SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF FINLAND, MR. MARTTI
AHTISAARI
AT THE OPENING OF THE 1999 ANNUAL SESSION OF PARLIAMENT ON
31.3.1999
The 25th Parliament of Finland has been chosen. I
congratulate all of you on your election.
One of the first tasks of the new Parliament will be to help
bring about a majority Government capable of functioning
effectively. That Government has a demanding field of work before
it. Finlands position as a member of the European Union and
particularly our Presidency in the second semester of this year
present special demands.
This Parliament will be the first of the new millennium. We must
ask ourselves what kinds of reforms will best equip us to succeed
in the future.
This decade has been one of struggle against recession. Now we
have put in place the preconditions for concentrating on reforms
that will strengthen the foundation of Finnish society.
To a growing degree, it is through cooperation that we must seek
answers to the challenges of the future. That is because those
challenges are largely shared: globalisation, competitiveness and
unemployment. The Euro is creating stability in the Finnish
economy. Our domestic market has expanded to encompass the
territory of the Union.
So that employment and prosperity can be safeguarded, Finland
must be a country that attracts new production and investment. In
addition to capital, also labour is moving across borders. It is,
however, important that specifically our own country, Finland, is
seen as a good environment in which to operate and that people
have the opportunity to work in their own country.
Our future depends above all on our having enough people who are
enterprising and create jobs. It is essential from the
perspective of the economy that a greater number of rapidly
growing and internationalising companies than we now have be
created in this country.
There must be a determined effort to improve the employment
situation. Structural unemployment must be tackled more
vigorously. Attitudes must be made positive towards ageing
members of the labour force and workers abilities must be
constantly developed. The knowledge and skills of ageing
employees must be kept up to date. Long periods of unemployment
must not be allowed to happen, because it is especially difficult
to return to working life after them.
The prerequisites for working longer are there, because the
health of the ageing segments of the population is improving.
Incentives to remain longer in the workforce must be created.
Now, things that are meant to be incentives often have the
opposite effect.
Changes in working life are called for in other respects, too. It
is important to have a good and fair atmosphere at workplaces.
Burnout is a real problem. Non-intervention in matters is not
politeness when a colleague needs support. Those of our
neighbours who are struggling with problems must not be left to
fend for themselves.
The adequacy of public funds and their allocation must always be
carefully weighed. If we have to make economies, we must at the
same time give prudent attention to ensuring that the foundation
of our welfare society is taken care of.
The Finns support their welfare society.
Parliament must accept responsibility for the future over the
long term. This presupposes tackling problems in a way that
prevents them from tumbling down around our ears. The horizon in
the work of Parliament must be further away than four years. You
must be able to see long beyond one term.
The past fifteen years have seen a marked increase in the amount
that Finland spends on research and development. This year, our
inputs into this sector, which creates new high-level know-how,
will be in excess of three per cent of gross domestic product. We
have been able to see that this investment has paid off in many
ways. Yet unemployment has been falling more slowly than we had
hoped and believed. We can also sense and see around us a great
concern that inequality, be it between regions or people, is on
the increase.
A prerequisite for the wellbeing of our nation is that as many
citizens as possible have an opportunity to work and are eager to
do so. Only that way can we properly look after those of our
citizens who need support in different stages of their lives.
We can be proud of our educational standard. Yet we must take
care that pride does not go before a fall. Developing our school
and university systems is a constant challenge.
Have we, for example, defined higher learning too narrowly? Could
it not have a broader compass than the present one, taking in
also manual skills, culture, services or special agricultural
production? Could we not, for example, make more use of things
like electronic commerce to serve those regions that have
remained beyond the effective "coverage area" of our
society? Could we develop a system that would link universities,
polytechnics and research institutes in efforts to help also
those small companies that operate closer to everyday life? The
good experience that the work of the Technology Development
Centre has provided could, in my view, be put to more extensive
use in serving our nation.
Manual skills, culture, services and agriculture are distributed
more evenly between the various parts of the country than high
technology. By revitalising small companies in the regions, jobs
could be created more comprehensively and the strengths of
different regions developed. Above all, I consider it important
to demonstrate respect for these sectors through concrete
measures, thereby creating faith in the future and livelihoods in
a larger geographical area than at present.
The events of recent weeks in the Balkans cast a shadow over the
international situation. They show how serious the shortcomings
of the present-day European security system are. It can be
founded only on functioning and open democracies.
The policy of the Yugoslav leader Milosevic in Kosovo is a
blatant violation of human rights, cooperation and democracy.
Ruthless violence against the civilian population of ones
own country can not be permitted in todays Europe. The
Finnish Government hopes that peace will be restored. For that,
President Milosevic must cease violence in Kosovo and choose
peace. The Finnish Government announced yesterday that it was
providing humanitarian aid to alleviate the refugee problem.
Finland is prepared to participate in ensuring peace and in the
reconstruction of Kosovo.
The economic and social situation in Russia is difficult. Russia
is seeking her way.
Despite these difficulties, the security situation in northern
Europe has remained stable. The Baltic Sea region is becoming a
new European cooperation area. In this, the Baltic States
preparations for EU membership are of central importance.
Within the European Union, Finland has been
trying to strengthen cooperation between the Union and Russia.
One aspect of this is our project to develop the EUs
Northern Dimension, which has gained wide support. Developments
in Russia will be centrally to the fore during the Finnish
Presidency. We do not want Europe to close in on itself; instead,
through the EU, we are trying to build cooperation everywhere and
in all directions. The European Union is Russias most
important cooperation partner.
The European Commission tendered its resignation after it
had come in for severe criticism relating to administrative
shortcomings. Since it was the first resignation of its kind in
the many decades that European integration has been in process,
it is of great significance as a matter of principle.
The various institutions of the European Union have many features
that reflect an outmoded culture of administration and inadequate
openness. There is now an opportunity to create an open and
effective administration meeting the demands characteristic of
the Nordic countries. That will also promote enlargement of the
Union.
The agreement on the appointment of the new President of the
Commission and the Agenda 2000 settlement are important from the
perspective of our own EU Presidency. Nevertheless, many matters
will remain to be dealt with during our time at the helm. We must
begin implementing the Amsterdam Treaty and Agenda 2000. We must
set about preparing for the institutional reforms that will make
enlargement possible. Thus we must determinedly push on with
enlargement. What is involved is a historic opportunity, which
must not be spoiled.
Thus our spell in the Presidency will be demanding, and it is a
real challenge for us. But we are prepared for it.
Quite rightly, a debate on the state of political democracy took
place during the recent election campaign. Let this assessment
continue. Writing in his capacity as Readers Editor in the
newspaper Keskisuomalainen on 26.3.1999, Kalevi Kivistö made a
valuable contribution. I shall quote him:
"If citizens do not trust either politicians or journalists,
democracy can run into a crisis. The less trust there is in these
pillars of the democratic system, the more room is created for
the kinds of speakers of the truth that historical
experience urges us to beware of. For that reason, restoring
trust in both politics and the media is a shared challenge and
task for both. They may have reservations about each other, but
they must not be indifferent to democracy."
Kivistö has summed up our shared challenge well.
In building a good society, it is not often the case that the way
in which money is spent and power exercised is all that is
involved. There is also a need for a tolerant and encouraging
atmosphere and an attitude of respect for others.
One of the central challenges in the millennium that is about to
begin will be that of making the transition to a multicultural
Finland. From now on, growing numbers of Finns whose mother
tongue is not Finnish or whose roots are not in Finland will be
building their lives in this country.
Fortunately, no real xenophobia has developed in Finland, even
though our immigrant population grew just during those years when
the country was suffering a difficult recession. However, we
should constantly work to encourage tolerance in our own society.
Studies show that negative attitudes towards alien religions have
been on the increase. This is a feature that gives cause for
concern. A dialogue between religions and cultures must be
promoted.
I wish the new Parliament success in its work and declare the
1999 session open.