Visit to Finland and Sweden by the North Atlantic Council
At the invitation of the Finnish and Swedish authorities, the North Atlantic Council will visit Finland and Sweden from Monday, 25 October, to Wednesday, 27 October 2021.
The visit will start in Helsinki on 25 October, where the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will meet the President of the Republic of Finland, Mr Sauli Niinistö, followed by an engagement of the members of the North Atlantic Council with the President.
The Secretary General will also meet the Prime Minister, Mrs Sanna Marin, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Pekka Haavisto. The members of the North Altantic Council will also engage with the Foreign Minister, and will visit the Guard Jaeger Regiment, Santahamina, where they will be welcomed by the Minister of Defence, Mr Antti Kaikkonen and the Commander of the Finnish Defence Forces, Gen. Timo Kivinen.
Furthermore, the members of the North Atlantic Council will meet with the Speaker of the Parliament, Ms Anu Vehviläinen, and representatives of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Defence Committees.
On 26 October, in Helsinki, members of the North Atlantic Council will meet the Minister of the Interior of Finland, Mrs Maria Ohisalo, and will receive a briefing by the European Center of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats (Hybrid CoE).
The North Atlantic Council will travel to Stockholm the same day (26 October 2021).
On 26 October, in Stockholm, the Secretary General will be received by H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf and will have a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sweden, Mr Stefan Lofven.
The members of the North Atlantic Council will meet with the Speaker of the Parliament, Mr Andreas Norlén and senior representatives of the Swedish Parliament. They will also attend a seminar on “Security challenges in the Baltic Sea Region”, hosted by the Minister of Defence of Sweden, Mr Peter Hultqvist, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, Mrs Ann Linde, and Minister for Home Affairs of Sweden, Mr Mikael Damberg.
On Wednesday, 27 October, the North Atlantic Council, together with the Minister of Defence of Sweden and the Minister of Defence of Finland will visit the Berga Naval Base and witness the joint Swedish/ Finnish Naval Exercise Swenex.
Media Advisory (all times are local)
Helsinki, Finland 25 October 2021
11:50: Joint press conference by the NATO Secretary General and the President of Finland
Berga Naval Base, Sweden, 27 October 2021
+12:45: Joint press point by the NATO Secretary General, the Defence Minister of Sweden and the Defence Minister of Finland
Media accreditation
Prior accreditation is required to cover the events. For further details, media should refer to the Finnish and respectively the Swedish authorities:
- The Office of the President of Finland: Ms Riikka Hietajarvi - Riikka.Hietajarvi@tpk.fi
- The Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs: Mr Andreas Enbuske - andreas.enbuske@gov.se
- Berga Naval Base (Sweden): Ms Therese Fagerstedt - therese.fagerstedt@mil.se
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Press engagements will be streamed on the NATO website (TBC).
Still and video images will be available on the NATO website after the events.
Broadcast quality b-roll will be available for download from www.natomultimedia.tv.
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