I have said a great deal about the northern cooperation being done under the auspices of various organisations. But direct contacts on people's own initiative are at least as important. A major factor in cooperation and cultural exchange between our peoples have been the North Calotte conferences and the work done under the auspices of the Pohjola-Norden organisation. Thanks to the North Calotte conferences and Pohjola-Norden's language courses, hundreds of Finns and Icelanders have established new ties of culture and friendship. This has added new depth to mutual understanding and increased our respect for one another.
Mutual respect characterises all cooperation between Finland and Iceland.
We both live in the periphery of the North, you in the west, we in the east. This fact unites us more than it separates us.