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Your Majesty King Frederik,
Your Majesty Queen Mary,
Mr Speaker,
Mr Prime Minister,
Ministers,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great honour for me and Suzanne to welcome Your Majesties to Finland. If we seem a bit nervous, it is because this is the first time we are hosting an official state visit.
We were, of course, delighted to learn that it was you that we would be welcoming on our first incoming state visit. We have had the pleasure of meeting You before, at the Olympic Games in Paris last summer, and in October, when we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Nordic Embassies in Berlin.
At the Olympic Games, we discovered that we are probably the first king and president to have ever done an Ironman. Of course, we were both a bit disappointed that we failed to make the Danish or Finnish triathlon team, but it may have had something to do with our age.
We are, after all, of the same generation, even when it comes to music. I’ve been listening to the King’s playlist of 160 songs. It contains some great classics that describe the world we live in right now quite well: Riders on the Storm, Beds are Burning and Welcome to the Jungle. But when I think of President Zelenskyy, I like to listen to songs like I believe, Heroes and Under Pressure.
In Berlin, the atmosphere was immediately cosy and warm, hygge in the truest sense of the word. Not least at the after-party You hosted at the hotel. Suzanne and I enjoyed spending time with You and the Nordic heads of state and heirs to the throne. An unforgettable evening with friends. Our Nordic friends.
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And, right now, we need friends more than ever. We live in a time of unrest, with war in Europe and the Middle East, and a new administration in the United States that is redefining our transatlantic relationship. With friends, everything feels safer.
During our first year as heads of state of Denmark and Finland, the world has changed more than in the past thirty years combined. Just over thirty years ago, when the Berlin Wall came down and the Soviet Union collapsed, there was hope for a brighter future. Today, we mostly see dark clouds gathering.
But, we will not give up hope. Now is the time to act. Together. This is when we need friends we can count on. Friends who understand each other. I don’t think I’m exaggerating too much when I say that all of us here in the Nordic countries feel more connected than ever before.
Of course, this has much to do with the fact that we are stronger together. But, first and foremost, it is a question of our shared values. Our open societies are built upon freedom, democracy and equality. We have strong democratic institutions that are reinforced by the rule of law.
We support international institutions and rules. We believe in the right of sovereign nations to set their own course. Finland joined the Nordic Council just after Denmark. The reason for this was that we did not have the right to choose our own alliances because of restrictions imposed by the Soviet Union on our sovereignty. You were one of the founding members of NATO in 1949 and you joined the EU in 1973. We followed suit in 1995 and 2023. Better later than never, as they say.
Denmark has played a leading role in supporting Ukraine. The “Danish model” was widely praised in Kyiv, when just over a week ago we, together with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, stood side by side with President Volodomyr Zelenskyy to show our strong support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. We showed this support also in London on Sunday.
Ukraine is not just fighting for its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity – it is also fighting for Europe, the free world and the liberal world order. We in Finland and Denmark understand exactly what it means when a great power attacks a smaller country. As friends, it is vital that we support our friends in Ukraine for as long as it takes.
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I have strong personal ties to Denmark. One of my earliest memories is of my mother and father reading H. C. Andersen’s The Ugly Duckling to my brother and me when we were little. A wonderful story of how difficult it can be to accept differences and how important it is to believe in yourself, to be yourself.
Our first visit to Legoland is another cherished memory. I was seven years old but still remember how amazing everything was in Billund! Indeed, it was so amazing that even our children got to enjoy Legoland over thirty years later.
I also have fond memories of the Nordic Junior Golf Championship in Aarhus sometime in the late 1980s, although my game was not so good. It was a great honour for a young man to represent his country. A truly indelible memory.
When I entered academia, Lykke Friis became one of my role models as an EU analyst. When I was elected to the European Parliament, I had many good Danish friends, not least Helle Thorning-Schmidt, with whom I later became a fellow Prime Minister.
There was a time when I was absolutely convinced that the name Rasmussen was a prerequisite for serving as Prime Minister of Denmark. Nowadays, it seems that a Prime Minister has to have the name of the King, Frederik, somewhere in the name.
Like so many Finns, I have a real affinity for Danish television shows. As a former Prime Minister, I am amazed at how day-to-day politics and decision-making can be transformed into such world-class entertainment as the award-winning drama series Borgen.
I also closely follow Danish sports. I just so happened to be at the Hofbräuhaus in Munich in 1992, when Denmark beat Germany in the European Football Championship. My four Nordic friends and I felt quite alone among the 2,000 Germans as we cheered loudly every time Denmark scored a goal.
I expect the same result from our new national football team coach, Jacob Friis. No pressure!
I am also an avid fan of the Danish handball team, which won Olympic gold last year and gold in the World Championship in handball this year for the fourth time in a row. Or Danish cyclists, like Lars Bak, Jonas Vingegaard and Magnus Cort Nielsen, whose power-to-weight ratio is something I can only dream of.
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Your Majesties, King Frederik and Queen Mary,
It is a great honour and pleasure to have You here on this state visit. This is not just a meeting between two countries, Denmark and Finland, which are close to each other, but a meeting between good friends. It is a meeting that Suzanne and I will never forget.
Let me propose a toast to His Majesty King Frederik and Her Majesty Queen Mary, and to the two happiest countries in the world, Denmark and Finland.
Skål. Kippis.
