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 Africa’s 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 week’s 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 Government’s 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 Africa’s 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 Africa’s renaissance; in other words, linking the continent’s 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 year’s 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 wife’s 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!