Prime Minister, dear Alex,
Professor Wilhelmsson,
Mr Halonen,
Mr Suominen,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Students,

Unfortunately I’m not in a position to respond with a speech in Finnish. I therefore just want to mention that the German with which I was greeted here at the university and by the Prime Minister was wonderful.

With this visit to your country I want above all to communicate one thing: my thankfulness that Finland and Germany are today united by close and diverse ties – in academia, business, culture and, last but not least, politics. As members of the European Union we are working together to ensure that Europe emerges from the European public debt crisis stronger than when it entered the crisis. We are partners committed to the same fundamental values. We work to promote stability, security and peace – in Europe and in other regions. It is this spirit that characterises the cooperation between our governments and my personal interaction with my colleague Alex Stubb. We ask questions to which there are generally no simple solutions. That is why it is all the more important to engage in frequent and in depth discussion. I am therefore delighted to have the opportunity to field questions here today.

I am glad to be the guest of the University of Helsinki. One reason is because this university has an excellent reputation. Its 375 year history, which has certainly been varied, is also impressive. Its different historical eras reflect the colourful past of your country, Finland. Time and again European paths crossed here. East and West rubbed shoulders on numerous occasions.

On 1 August 1975, 35 Heads of State and Government signed the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe in the Finlandia Hall – not far from your University. With this they underscored their intention to respect the sovereign equality of States. They affirmed their commitment to the inviolability of frontiers and the territorial integrity of States. They declared that threats and the use of force must not be among the tools of international politics. Instead, they called upon States to regulate disputes peacefully among themselves and not to get involved in the internal affairs of their neighbours.

The Final Act of Helsinki was the outcome of lengthy negotiations. It also marked the beginning of an even longer process of confidence building. This so called Helsinki process paved the way for East and West to tentatively move closer together. This ultimately helped prepare the ground to peacefully overcome the division of Europe. However, this journey did not by any means come to a stop with the end of the Cold War. On the contrary, freed from the strains of East West confrontation, we have been able to intensify our cooperation consistently over the past 25 years. In 1995 Finland joined the European Union with Austria and Sweden. Also 20 years ago the CSCE became the OSCE, developing from a Conference into an Organisation with institution based structures. Today the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe is, with its 57 participating States, the largest regional security organisation in the world.

The year 2015 could have been an occasion for rejoicing – celebrating the 40th anniversary of the CSCE Final Act. After all, the principles adopted in Helsinki proved to be a strong foundation for many years of peaceful co existence in Europe. Yet in the Ukraine conflict we are seeing how the basic pillars of our European peaceful order are being called into question. Like any other state, Ukraine has the right to decide in all sovereignty which path it intends to follow. Russia, however, with its annexation of Crimea, has violated international law. With its activity in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk it is flagrantly contravening Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. This clearly goes against the obligations Russia itself entered into in the Budapest Memorandum in 1994. By so doing Russia has seriously damaged the trust that had been laboriously built up over many years.

For many European countries, this breach of trust goes hand in hand with a feeling of being under threat. It is important for these states to know that they can depend on the solidarity of the NATO transatlantic defence alliance. Last year we therefore introduced additional measures for some NATO partners, also and specifically in your neighbourhood. For example, we have increased our surveillance of the airspace in the Baltics. At the NATO summit in Wales we also laid the foundations for better operational readiness of the Alliance’s response forces. Our main focus continues to be on the Alliance’s collective defence. The principle of solidarity is anchored in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. It applies equally to all NATO members.

We want to resolve the Ukraine crisis – but with political means. As Prime Minister Alexander Stubb already said, to overcome this crisis it is vital that the package of measures agreed on in Minsk on 12 February be implemented completely and transparently. Progress has certainly been made in the past few weeks. Yet shots are still being fired in eastern Ukraine. People are still being killed in fighting. There is deep distrust on all sides.

Ensuring greater transparency and control is therefore all the more crucial in order to be able to monitor the extent of compliance with the Minsk agreements. This can, of course, only be undertaken by independent bodies. And that is where the OSCE comes into play again, with its decades of experience. It is the only international organisation in which the conflict parties have sufficient trust. The support of all 57 OSCE member states for the observer mission in Ukraine ensures maximum legitimacy and impartiality. Only a few weeks ago a unanimous decision was made to increase the number of observers. Independent monitoring of the ceasefire is part of the Minsk agreements. All sides are called upon to abide by them.

I am very grateful to the Finnish Government for its support of the OSCE observer mission. I would particularly like to thank the Finnish OSCE personnel who are working in Ukraine under difficult circumstances. If we succeed in defusing the conflict in Ukraine, it will be in no small part down to Finland.

But we should be under no illusions. It is going to be a long haul. Securing the ceasefire is just the first step in a process of de escalation which could bring more tasks for the OSCE. For the task is to conduct a national dialogue on the future administration of the contested regions in the Donbass, while strictly respecting Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Ukraine must regain complete control of its borders. That is part of the agreement on which all the negotiating partners in Minsk concurred. We set down a precise timetable with concrete steps which requires everyone to do their part.

It will take considerable time and patience to rebuild confidence. Incidentally, 40 years ago it was not idealism or even altruism alone which brought the states to the negotiating table in Helsinki. The signing of the CSCE Final Act was also driven by specific national interests – an interest in economic cooperation and prosperity, an interest in securing one’s own borders and an interest in a stable internal order. All these elements are closely interwoven and mutually dependent, both at national and supranational level. This insight corresponds to the unanimous affirmation made in Helsinki in 1975. I would like to see this spirit of Helsinki again today.

Ladies and gentlemen, your country has in the past repeatedly proved that preserving one’s independence and making independent decisions on one’s own future does not exclude fostering good neighbourly relations with Russia. We are indebted to your country for its decisive contribution to shaping the European post war order. The principles on which the signatory States agreed 40 years ago in Helsinki have lost none of their relevance and validity. That is why Germany has also expressed its willingness to assume the OSCE Chair in 2016. It is good to know that in this role, too, we have in Finland a reliable partner by our side.

Thank you for your attention.