Office of the President of the Republic of Finland
Press release 29 March 2012
President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö and spouse will make their first state visit to Sweden on 17–18 April 2012 at the invitation of Carl XVI Gustav, King of Sweden. Although state visits to Sweden have long traditions in Finland, the programme of the visit will also include a strong focus on the future, with the presidential couple meeting children and young people and familiarising themselves with new technology and developments in the field of science.
The visit will begin on Tuesday, 17 April with an official reception ceremony, the presidential couple arriving at the Royal Palace at around 12 noon by horse-drawn carriage together with the King and Queen. President Niinistö will inspect the honour guard in the courtyard of the Royal Palace. The public will have the opportunity to follow the event in the courtyard. Afterwards there will be a private lunch hosted by the King and Queen.
In the afternoon President Niinistö will meet Per Westerberg, Speaker of the Swedish Parliament, and Fredrik Reinfeldt, Prime Minister of Sweden. After the talks and the related press conference President Niinistö will speak at the Stockholm School of Economics. The first day will end with a banquet at the Royal Palace.
On the second day of the visit, Wednesday, 18 April, the presidential couple will visit a Finnish school in Upplands Väsby, where they will familiarise themselves with teaching in the Finnish language and meet pupils and teachers. This will be followed by a visit to the Karolinska Institute for a presentation of the extensive development plans of the institute, particularly regarding the Life Science cluster. The programme will also include a visit to the research laboratory.
The City of Stockholm will organise a lunch cruise outside Stockholm in honour of the state visit. In the afternoon the presidential couple will visit the Finnish Institute in Stockholm. The visit will conclude with a reception hosted by the presidential couple in honour of the King and Queen of Sweden.
Jenni Haukio, the spouse of the President of the Republic, will attend a programme of her own for part of the first day of the visit. She will visit Moderna Museet, the Swedish museum of modern art, and Hyper Island, a digital media educational institution.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja will also attend the programme of the first day of the state visit.