NATO Chief, Norwegian PM due Sunday as 10th Kultaranta Talks begin

The Kultaranta Talks, hosted every year by President Sauli Niinistö at his summer residence Naantali will begin on Sunday.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre will participate as main guests in the Kultaranta Talks this year.

The eighth and nineth Kultaranta Talks, however, were held remotely in the last two years against the backdrop of coronavirus outbreak.

This year, the title of this foreign and security policy discussion event is “Responsible, strong and stable Nordic region”.

The talks will begin with speeches by Niinistö at 6:15 pm and the evening’s discussion will focus on Finland’s NATO membership.

There will be two public discussions on Sunday. The theme of the morning’s discussion is the Nordic model and cooperation.

The Kultaranta Talks will conclude with a discussion on Finland’s changing security policy.

About a hundred participants from various sectors of society have been invited to Kultaranta.

The opening discussion and the first panel discussion will be held in English, as international guests will also be present.

Before their joint discussion, the President and the NATO 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.

Prime Minister Sanna Marin, 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 4:00 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.

In addition to Niinistö, Stoltenberg and Støre will also have bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Marin at Kultaranta.

The talks so far were held nine times and normally the discussion takes place for two days at the president's summer residence Kultaranta, with experts from home and abroad taking part.