Office of the President of the Republic of Finland
Press release 38/2022
6 June 2022
The Kultaranta Talks, hosted by President of the Republic of Finland Sauli Niinistö, will be held on 12–13 June 2022 with a title “Responsible, strong and stable Nordic region”. This year, guests at Kultaranta include NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre.
The talks will begin on Sunday, 12 June at 6.15 pm with remarks by President Niinistö and Secretary General Stoltenberg as well as a discussion on the war in Ukraine, the current security situation and Finland’s NATO membership. Before their joint discussion, the President and the Secretary General will have a bilateral meeting, after which they will hold a press conference.
Discussions will continue on Monday morning at 9.45 am with a theme Nordic model and security. Speaker of the Parliament Matti Vanhanen, Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre, Programme Director at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs Björn Fägersten, and Programme Director at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs Katja Creutz will participate in the discussion. The discussion will be moderated by journalist Kirsi Heikel.
A second discussion on Monday, starting at 11.30 am, is about Finland’s changing security policy. Commander of the Defence Forces General Timo Kivinen, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee Jussi Halla-aho, Chair of the Defence Committee Petteri Orpo, Director of the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies Professor Tuomas Forsberg, and Minister of Education Li Andersson will discuss the topic. The moderator of the discussion is journalist Seija Vaaherkumpu.
The Kultaranta Talks will conclude with President Niinistö’s closing remarks at 4 pm.
Around one hundred participants from various sectors of society have been invited to Kultaranta. Participants include political decision-makers and researchers as well as representatives of government, business and industry, organisations and the media. The discussions will be hosted by Katri Makkonen.
Yleisradio will broadcast the main discussions of the event live on both Yle TV1 and Yle Areena.
Press release updated on 9 June 2022: Due to the COVID-19 infection of Prime Minister Sanna Marin, Speaker of the Parliament Matti Vanhanen will replace her in the Monday’s discussion.