SPEECH BY PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC MARTTI AHTISAARI AT A DINNER HOSTED BY PRESIDENT LEONID KUCHMA OF UKRAINE IN YALTA ON 10.9.1999

I am glad to have been able to come to Yalta. My congratulations to the organisers for their success in bringing about this important event.

Regional cooperation in the new Europe has often meant re-establishing historical ties that had been severed. Cooperation in the Baltic Sea region is a good example of this. The same applies to the Black Sea, where flows of people and goods have increased many-fold. But we are still waiting for a second coming of "the Varangians’ route to the Greeks". This is how old Slavic manuscripts describe the link between the Baltic and the Black seas, the artery along which traffic flowed between the wild North and the then great centre of civilisation, Byzantium.

The signing in Kyiv last July of the Interstate Oil and Gas Transport to Europe umbrella agreement highlights the central position of Ukraine in trade and transit networks. The plan to build a pipeline from Odessa to Gdansk is especially interesting. I can also assure you that Nordic residents’ need to travel south to the sun remains unchanged. The Mediterranean climate closest to Finland is to be found here in the Crimea.

This year will go down in history as a reminder of how low the threshold to violence still is in Europe. The lesson that the war in Kosovo should teach us is that governments in today’s Europe can not oppress their own citizens without having to face consequences.

The war in Kosovo, like the earlier hostilities in the former Yugoslavia, has affected also Ukraine, especially in the economic sense. But the disintegration of Yugoslavia has at the same time demonstrated how important a stable Ukraine is to Europe. By strengthening her sovereignty and national unity Ukraine is earning her place in the European family.

Ukraine sets an example as a state that has worked hard to build good relations with all neighbouring countries. Likewise exemplary is the determined way in which a dangerous internal crisis – here in the Crimea – has been defused. A united, multicultural, strong and democratic Ukraine is a pivotal factor in European integration.

The break-up of Yugoslavia once again reminded the whole of Europe that conflicts which may initially seem remote concern us, too. In this context I want especially to mention the conflict in the Transdniester region, where Ukraine and President Kuchma personally have contributed significantly to mediation efforts. Finland, in her capacity as the member holding the EU Presidency, intends to send a troika of EU officials to Moldova this autumn. Moldova has not been forgotten.

Links between the EU and Ukraine are many and diverse. Their legal foundation is the Partnership and Co-operation Agreement signed in 1994. The Union recognises Ukraine’s pro-European choice. As Ukraine’s largest financial donor, the EU has the goal of speeding up Ukrainian integration into the international economic system. The EU common strategy on Ukraine, now being drafted, will further improve the Union’s ability to support a democratic Ukraine on her way to being a state under the rule of law and with an efficient and stable market economy.

The forthcoming presidential election is an important milestone on the new Ukraine’s road towards an integrating Europe. Free and fair elections and the fact that all candidates have easy access to the media strengthen Ukraine’s prestige and the country’s standing in the European community of values.

Membership of the European Union — which we joined only as recently as 1995 — has deepened the Finns’ understanding of the golden rule of European integration. By this I mean the positive interdependence that is the opposite of closed societies and economic autarky. A dynamic and open Europe is seeking new forms of action, in which cooperation within and between regions has an important place. Therefore the promotion of cooperation between the Baltic and Black seas is a genuine European project. The initiative presented by the Presidents of Lithuania and Poland two years ago is bearing fruit.

May the European cooperation between the Baltic and Black sea regions enjoy success! In the same conjunction, let me express my appreciation of the statesmanship of my friend President Kuchma. A toast to Ukraine!