ASEM

SATURDAY 9.9. Everything in moderation

COMMENTARY

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By Kari Huhta
     
      "The process itself is important, and it has had an impact on many issues."
      This was the apparently quite sincere response of an expert diplomat to the question of what the vast ASEM gathering in Helsinki is all about - what in concrete terms the event is trying to do.
      The question has been widely asked with a view to explaining to people why dozens of heads of state and government from the EU and Asia should come to Helsinki, accompanied by sizeable delegations and motorcades, for several days in September.
     
Summits such as ASEM 6 could really be organised on the quiet, away from the glare of publicity. When they are explained in public they tend easily to come across as something comical and full of pomp, even if the processes and the subjects on the agenda really are significant.
      However, when a meeting is not arranged in secret, then it should be explained and reported on in as clear, accessible, and transparent a manner as possible.
      As the hosts and organisers, Finland's political leadership has an excellent opportunity to put across its thoughts on the development of European and Asian relations, democracy, economic issues, energy, human rights, and environmental questions. These matters at least are what ASEM is supposed to be all about. There is still a chance for this to happen, since the event only starts in earnest tomorrow, Sunday.
     
Thus far the impression has been that on the political level Finland has chosen to follow an extremely tight-lipped approach, in order that the meeting would not be put in jeopardy.
      In practice this means drawing a line between Finland's stated policy of transparency and the thin-skinned attitudes of the totalitarian countries taking part.
      The result has been an atmosphere of uncertainty that is reflected in an unnecessary veil of secrecy about matters that may be perfectly straightforward.
      On Thursday Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen was unwilling to comment on which Asian countries might become the new ASEM members. At the same time, Asian and European diplomats were saying that the likeliest names are those of India, Pakistan, and Mongolia.
      Either those diplomats are being careless with their mouths, or someone has forgotten that there can be moderation in the use of caution, too.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 9.9.2006
     
The writer heads the foreign desk of Helsingin Sanomat.


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  ASEM 6

KARI HUHTA / Helsingin Sanomat
kari.huhta@hs.fi