Address by President of the Republic of Finland Tarja Halonen on Afghanistan at Summit Meeting of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, Istanbul 29th June 2004

I wish to thank the Government of Turkey for the hospitality and excellent arrangements for this important Summit in Istanbul.

Strengthening security is both a key issue and a precondition for economic and social development in Afghanistan. NATO has a central task in executing the UN-mandated ISAF operation. The success of ISAF is a challenge for us all.

I congratulate President Karzai for performing his demanding and responsible duties and I wish him success in strengthening democracy, the rule of law, tolerance and human rights, with special regard to women and girls. The international community is committed to maintaining security and stability in Afghanistan and to supporting reconstruction.

The success of the upcoming elections is crucial for the future of Afghanistan. For elections to be free and fair progress in the disarmament process is needed. Constructive participation and media visibility of the different political groups is necessary in the election campaign. In order to succeed adequate security measures by the Afghan Government and the international community are required.

Finland tries, for its own part, to give its contribution to the international efforts to stabilize Afghanistan. Finland has sent a CIMIC Unit and staff officers to help ISAF in Kabul and firemen to the Kabul airport. We intend to further strengthen our contribution to ISAF by participating in a new PRT-team in Maimana in northern Afghanistan.

The strengthening of security and effective reconstruction mutually complement and reinforce each other. I want to highlight the importance of measures to improve living conditions of the people also in the southern and eastern parts of Afghanistan. The enlargement of ISAF would be important for such efforts.

Afghanistan is one of the most significant recipients of Finnish bilateral and multilateral development aid. Finland supports also in the future demining activities and monitoring of illicit crop production. We also support the improvement of the health and environmental sector in Afghanistan. Finland allocates funds to the national development budget of Afghanistan and we also give long-term reconstruction aid.