ASEM 6

Meetings between representatives of civil society are an important and helpful part of the whole ASEM process, because they create a bottom-up approach and bring together stakeholders from both Asia and Europe, said Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja.

Tuomioja spoke at a press conference in Helsinki together with former President Martti Ahtisaari and the Executive Director of the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), Mr. Cho Won-il, after they had attended the closing session of the "ASEM@10: Connecting Civil Societies of Asia and Europe" event on Friday, 8 September.

Cho agreed with Tuomioja and said that these fora play an essential role as an interface between the civil societies in Asia and Europe, and also between the civil societies and governments. He added that the consultations this year have been unique as they were organised by ASEF in cooperation with the Finnish Foreign Ministry, and he wished to thank the Ministry for its hard work, as well as all the participants for their contributions. According to Cho, the meetings had been very "frank, productive and effective", and the Asian-European civil society collaboration has come a long way during the last ten years.

Ahtisaari drew on his recent experiences during the Aceh peace process, and said that it is important to include civil society when working for peace, because it can support the effort in a constructive manner, and also offer a critical voice. According to Ahtisaari, a lot has been achieved in Aceh, but there is also still a lot to be done in areas such as reconstruction and the reintegration of those left outside the society during the conflict, and it is here that civil society actors play a crucial role. Achieving peace also strengthens civil society, because it means that people can freely discuss and criticise issues. 

Ahtisaari also referred to Kosovo, where is working with civil society groups from both the Serbian and the Kosovar sides in trying to achieve a permanent peace settlement, and he said that especially women's organisations are very active in the process. When asked about the possibility of a joint Asian-European crisis management mechanism, Ahtisaari said that conflict areas often need help from outsiders, and that sometimes countries from far away can act better as mediators than neighbouring countries for example. In this sense closer cooperation between Asia and Europe can bring positive effects also in the area of crisis management and resolution.