I vividly remember President Frank Walter Steinmeier [i] when he became President of Germany, facing this room, and apologising for the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact here in Estonia in clear words. What a statement, for counterparts like us today. I think we all learned from you and others this courage to face up to history, to stand up to it. You have taught us never to drive away closing the doors of the bus to feel safe ourselves– and this room is also linked to your teaching.
In March 2004, you wrote that during the midnight of 30th April, Europe will finally become one and the Baltic Sea can be considered the sea of peace for the first time in 300 years.
I believe that was the day when one journey ended also for you, which you had maybe undertaken even before we realised you had undertaken this journey. You had a vision to make the Baltic Sea region one of the most dynamic, innovative and competitive regions long before that. However, of course, that dream could also not come true unless all the countries by the Baltic Sea were part of the free world, therefore also ready to develop their economies. You were one of those people who always realised that without a strong economy, without strong interactions between businesses of the free world and the newly free world, there cannot be long-term success. Because after all, building a state, particularly a small state, is an expensive business. We all know that. So, all of the countries on the Baltic sea rim, which had suddenly become responsible for their own future also urgently needed to develop their economies.
Actually here, I think your road and mine crossed for the first time, and it must have been in the context of the Baltic Development Forum.
Because this was the forum, which started to bring together actors from the West and the East in order to promote and support the common economic development. You founded the Development Forum in 1998. And this is true indeed, that already in the mid-90s, Scandinavian companies were actively coming to the Baltic states and hiring Estonian people to work with the technology, which was not competitive enough anymore, in order to be used in their own country. So, we have been the solution for many businesses’ cost problem. However, through the Baltic Development Forum, you took a wider position, a far wider position. Moreover, the position you took was that we need to have a grand scale business cooperation, development and operations considering all these countries. Why? Because otherwise we cannot harness private capital for the development needs. You carried through many, many years, working with the Baltic Development Forum, all the challenges, all the dreams starting to come true slowly but surely.
When you felt that we were there, we had an occasion in Tallinn to discuss what next.
Moreover, I made a promise to you and indeed, to a certain extent thanks to the Baltic Development Forum, our journey back among the nations who had developed their economy and heightened their sense of responsibility for this world had ended.
However, I promised you, I would take this forward for those to the right of us when looking at the map facing north.
I have been thinking how to do this and I can now report that we have managed to grab the tool and initiative, which was already there. However, it was floating in the air – it was called the Three Seas Summit. It was something, which was simply floating, and it was not concrete. But you know, and I know that in order to build something, you need a lot of concrete, as was also kindly reminded during the Baltic Development Forum in St. Petersburg to the then Finnish Prime minister Paavo Lipponen, when Russians were saying that we need something concrete for this Baltic Development Forum. Then Lipponen said, and I think you remember that as well, “Well, I think we gave you a lot of concrete, as we just finished building the sewage plant of St. Petersburg.”
So, remembering that we need concrete, we are complementing the Three Seas Initiative from this year with a privately run investment fund, where the Three Seas countries themselves are paying in. The United States has promised to match every euro with dollar, which we can raise from the market and from the public purses of the Three Seas countries. And now we have stretched this idea, so the Three Seas Fund can invest into neighbouring countries, provided that one of the projects is in a Three Seas country, which by the way will involve Ukraine and the Balkan countries. This is very important. You told us we cannot leave them alone, and I promised you this idea will go ahead. And this is just the first fund. This is the fund, which will prove and kind of reinvigorate again the thinking that private money works for development. The idea you have strongly believed in, but which is completely forgotten in Europe nowadays because you know, money is everywhere, and it is very cheap. We still believe in it. We still believe that private allocation works for development, we still believe in good old return on investment in this region.
So, we brought together all the 102 million people in the Three Seas countries, and gathered the money into the fund we hope will reach 3 to 5 billion in two years’ time. Then we will invest in this region to make sure we catch up with the West, but also towards Ukraine and Western Balkans. IMF and Kristalina Georgieva, whom I believe you know very well, are supporters of our drive to make private public cooperation again a tool for development, particularly in Eastern Europe. So, I’m now reporting to you, that I have kept my promise, and I am working on it. It is work in progress. We will have the Three Seas Summit in Tallinn in October. The first fund will work already for two of the projects, which will be outside of the strictly Three Seas countries towards the east. In addition, if the concept is proven, I will promise you we can continue working on the next funds, which will be already more centred on Ukraine, Western Balkans, and I hope this will be the case for Moldova and Belarus one day.
Also, Uffe, when you have to stand up and say that, you know, Hague is relatively close to Minsk, even maybe closer than Moscow sometimes, we think of you and Carl Bildt and others, others who stood up for us. Never mind that this was maybe considered reckless. Never mind that nobody understood how you could keep your promises. Never mind that it appears to be taking time.
Yes, we in the Baltic States realise that for those countries for whom we are now standing – Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Georgia, and all others a window of opportunity is not there right now. However, we are not giving up, and we have actually the very good excuse of not giving up and that is our history of occupation for 50 years. You did not give up. So strategic patience is something we learned from you, and we are now applying to the situations in our region. This is also something, which you taught us.
Uffe, I have met you many times and you have always insisted that if you had not been on a plane at that right moment, you would have been the first to recognise the independence of Estonia. However, since you were on the plane, well, that square in front of our Ministry of Foreign Affairs is called the Iceland Square. However, it does not really matter, Uffe. You were with us. They were with us. The whole Nordic region was with us and for us. We will remember this forever, and we still keep coming to Denmark to talk to you about defence issues, about the progress, which has been made there.
Moreover, many people tell us, I heard this from Uffe, Uffe made this proposal, and he mentioned this to me. It still comes up, and not only in the foreign policy features, but also military and defence policy areas. You know, we are now closer than ever, in this sense. eFP, our eFP works with your participation, but not only that, as the division situated in Division headquarters, situated in Ādaži in Latvia, is also chaired by a Dane, and he shares our ambition to work together for the common defence of the northeast corner of NATO, Latvia and Estonia. We need your participation to make sure that we will pull ahead and prove the value of this development to Jens Stoltenberg and all others. What we are creating there is a ready-made nest for troops if necessary to come into this country in the quantities, which you hope will never be necessary. Nevertheless, we know it will not happen unless we prepare. Moreover, you are with us on this way as well.
Thank you, Uffe, Thank you, and congratulations on the award tonight.
[i] President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke at the Estonian Academy of Sciences on August 23, 2017
