinions.

The strength of our mutual interest in developing our relations is demonstrated by the fact that we concluded a bilateral friendship agreement in 1936, even before we had established diplomatic ties. We shall be celebrating the 50^th anniversary of our diplomatic relations on 11 November this year. Embassies were opened in Mexico City and Helsinki in 1964.

Relations between our countries have been deepening and diversifying in recent years. Trade and economic cooperation provide the framework, and the purpose of this visit is to strengthen it further. We have not yet come even close to making full use of the great potential that our two countries and economies offer. Mexico’s attraction as a trade partner and investment location has greatly increased. That is a result of your country’s rapid economic growth, the elimination of barriers to trade and liberalisation of your foreign trade system, as well as privatisation of your once very powerful state-owned industrial sector.

Mexico is an enticing market with nearly 100 million consumers, and its significance is added to by your being a party to the North American Free Trade Agreement. In the past few years, Finnish companies have established operations in Durango, Reynosa, Monterrey and elsewhere. During this visit I shall have the pleasure of inaugurating two factories that will make telecommunications and electronic equipment. Finland, in turn, offers Mexican companies a dependable trade and cooperation partner as part of a single market with 370 million consumers.

An agreement on reciprocal promotion and protection of investments was signed by Finland and Mexico at the Palacio Nacional yesterday. Together with the agreement on preventing double taxation that has just entered into force, this will increase our companies’ confidence in the other party’s market. I believe that these agreements will help new investments to be made in our countries.

In the international arena, our countries share similar goals and our cooperation is well-established. We are working to reform the structures of the UN and strengthen the world organisation, promote disarmament, defend human rights and combat global threats to the whole of humankind. Finland and Mexico are also working determinedly to promote free trade within the framework of the WTO.

Mexico’s activity is appreciated in the OECD, of which your country was the first in Latin America to become a member.

In helping the developing countries, your country and mine have a joint project, because yesterday an agreement was signed by Finland, Mexico and Guatemala with the aim of improving the living conditions of the indigenous population in border areas of your southern neighbour. We saw a concrete demonstration of your solidarity and close relations with Central American countries last autumn, when Mexico was a major driving force in getting international relief operations under way in the wake of Hurricane Mitch.

The Government of Finland has a very positive attitude to the development of relations between Europe and Mexico. We were the first member state to ratify the framework agreement that was signed by the European Union and Mexico in December 1997 and on the basis of which negotiations for a free-trade agreement are now being conducted. When we hold the EU Presidency for the six months beginning on 1 July this year, we shall do everything in our power - true to our strong basic belief in free trade - to ensure that a comprehensive, balanced agreement satisfying both parties is reached as quickly as possible. I believe this accords with the interests of our industrial sectors.

The European Union is keen to develop its relations with Latin America. In addition to liberalising trade and eliminating barriers to it, our cooperation includes also a wide-ranging political dialogue and cultural exchange. Given the importance of Mexico’s historical, language and cultural ties with Europe, it is natural that reinforcing them is an area of emphasis for your Government.

The first summit meeting between the European Union and Latin American and Caribbean countries will take place in Rio de Janeiro in June. As the current chair of the Rio Group, Mexico has an important role in preparations for this historic gathering. Finland hopes the summit will produce concrete recommendations and guidelines concerning closer relations between Europe and Latin America as well as proposals for tangible projects. The latter could relate to such matters as strengthening the rule of law and human rights and intensifying the battle against poverty and drugs.

It is a great honour for me to visit Mexico’s legislative institution, the position of which has clearly strengthened since your last general election in July 1997. Your country is consistently and with determination executing a transition towards a more even distribution of powers between different state authorities as well as between political parties.

We in Finland have old traditions of democracy and cooperation between parties. In 1906, our legislative institution underwent a radical reform when the Diet comprising several Estates was replaced by a 200-seat unicameral Parliament. The deputies were elected directly by the people through a secret ballot and on a system of proportional representation, with the country divided into constituencies to ensure that various regions were fairly represented.

Under this reform, Finnish women became the first in the world to obtain both the franchise and eligibility to stand as candidates in parliamentary elections. Nineteen of the deputies elected to the first Parliament were women. A third of the members of the present Parliament are women, who have traditionally had an important role also in other fields of work to build and develop our society. The proportion of women in the national workforce in Finland is one of the highest in the world.

Finland became independent on 6 December 1917, having broken away from the Russian Empire as it disintegrated under the strains of the first world war. The sections of our Constitution dealing with our Parliament remained virtually unchanged until the mid-1980s. Since then, the great changes that have taken place in our international environment - not least our accession to membership of the European Union in 1995 - have been reflected also in our legislation and the work of our Parliament.

Under the terms of our accession agreement, some of the legislative power that Finland had earlier exercised independently was transferred to the Union in certain precisely-defined categories of matters, such as agricultural and trade policy. Legislation that is binding on member states can be created by decision of the Union. The national parliaments of member states are not directly represented in EU institutions. But they do oversee and guide the work of the Union through the representatives of their governments that meet in the European Council.

EU membership meant a major change in our Parliament’s work. Many matters that had earlier been purely within the scope of national decision-making now became internal Union affairs. Our trade with the other member states is not foreign trade, but part of the Union’s internal market. That created a need to revise the procedures for dealing with business. A central challenge was to ensure that our Parliament could participate effectively in national-level preparatory handling of matters to be dealt with on the European level. I believe we have succeeded well in that, and our Parliament now has an important position in shaping the policy that Finland pursues in European Union affairs.

A characteristic feature of the political system of independent Finland is that no party has ever gained enough votes to be able to form a majority government on its own. Our governments have always been coalitions that have emerged through negotiations, and their policies have been founded on consensus and cooperation. This has functioned as a force that unites and builds our whole society.

Finland has been a pioneer also in developing the institution of Ombudsman. Indeed, we appointed our Parliamentary Ombudsman 80 years ago, something that only Sweden had done before us. The task of the Ombudsman has remained unchanged for all those decades: to ensure that the actions of authorities and officials are in accordance with law. The European Parliament likewise created the post of Ombudsman a few years ago, and the first incumbent is a Finn. An independent Ombudsman system is an important part of democracy.

There has been a growing exchange of visits between our parliaments in recent years. Mexican parliamentarians have been to Finland to familiarise themselves with, especially, our forestry sector. The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Finnish Parliament, in turn, visited Mexico in 1996. A Mexico friendship group was formed in our Parliament last year. I hope that contacts between our legislatures will become livelier and the dialogue between our legislators more intense. An exchange of views will enrich the discourse in the parliaments of both countries.

I wish you success in your demanding work of championing the rights and interests of the Mexican people as we make the transition to the new millennium.

Many thanks.