I am very gratified to have this opportunity to be back in Sweden, where I have so many friends, and am truly honored to speak before such a distinguished audience from across the Baltic Sea region. I'd like to thank the conference organizers for putting together a challenging program that promises us a roadmap for the future of this region. I'm pleased to join such strong voices in a hopeful discussion that is no longer about where the future lies, but about how to get there. The common future we all hope to realize is the long-denied dream of a Europe whole and free. Today that dream is truly within our reach.
Challenges remain, of course.
But unquestionably Europe today is more democratic, more united, more peaceful than ever before. We should all be very proud of that. Today, I would like to focus on a vital part of our overall goal, and that is our common effort to ensure that the shores of the Baltic remain shores of peace, to be confident that wherever the Baltic waters flow they are shared by secure, prosperous democracies whose people have bridged old lines to create new bonds of friendship and cooperation. Many years ago, that vision was expressed eloquently by a native son of the Baltic region, Immanuel Kant, who lived and taught in the Hanseatic city of Konigsberg. That, simply stated, is what we, your American friends, want for you and your neighbors in this new century.