16.12. 

10th Anniversary of Atlantic Council of Finland

10.12.

The Annual Meeting of Atlantic Council of Finland at the House of the Estates in Helsinki.

10.12.

The Atlantic Council of Finland´s 10th Anniversary event at the House of the Estates in Helsinki. The 10th Anniversary publication "Suomi ja Nato" was published.

4.11.

Seminar "The Road to Peace and Stability in Afghanistan - Denmark’s and Finland’s contribution". The seminar was organised by the Atlantic Council of Finland, the Danish Embassy, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Ministry of Defence of Finland, the Finnish-Danish Cultural Foundation and Hanasaari. 

Program:

Moderator:
Mr Pertti Salolainen, MP, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Parliament of Finland,
Vice-Chair of the Atlantic Council of Finland

Speakers:
Ms Gunvor Kronman, Director, Hanasaari and the Finnish-Danish Cultural Foundation
Mr Markus Lyra, Under-Secretary of State, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland
Mr Søren Gade, Minister of Defence, Denmark
Mr Jyri Häkämies, Minister of Defence, Finland
Mr Lawrence Rossin, Ambassador, Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Operations, NATO
EU’s Police Mission in Afghanistan
Mr Kai Vittrup, Head of EUPOL
Mr Carsten Damsgaard, Ambassador, the Danish Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan
Mr Timo Kantola, Director, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland
Mr Ahti Kurvinen, Senior Staff Officer, Ministry of Defence of Finland
Mr Lawrence Rossin, Ambassador, Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Operation, NATO
Mr Olli Ruohomäki, Senior Advisor, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland
Mr Charly Salonius-Pasternak, Researcher, the Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Mr Kai Vittrup, Head of EUPOL, EU’s Police Mission in Afghanistan
Mr Jens-Otto Horslund, Denmark’s Ambassador to Finland

19.10.

Program:

Welcome address: H.E. Mr Wilfried Grolig, Ambassador of Germany in Finland

Speakers:

Professor Dr. Bernd Wegner: Finland as a Topic in German Historiography
Helmut Schmidt University, University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg

Adjunct professor Dr. Dieter Krüger: NATO History as a Topic in Military History
Military History Research Institute, Potsdam

Panel: NATO and Finland in the Light of the Cold War
Moderator: Prof. Dr. Bernd Wegner

Introduction to the book by Dr. Agilolf Kesselring
Ambassador (ret.) Jaakko Iloniemi
Professor Dr. Tuomas Forsberg University of Tampere
Colonel (ret.), Adjunct Professor, Dr. Pekka Visuri National Defence University
Professor Dr. Seppo Hentilä University of Helsinki

14.10.

The Atlantic Council of Finland organised a seminar on "Arctic Cooperation Perspectives" at the Auditorium of the Pikkuparlamentti (New Annex Building of the Parliament) in Helsinki.

Programme:

Opening Remarks
Mr Pertti Salolainen, MP, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Parliament of Finland, Vice-Chair of the Atlantic Council of Finland, Minister (Hon.), Ambassador (ret.)

Panel    
H.E. Mr. Christopher Shapardanov, Ambassador of Canada to Finland

Dr Stanislav L. Tkachenko, Professor, St. Petersburg State University, School of International Relations

Mr Karsten Klepsvik, Ambassador for Polar Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
Norway
        
Closing Remarks
Mr Juha Korkeaoja, MP, Chair of the Defence Committee, Parliament of Finland


The seminar was organised together with the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Defence Committee of the Parliament of Finland.

7. - 9.10.

The General Assembly of the Atlantic Treaty Association (ATA) in Kiev.

25.9.

Morning coffee event organised by the Atlantic Council of Finland on "Energy Security". Speaker of the event was Mr Mika Purhonen, Senior analyst, former Director General of the National Emergency Supply Agency (years 1993 - 2008).

15.7.

"Nato - Rauhanliikekö?" -discussion event in SuomiAreena Pori organised by the Atlantic Council of Finland and Peace Union of Finland.

Speakers of the event were professor Tuomas Forsberg, Member of Parliament Ilkka Kanerva, Member of Parliament Markku Laukkanen and Member of Parliament Minna Sirnö.

The event was moderated by Editor-in-Chief Matti Apunen, Aamulehti Newspaper.

15.6.

Seminar"Quo Vadis NATO? - Not ready to retire at 60" organised by the Atlantic Council of Finland and the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. The speakers of the seminar were: 

Mrs Liisa Jaakonsaari, MP, Chairperson of the Atlantic Council of Finland,
Mr Chris Cooter, Deputy Permanent Representative, Canadian Joint Delegation to NATO,
Mr Randy Hoag, Director, Defence Operations and Planning, U.S. Mission to NATO,
Professor Trevor Taylor, Professorial Research Fellow, Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI),
Professor Raimo Väyrynen, Director, Finnish Institute of International Affairs and
Mr Pertti Salolainen, MP, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Minister (Hon.).

Chair of the seminar: Dr. Teija Tiilikainen, Director, Network for European Studies, University of Helsinki

This event was organised with the kind support of the Embassies of Canada, United Kingdom and the United States of America.

Pictures and further information

5.6.

Morning coffee event organised by the Atlantic Council of Finland on "Re-wiring the EU-US Relationship". Speaker Mr Daniel Korski, Senior Policy Fellow, European Council on Foreign Relations.

19.5.

Annual Meeting of the Atlantic Council of Finland in Palace, Eteläranta 10, in Helsinki. The keynote speaker was Speaker of the Parliament of Finland Mr Sauli Niinistö.

13.-14.5.

The Council Meeting of the Atlantic Treaty Association (ATA) in Brussells.

11.5.

Norwegian Minister of Defence Mrs Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen delivered a keynote speech on "Norway’s Security Outlook – The High North & NATO" in the Atlantic Council of Finland. The event was organised at the House of the Estates. The event was chaired by Mr Pertti Salolainen, MP, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Minister (Hon.), Ambassador (ret.) and Vice-Chair of the Atlantic Council of Finland.

17.4.

The Atlantic Council of Finland and Navy Command Finland organised a seminar on ”Nordic Defence Cooperation – Will it Work?” in Heikkilä garrison, Navy Command Finland, Turku.

Programme:

Chair of the seminar:
Ambassador Leif Blomqvist, Board member of the Atlantic Council of Finland

Speakers:

Commodore Veli-Jukka Pennala, Chief of Staff, FIN NAVY HQ

Dr Tuomas Forsberg, Professor of International Politics, University of Tampere

Panel discussion:
Minister Counsellor Ole Fester JØrgensen, Embassy of the Kingdom of Denmark in Helsinki
Colonel Juha Pyykönen, Defence Command Finland
Minister Anders Ljunggren, Embassy of Sweden in Helsinki
Captain (N) Ernst R. Egelid, Defence Attaché, Royal Norwegian Embassy in Helsinki

17.4.

Training course for Journalists "EU - NATO - Russia" in Turku. Further information.

2.4.

The First Finnish NATO Day "Nato valtaa Vanhan!" in the old student house in Helsinki.

Speakers of the event:

26.3.

Training course for Journalists "100 päivää Obamaa" in Helsinki. Further information.

5.2.

The Atlantic Council of Finland organised a morning coffee event where the keynote speech on “The Challenge of Bringing Peace in Afghanistan and the Role of NATO” was delivered by Dr Zalmai Rassoul, National Security Advisor of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

The event was chaired by ACF Board Member, Ambassador Jukka Valtasaari, former ambassador of Finland to the US.
 

4.2.