Minister Tuomiojas tal vid en konferens för organisationen Läkare mot kärnvapen

Check against delivery

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The engagement of physicians in the peace movement has long traditions. In the beginning it was a movement of a small opposition. Freud said once that the medical doctors were "shotguns behind the frontlines" responsible for returning the wounded soldiers back to the war scene. From this it has been a long road to the prevention of wars. Physicians are now engaged in a great variety of organizations and movements - the Red Cross and the Red Crescent, the Medicines sans Frontiers, Handicap International, and - indeed - the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and Wars. Your network was established in 1980, and already in 1985 you received the Nobel Peace Award, which symbolizes what a vital role and responsilibility you filled and still fill on the current world scene.
International efforts in the field of disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation have suffered severe setbacks in the last few years. The current political situation is not very conducive to arms control. Political will to change the tide is badly needed.
The Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is the cornerstone of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime, the essential foundation for the pursuit of nuclear disarmament in accordance with Article VI of the NPT and an important element in the further development of nuclear energy applications for peaceful purposes. The result of the 2005 NPT (Treaty of the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons) Review Conference did not meet the expectations and it is crucial to make every possible effort in order for the next Review Conference in 2010 to succeed.
The international community has recognized the challenges that the credibility of the NPT is facing today. In 2003 North Korea announced its withdrawal from the NPT and in 2005 it declared possessing a nuclear weapon. At the same time in 2003 the uranium enrichment activities of Iran were brought to daylight, raising the ever growing concern of country's possible nuclear program. Both cases pose a severe threat to the credibility and integrity of the NPT. The international community must find ways to solve these situations, otherwise the significance of the whole NPT regime as an international norm in prevention of proliferation of nuclear weapons is questioned. The situation is not made any easier by the US-India nuclear cooperation agreement, which leads granting India, a country outside of the NPT, rights that are denied from countries subscribing to the Treaty.
Regional nuclear issues including Iran and DPRK remain high on today's non-proliferation agenda. Iran must comply with the resolutions of the IAEA and the UN Security Council. The North-Korean missile test-launches in early July raised great concern and placed additional strains on regional stability at a time when the unresolved nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula requires mutual confidence building.
The recent report by the Blix Commission on Weapons of Mass Destruction is a valuable contribution to the global disarmament discourse. The report's 60 far-reaching recommendations on speeding up disarmament of weapons of mass destruction and preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons constitute work for a long time. It is important that the discussion is kicked off quickly and that the first concrete results are reached soon. The Blix report calls on nuclear states to full fill their obligations to disarm, instead of renewing their arsenals. From a personal perspective I can only agree with this view.
Among other important issues the Blix Commission raised the question of countering new threats of nuclear terrorism. In the view of the growing number of worldwide terrorist attacks multilateral efforts aimed at preventing nuclear terrorism need to be enhanced. The UN Security Council resolution 1540 plays a crucial role in developing an effective mechanism of prevention and counter proliferation of WMD.
Recent armed conflicts have also brought up a new challenge in the field of disarmament: the question related to depleted uranium munitions. The NGOs have already a long ago recognized the issue of uranium weapons and the collateral health risks that they pose, on both civilians as well as military personnel, and have done very valuable exploratory work concerning the issue. Currently there are no related international regulations and depleted uranium munitions are commonly used in present conflicts. Personally I think that this is a matter that needs serious consideration and needs to be brought up for discussion at the international level.
Dear Friends,
The latest Middle East crisis in the summer is the first Middle East crisis where the European Union became the international actor on which the greatest hopes and expectations were placed, in particular by the Lebanese people and the Government, but also more widely in the region.
I am content to be able to say that the EU has managed to live up to the expectations and play an important and even leading role in putting an end to hostilities, in keeping the cease-fire and in the efforts to push forward the political process needed to consolidate the peace.
It was not the EU's fault that it took too long before the resolution was passed, as every day the conflict brought more civilian casualties, suffering and devastation without anyone any nearer to fulfilling their political or military goals of their fighting. Indeed the central lesson to be learnt from this conflict was that there are neither military nor unilateral solutions to any of the outstanding conflicts in the Middle East.
The ceasefire has, notwithstanding some deplorable incidents, been respected. The Lebanese Government remains united and all the political parties, including Hezbollah, have pledged their support for the resolution 1701 and the political agreement it incorporates.
It is clear that there cannot be any sustainable stability and peace in Lebanon or elsewhere in the region, without a return to the peace process between Israel and Palestine based on the Roadmap and its goal of the two-state solution with Israel living in peace and security with an independent and viable Palestinian state as its neighbour.
Unfortunately many aspects of the Roadmap have been and continue to be under bombardment. A deadlock has existed since the Palestinian election in January, which unequivocally have been assessed as free and fair.
For the Peace Process to continue it is vital that the Palestinians and their parties remain committed to non-violence, the recognition of Israel and to stopping all terrorist attacks. We have had an unsure situation where the international community has had to suspend its direct assistance to the Palestinians while trying to ensure that the humanitarian needs of the Palestinians are met and their access to education and medical services are maintained.
This has been the difficult task of the Temporary International Mechanism set up by the EU and it has not been made easier by the refusal of Israel to release the tax and customs receipts which have now accumulated to over 500 million US dollars. But as its name says the TIM is only an interim device. We need to break the deadlock, have all abducted Israeli soldiers, arrested Palestinian legislators and members of the Government released and a broad-based Palestinian Government, fully committed to respect all the commitments of the Palestinian Authority, which can act as credible partner with which none can refuse to negotiate.
We do not need to reinvent the wheel for the Peace Process. All the elements needed are well known and can be found in the Road Map and other documents. But putting these in the right sequence and order remains challenging.
In our discussions at the Gymnich meeting in Lappeenranta last week we were in full agreement that the EU now has to take an active role to initiate a return to the peace process.
No matter how unitedly, cohesively and effectively the EU acts, it is obvious that we cannot achieve peace through our efforts alone. We need to work closely together with all our partners in the Quartet in particular the US, as well with the Arab League whose renewed intention to engage in the process is to be welcomed. Above all we need, of course, the parties themselves to come to the table and seriously engage in the peace process. For a long time people have wanted nothing more than peace and security and they have become increasingly frustrated by their leaders' inability or even unwillingness to the deliver this, fostering a climate which has allowed extremism to thrive. This is where the EU and others need to entice, cajole, push and pressure the parties and to be ready, where and when necessary to engage on the ground as well. The EU in fact is already doing this with the approval of the parties, in the Rafah EUBAM mission and the EUCOPPS mission in the territories. Unfortunately the Rafah and Karni border crossing points has been effectively closed for the past months while Israel has not responded to our repeated demarches to have them opened.
Dear Friends,
Finland has, together with Tanzania, initiated the Helsinki Process on Globalisation and Democracy in order to bring together different stakeholders - such as governments, international organisations, civil society organisations, business, academia and faith-based communities - to search for innovative solutions to global problems.
The issues of disarmament and nuclear proliferation have also been discussed in the context of the Helsinki Process. On 11-12 July, 2006, the Amman roundtable meeting was organised, together with Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan, to discuss the possibilities for creating a process for cooperation and security in the West Asia - North Africa region. This meeting made several concrete recommendations which are currently being implemented, such as studying the experiences of other regions in developing a framework for regional cooperation and promoting the cross-border cooperation of civil society organisations in the region. The conflicts which broke out in the region since that meeting have certainly made the task of developing regional cooperation more difficult in the short term, but at the same time have highlighted the need for making every effort to do so.
Another roundtable meeting, focusing on the role religious organisations could play in promoting peace, was held in Kyoto on the 30th of August, 2006. This meeting stressed the potential of religious organisations to promote disarmament and peace, especially in societies where an effective civil society is lacking and where religious organisation often are the only actors who can reach even small and remote areas. The meeting also suggested that the UN Peace Building Commission could be a suitable forum for further discussing how religious organisations could contribute to building sustainable peace.
The starting point of the Helsinki Process is that in a globalised world the cooperation of different stakeholders is essential for finding lasting solutions to complex global problems - including those related to peace and security. Thus I very much also welcome the efforts of organisations such as the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) to bring a renewed sense of urgency and commitment to the global elimination of nuclear weapons.