Speech by Secretary of State Torstila at the seminar "40 years of Training Finnish Diplomats"

Secretary of State Pertti Torstila
10 September, 2010
Helsinki

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Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the Foreign Ministry I wish you warmly welcome to the Anniversary seminar “40 years of Training Finnish Diplomats” – the KAVAKU course as it is with familiarity called. I am very pleased to see such a large and distinguished audience today here in the Helsinki University. With this seminar we want to commemorate the 40 years of the present recruitment and training system of Finnish diplomats, and discuss the lessons learned in order to be better prepared for the coming times.
The first KAVAKU course was opened on this very day in the autumn of 1970 40 years ago. Throughout the years thereafter, altogether 740 young and new Finnish diplomats have passed the KAVAKU course. I’m particularly happy to see in the audience my own “class mates” from the legendary KAVAKU 1.

In the background of the 1970 reform was a need to change the recruitment basis and training of our diplomats. A three-month training and selection course preceded the final decision and the beginning of a diplomatic career. The participants were familiarized with questions related to international politics and the Finnish foreign policy priorities. During the past 40 years the training course has developed into a two-year program consisting of study periods and practical training in the Ministry and missions abroad.

One of the objectives of the reform was to increase the number and representativeness of aspirants. In the 1960’s there were about 10-15 MFA applicants annually. After the reform in the 1970’s the number increased to about 200 candidates. Thereafter the annual number of applicants has varied between 600-900 of which some 12-30 trainees have been selected.

The training course number 35 has just begun and there are 20 trainees participating in the course: fifteen of them are women and five men. A clear trend indeed has been the increasing number of female applicants. The number of women candidates multiplied right from the beginning in 1970. Today the ratio of women to men is 70-30. It may sound high but the ratio is close to the gender ratio of e.g. university students.
Dear friends,

Over the years, the functions of foreign ministries have considerably changed and expanded, and so have the challenges of life and work of diplomats. Diplomats of today must manage and master a growing range of functions which demand extensive knowledge from practically all fields of life. In addition to the traditional diplomacy and foreign relations, diplomats are in the service of the common man, public administration and the whole of society. The demand for citizen or consular services is growing. Finns make over 7 million trips abroad every year, they are potential customers for the services of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and help is often needed. Number of consular cases has doubled in five years and our services handled altogether 44 000 cases in 2009.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In this seminar, we will look deeper into the changes in international diplomacy and challenges for Foreign Services. Changes in the global scene continue. International structures are evolving. EU along the Lisbon Treaty, United Nations, NATO, WTO and the Bretton Woods institutions face challenges of the changing world. New forms of multilateralism are reasserting, such as G20. New power centers are emerging economically and politically. Events far away from our national borders have an effect on our security and well-being. New and unforeseen items appear onto the agenda of international diplomacy thanks to the comprehensive concept of security. The gap between what used to be national and global interests is rapidly closing.

President Obama pointed out in his remarks to the American Nation on ending of combat operations in Iraq last week that military force alone is not enough. A broad palette of elements of power must be used. Diplomatic, social and economic tools have become essential elements in the diplomatic toolbox of nations. The use of moral example was raised by Foreign Minister Stubb a few days ago in his speech to the Finnish Ambassadors.

Is there still need and room for national diplomacy? Could not joint Embassies of the Nordic countries or other regional groupings do the work for us? Could the new European Union External Action Service (EAS) substitute the work of national foreign services and Embassies ? Why do we need Embassies in other EU countries? Can Finland rely on others to take care of Finnish interests in a more and more interdependent and complex world?

I will participate next week in Brussels in a meeting of Secretaries of State of the 27 Member states of the EU with High Representative Catherine Ashton. The timely topic of the meeting is the relationship and collaboration between the EU External Action Service and the national Foreign Ministries, not least the future role of the new EU Embassies in consular services. The EU member states expect the EAS to provide them with tangible scale benefits.

Finland supports a strong, extensive and efficient EAS. We have the ambition to have a fair number of Finns to work in the EAS, including the highest positions. The European External Action Service will strengthen the coherence and impact of Union’s external action and which will benefit Finland too. It will bring added value in sharing information and increasing presence and influence in distant corners of the world. But it does not abolish the need for the national Foreign Service nor replace it. It is vital for Finland to be able to promote its own national interests throughout the world also in the future. No one else does this work for us.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Finnish Foreign Service is not passively following the changing world. We are adjusting to new situations in the international environment and so do our partners. Our foreign guest speaker, my close colleague, Permanent Secretary of the Danish Foreign Ministry Claus Grube is here to tell us about the challenges of modern diplomacy from the Danish perspective. The Danish Foreign Ministry is one of the leading reformers amongst the EU countries and we are eager to hear about their experiences. We thank you Claus that you wanted to come to Helsinki and share your views and ideas with us.