Let me introduce myself and the Small State of Denmark, from which I come, by quoting our beloved Danish poet-philosopher Piet Hein: 

Denmark seen from foreign land 
Looks but like a grain of sand. 
Denmark as we Danes conceive it 
Is so big you won't believe it. 

Why not let us compromise
About Denmark's proper size 
Which will truly please us all 
Since it's greater than it's small! 

As you may understand we Danes cannot be accused of being over-modest... And why should we be? We know that smaller means smarter, and that the 5 million of us are able to take better care of our own interests than people in big states - provided of course that we are allowed to do so by those bigger than we ... and this is of course the crux of the matter, which brings me right to the subject I am going to deal with: What has happened in Europe in the last decade - and how is that going to influence the future for the small states in our region. 

Let me start by reminding you that what happened between 1989 and 1991 gave us a whole new map of Europe. Europe today is a new Europe - but with deep roots in the very old Europe. A look at the map shows us the dramatic development sover the last decade: 

First the old division of post-World War II Europe disappeared - the Berlin Wall - and the Iron Curtain - which for half a century formed formidable barriers between different ideological systems. Germany was united. And then new nation-states started to appear, some of them known from a distant history, some others newcomers on the map, but with a background in old divides: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbadjan, Moldova..... 

This gave the new map - of the new Europe: The Soviet Union is dissolved. So is Yugoslavia. So is Czechoslovakia. A lot of new borders and new names have appeared on the map. And the process has not ended yet. I expect that in the years to come we may see new nation-states appear on the map of Europe. The map will become more and more fragmented. 

This is the real challenge we are facing in Europe today.

How can we avoid that this fragmentation leads to instability? How can we avoid a return to Europe's bloody past, where narrow nationalism leads to suppression and maybe even war? 

And this is of particular interest to the small states in Europe - since we were always the losers when the big powers tried to impose their models on us. 

Take my own country as an example: 

A small country with all the advantages of a homogenous population, and a very old history and culture uniting us as a tribe .... But with big neighbors (and let's forget the past when we were the big bullies, ruling over England, ravaging great parts of Europe and so on.....) allowing us the role as a pawn in the European power games, defeated or occupied. 

To us security came after we decided to give up our position as s neutral country - and join international organizations like NATO and the EU. We had learned - the tough way - what it meant to be small in a world where brutal power ruled. And in the last half-century we have flourished thanks to belonging to international organizations, where common values like democracy and the rule of law as well of respect for human rights and minority rights are the rules of the game 
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[SPEAKING NOTES FROM HERE ON] 
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The importance (and historical background) of the EU (and NATO etc) - and of enlargement of EU with new democracies in East and Central Europe (I'll get back to that) 
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What happened in 89-91 ? And how could a small state be a player - using the window of opportunity? (The case of the Baltic States: Denmark played a key role in securing the recognition of the three countries in August 1991. But an important point to make: We could only act as a decisive player because we were part of EU ...) 



Timetable: 

89: 
First non-Communist government in Poland. 
Hungary - reburial of 56-heroes and a dropped star from the parliamentary tower.
Fall of the wall. 
Velvet revolution / Romania. 

90: 
Free elections in GDR. 
Balts declare their independence. 
July - NATO summit in London closes Cold War. 
In September Moscow signs 2+4=5 agreement 
October: "Day of German Unity" 
CHD in Copenhagen - CSCE Paris Charter for New Europe 
December - Walesa president / Sjevardnadse resigns 

91: 
13 Jan "bloody Sunday" in Vilnius 
July: WAPA ceases to exist - Russia's president Jeltsin recognizes Lithuania 

19-21 August: Putsch in Moscow 
(Saturday 24: Denmark reopens diplomatic relations with Balts) 
27 August: EU recognizes 3 Baltic countries 
September in Moscow: CSCE enlarges from 35 to 38 members 
17 September: 3 Baltic countries members of UN 
End 91: Soviet Union ceases to exist - CIS is created

... and the new map of Europe is formed (but is still to be further changed) 

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Checks and balances in the EU - a benefit to small states. 

The Euro - a protection against German domination! 

The enlargement process: 
The need to create security. NATO. The Baltic States. 
Russia - the unknown factor. 
Tough preconditions for membership: The risk of a catch 22 situation. 
The devil lies in the details. 
The Austria-case. 
The fears of losing sovereignty. 
Centralization versus decentralization. 

End:

History is not dead. We should know that in the small states in Europe. Because if we become too complacent, and forget the lessons of the past - then history may resurrect, in all its horror. 

As said by our Danish poet-philosopher Piet Hein - to whom I turn again: 

We think of our age 
As the age of all ages 
When Man became modern at last. 
But what other page 
Among history's pages 
Was so overburdened with past?