This third annual round of Kultaranta talks are being held on Sunday and Monday at the President’s summer residence in Naantali.
Discussion topics on the agenda include the broader development of the international situation, as well as Finland's national security.
The participants invited to the event include around one hundred foreign and security policy experts and opinion-makers from various sectors of society, including political decision-makers, researchers and representatives of administrative branches, business life, various organisations and the media. The event is organised in cooperation with the Finnish Institute of International Affairs.
This year, for the first time, speakers will include international visitors.
Strobe Talbott, President of the Brookings Institution and former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State will be taking part, as will Alexei Kudrin, Chairman of the Committee of Civil Initiatives and former Russian Minister of Finance and Wolfgang Ischinger, Chairman of the Munich Security Conference. The three will hold a discussion on ”The World Disorder?”.
Other sessions and working groups will feature topics including some of the challenges Finland is facing, the West and the state of democracy, the outlook for Russian development, and intelligence, terrorism and security.
President Niinistö's opening address will be broadcast live online beginning at 7 PM on Yle Areena.
There is also an official website for the Kultaranta talks with the programme and webcast links here, as well as a Twitter feed #Kultaranta.