Speech Thor Pedersen – Dinner Speech

Formandens middagstale ved Østersøkonferencen påHolckenhavn SlotDen 31. august 2009 aftenCa. 5-6 minutterEfterfølgende: Christina Gestrin takker for madTalen skal holdes på engelsk med tolkning til russiskRef. 08-000894-38Dear colleagues, dear ChairIt is a great pleasure for me to welcome you all to thisdinner at the beautiful Holckenhavn Castle.- 2 -I am sure you are all having a relaxed and enjoyableevening in these historical settings.Today we can all appreciate the peace and growingconfidence between our countries. We use ourcooperation not only for practical reasons like trade andso on, but also to build up mutual understanding and trust.I think this was demonstrated in the speeches anddebates at the conference today.- 3 -We got- reports from both governmental and parliamentarianside;- reports about the co-operation in general,- reports about the Baltic Sea Strategy,- received information about The HELCOM Action Plan,on energy and climate change,on developments on the labour market andon maritime safety and security.- 4 -And we had interesting debates. To me this is a sign ofthe Baltic Sea co-operation moving in a very gooddirection. I have noticed not only a good will for ourco-operation in general, but a will to find concretesolutions to difficult, mutual problems.It is in a way nearly symbolic that we are here atHolckenhavn Castle to night. Holckenhavn Castle wasbuild more than four hundred and fifty year ago in at timeof wars and struggles.- 5 -And if we go back in time the history of the Baltic Sea wasalso one of unrest and wars between nations. The Danesand Swedes have a long history of wars. Often thesewars included the other nations around the Baltic Sea. Anexample you all know is the Great Northern War in thebeginning of the eighteens century.Today we meet in the spirit of cooperation. Not only in theforum of this conference, but also – as you know – invarious other Nordic and Baltic cooperative institutions.- 6 -Tonight, we are all grateful that this beautiful castle wasnot destroyed during the hard times of the past.Despite of the many wars that included this Castle, theCastle has in fact belonged to the same family since theseventeen’s century – the Holck-family.The present owner, Christina Baroness Holck, is thetwelfths generation of the Holck family, and the firstfemale in the family to take possession of the Castle.- 7 -Holckenhavn, reminds us of a past where we met fightingwith swords in our hands. And know we meet around thetable with knives and forks in our hands. As we say in theDenmark, if we can work together, we can also eattogether.To end my speech, I hope you will all enjoy goodcompany, food and wine. After the dinner we will get acup of coffee and an avec.- 8 -And here we must fulfil one of our duties as electedrepresentatives. A Finnish colleague, the former Presidentof the Finnish Parliament Mr Karl-August Fagerholm,once said:‘cognac is a noble drink which should be enjoyed by thepeople through its elected representatives’.I wish you all a pleasant evening. Skål