mánadagur 1. oktober 2007síða 26

26 Nr. 189 - 1. oktober 2007 tíðindi By Edmund Joensen Speaker of the House As the Speaker of the House in probably one of the oldest Parliaments in Europe it gives me great pleasure to bid you heartily welcome to the Faroe Islands. It is a honour for us that a former President of the United States of America is visiting the Faroe Islands, to present a lecture on current international affairs. It is a special day for all of us, that you as a representative for the world’s largest democracy is visiting one of the world’s smallest democracies. History is in the making and hopefully a bridge is being built between two very different countries, which however, share common values regarding democracy, unity and co-operation. International political disputes very often require time to reach a peaceful settlement, and sometimes the place for such negotiations can be difficult to find. I will allow myself to offer the potential of the Faroe Islands as a secure place for any such future summit meetings in the future. History conveys to us that ever since the Faroe Islands were inhabited approximately 1200 years ago, various forms of “løgting” our equivalvent to a Parliament has exisited in the Islands. The underlying parliamentarian principles were an integrated part of how the Norse settlements organised their societies. The Løgting is therefore most likely the oldest parliament in Europe, and therefore we believe the Faroe Islands to be the correct location for historical agreements to be negotiated. I kindly requst you to convey this greeting and invitation to all relevant international parties. I wish you a successful journey and all our best wishes to the American nation. Welcome to the Faroe Islands. Welcome Mr President and best whishes to the American nation A welcome to Mr Bill Clinton from the Media House of the Faroes By Jan Eident Müller Editor in Chief jan@sosialurin.fo Mr President, Heartily welcome to our country. The fact, that you are visiting our country is an honour for all of us who reside here. We believe this is a very large gesture on your behalf to have accepted this invitation, and let there be no doubts that we have very high expectations from your visit on all accounts. Our country is small, if we judge this geographically, but if we include our territorial waters, our country becomes quite large. The ocean is decisive for our existence here. The ocean depicts the very basis for our economy, all our material wealth and all of our culture is reflected and conditioned by the intimate association with the sea. The sea around the Faroes – a sea, which encompasses the whole of the Northern hemisphere, and plays an all important role for the world’s climate and the climatic changes, which now seem to be emerging. Even if our country is small, the nation which resides here is strong. We have lived here for almost two and a half centuries. Our culture is vibrant and potent, deriving from the natural given circumstances governing our ancestor’s environment, which was western Norway, the Celtic cultural region and to the south, Scotland, the Isles and Ireland One reason why we have succeeded in living here, and still do, on a few rocks scattered in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, is that we have managed to combine the best of our ancient traditions with all the new things and aspects which represent the modern world today. The fact that we have retained out ancient language and our ancient culture, simultaneously as we accept all the new fangled ideas the world has to offer, has given us the strength to tackle international globalisation. Through our strong identity we permit ourselves to embrace globalisation. We regard globalisation as a challenge, presenting innumerable opportunities, rather than a threat towards our culture and our economy. We believe in all modesty, that we do not have so much to offer the world. To the rich and advanced world, we can offer an unusually clear ocean and land environment. We exist, to a large extent, by producing food, particularly seafood, which as we all know is particularly healthy. We build our seafood production on a sustainable catchment policy and sustainable catchment methods, which is about to become a model for other fishing nations. Adding to all this we have a particularly beautiful nature with a rich bird life. We have our own University and a number of research institutions, all aspiring to the highest international standards. The best we have to offer however is that guests from abroad may meet us as a people exceptionally rich in culture and art, and which we are more than willing and prepared to share with the rest of the world. The Faroes are therefore a country, which has much to offer the world. On top of this comes a unique geographical location in an area, which both commands an interest from climatologists and in an historical perspective. During the cold war, the Faroes lay in an ocean expanse of great strategical importance for both NATO as well as the Warszawa Pact countries. Fortunately the North Atlantic has become a more peaceful ocean since. It ought therefore to go without saying, that any future American President took steps to locate all international top meetings in the Faroes. Mr President, When you became President, the democratic part of the world was in need of a true leader. Both in your role as the Governor for Arkansas and the President for the world’s strongest superpower, you displayed exceptional leader qualities, which were firmly rooted in great visions for peace, democracy and welfare. Arkansas, under your leadership became one of the leading states in America. America, accepted under your leadership both the immensely important role as the protector of democracy and the peace creating and retaining factor of the world. In the aftermath of all this, you have spent much energy in the prevention of the many dangers and evils threatening the well- being and welfare of this world. Mr President, You are visiting the world’s oldest and smallest democracy, which Parliament dates all the way back to the year 825 after Christ. Your visit is a great honour for the Faroes and the Faroese people. We sincerely hope you enjoy your stay here and that you may retain good memories from this trip. We wish you all the very best and once again, thank you very much for visiting our country, Should it ever occur to your wife, Hillary to visit our beautiful islands, she would be most welcome. We also take this outstanding opportunity to request you to bring our very best wishes to your good friend Mr Nelson Mandela and on behalf of the Faroese people invite him to visit our peaceful islands in the North Atlantic. PS Sosialurin is part of the Faroes largest media company, housing an internet browser and radio station. The paper reaches every household in the Faroes with its 50.000 strong population. Through the internet address: www.portal.fo we access another 20.000 Faroese living abroad round the world, including the USA. Should you Mr President wish to send a greeting to these many Faroese, you are welcome to use our facilities. Welcome to the world’s oldest and smallest democracy Jan Eident Müller, Editor in Chief Edmund Joensen, Speaker of the House