The last time this happened, during World War II and the subsequent years of the cold war, we received unjust treatment at the hands of larger nations, especially our eastern neighbour and our paths diverged for almost half a century.
Luckily, the shock waves of history sometimes break in favour of small nations too, as we saw 15 years ago when the walls collapsed and Estonia regained its independence. Estonia and Finland have been heading in a similar direction ever since.
A turning point in our own relations came in the spring of 2004 when Estonia joined the European Union. Integration means ever deeper affiliation and the gradual disappearance of border obstacles. This all has enormous importance and special meaning for two such close neighbours as Estonia and Finland, and the cross-border movements and contact of their ordinary citizens. The number of border crossings and volume of traffic, given our populations, is unique in the world.
Today, the people of Finland and Estonia are working together with their counterparts in other EU member states as well as with other nations to build a new and better Europe. As long as we continue to respect our national traditions and customs in the future, we will remain aware of the added strength that belonging to the European Union gives us both.
Finland and the Finnish people strongly believe that Estonia will carry on developing and becoming stronger without losing its ethnic character. The more we work with other countries, the stronger our mutual partnership will be as well.
The Finnish embassy in Tallinn is more than ready to contribute to the development of Finnish-Estonian relations in the spirit of mutual respect and learning from one another.
1 September 2005
Ambassador Jaakko Kalela
