On October 17 His Excellency Pekka Lintu, Ambassador of Finland to the United States, addressed a crowd of students, faculty and community members on the current issues and challenges facing the European Union. His "State of the European Union Address" at 11 am was followed by an Ambassador's Luncheon at the Illini Union.
Before the Ambassador spoke, the national anthems of the European Union and the United States of America played and Professor Robert Pahre, Director of the European Union Center, gave some welcoming remarks, including recognizing the winners of the EUC's high school essay contest. Laura Kammel of Centennial High School in Champaign, Daniel Gonshorek of Central High School in Champaign and Kathleen Wang also of Centennial High School were honored for their fine essays on what it means to be a European citizen amidst enlargement and integration.
Professor Pahre concluded by acknowledging the many nations represented in the room via members of the Chicago Consulate core-Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, the Netherlands and Romania - and turned over the podium to Jacques Fuqua, Director of International Engagement and Protocol for the introduction of Ambassador Lintu. Dr. Fuqua commended the University for being second in the nation in numbers of international students enrolled and briefly summarized some of Ambassador Lintu's more impressive accomplishments.
Ambassador Lintu's address began with specific attributes of Finland, moved to the successes and upcoming challenges of the EU, and ended with the current status of EU-US relations.
Ambassador Lintu noted that according to Transparency International's 2005 rankings, Finland is the second least-corrupt nation in the world (for the previous five years it had been number one). Finland is also the second most competitive economy in the world, as ranked by the World Economic Forum. He also kept the mood light by poking fun at Finnish culture with a joke. How can you tell the difference between an introverted Finn and an extroverted one? When the introvert is talking to you, he looks at his shoes. When the extrovert is talking to you, he looks at your shoes.
After thus introducing himself and his country, Ambassador Lintu moved onto the EU. He ackowledged three specific issues the EU currently needs to work on and talked about possible solutions. First he noted the recently attempted Constitution and its rejection by France and the Netherlands. He encouraged EU to explore ways forward instead of dwelling on a Constitution that simply was not headed towards ratification.
Next he moved onto European competition in the global economy, praising the EU's free movement of goods and capital. Ambassador Lintu discussed the EU's need to encourage innovation for economic growth to flourish, and also to hone its energy policy with neighbors like Norway and Russia.
On that note, his final hope for the EU was to intensify relations with Russia and the Balkans. He named the strategic partnership the EU has with Russia and advocated for deeper and closer ties, asking for both sides to play fair and engage in reciprocity.
Ambassador Lintu closed his speech by applauding the EU-US relationship. He spoke of the $5 trillion a year that passed between the nations and the largely positive relations, pressing for better relations still.
An Ambassador's Luncheon in the Illini Union followed the State of the European Union Address. Diplomats, faculty, students and community members mingled until Professor Pahre opened the meal with a toast to the peace in Europe since the EU's inception. The European cuisine, which featured rochefort crusted petit filet of beef and cardamon sour cream cake, was well-received and enjoyed by those in attendance.
The luncheon marked the conclusion to the European Union Center's 7th Annual European Union Day, a day when the local and UIUC community come together to celebrate an international and influential community overseas.
Author:
bzylstra
Published Date:
October 17, 2006
