SPEECH BY THE
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF FINLAND MARTTI AHTISAARI AT A
LUNCHEON
IN HONOUR OF PRESIDENT NELSON MANDELA OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH
AFRICA
AT THE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE IN HELSINKI ON 15.3.1999
I bid you a warm welcome to our country.
Here in Finland we have had a cold winter with a lot of snow.
Now, your visit is like an omen of spring. You bring a breath of
the new Africa with you.
Today, we Finns have the opportunity to meet a head of state whom
the whole world respects. It is precisely you, Mr. President, who
to us represents the values for which we have ourselves fought.
Our people have achieved freedom, democracy and human rights
after bitter historical experiences.
We admire South Africas ascent - inspired by your personal
example - from an environment of racial oppression and
exploitation to become a pioneer of equality and justice. We are
also on your side in your continuing struggle against poverty,
intolerance and violence.
In just over two months time you will be retiring from the
duties of head of state that you assumed five years ago. I had
the honour to be present in the Union Building in Pretoria on
that historic occasion when you were sworn in as the first
President of South Africa to have been chosen in democratic
elections. The presence of the Finnish head of state at the
ceremony was a logical continuation of the policy that we had
been pursuing in international contexts to bring an end to
apartheid and colonial rule.
Our policy was largely the result of broad public opinion in
Finland. Some of the influential persons and activists who helped
mould that public opinion are here with us now. Together with
representatives from the other Nordic countries and liberation
movements in southern Africa, those citizens organised a
conference to show solidarity with the prisoners on Robben
Island. I had the honour to be the patron of the conference.
Since Finland became a member of the European Union, we have been
able to advance into a new phase in building up our relations. An
agreement between the EU and South Africa providing for
cooperation in the economic, commercial, scientific and
technological sectors has been almost ready to sign for a
painfully long period. The final deadline for completing the
agreement is the EU summit in Berlin in a weeks time.
The positive message that Europe can convey both to you, Mr.
President, and to Africa more broadly is that cooperation between
our continents can finally be founded on equality and
partnership. We now have the opportunity to honour the solemn
promises that we have made and harness the resources of South
Africa to serve your entire continent.
Among the matters that you mentioned when you recently reported
to Parliament on your Governments achievements during the
past parliamentary term were the challenges with which
globalisation is confronting South Africa and your ideas as to
how global institutions can be reformed in a way that mitigates
some of the negative phenomena accompanying globalisation. The
South African economy is healthy in its fundamentals, but it too
has had to suffer from the fickle movements of capital.
That experience is not unknown to Finland, either. Both countries
have chosen the road of integration to defend their interests
against currency speculations and striving for short-term gain.
Also in this respect, the free-trade agreement between the
European Union and the Republic of South Africa will have a
regional stabilising effect.
You, Mr. President, have also wanted to see beyond integration
goals in your efforts to champion the cause of Africas
poorest countries. At the recent economic conference in Davos,
you expressed your wish to promote the re-birth and development
of Africa. You said that the new generation of African leaders
knew that countries must themselves accept responsibility for
their own destinies. This must be the main content of
Africas renaissance; in other words, linking the
continents economies into the global one. In order to be
able to take part in this process, the African economies will
have to industrialise and reform themselves.
The African renaissance of which you speak is a vision, towards
which also we Europeans should strive through political dialogue.
An opportunity for that will present itself at the latest in a
years time, when a summit conference between the European
Union and Africa is due to take place. Thus preparations for this
meeting will be made mainly during the period when Finland holds
the EU Presidency. Our intention is to ensure that it is not a
one-off event, but rather that it evolves into a comprehensive
political process between our continents. Striving for a
community of values is the key to achieving the political accord
that will make it possible to tackle the conflicts that are
currently ripping cooperation in southern Africa apart.
A second important Africa-related theme will likewise have to be
dealt with during the Finnish Presidency: renewal of the Lomé
Convention. The intention with this is to achieve broader
commercial and development-related cooperation between the
European Union and the poorest countries in Africa, the Caribbean
and Asia. We hope we will be able to have a constructive dialogue
on Lomé with South Africa; after all, your country is our
biggest trade partner in the whole continent.
You are one of the towering figures of our times. In a century
filled with blood and grief, you have given millions of people
faith in a better future. You have shown through your personal
example what the words justice, reconciliation and forgiveness
can mean in the life of one person, and also in the life of a
whole nation. The rest of us have a lot to learn from that.
I am proud that we have the opportunity to be your hosts and can
enjoy the pleasure of your illustrious personality. I raise my
glass to your and your wifes good health, Mr. President,
and to the success of our countries.
Let this be a toast to the man of the century and to the new
millennium!