HSF ARCHIVE

Helsinki Security forum 2022

War has returned to Europe.

 

Helsinki Security Forum brings together leaders, foreign policy experts and international media to discuss how this change affects Europe and what kind of role the European north has in this changing geopolitical environment.

 

The theme of 2022 - Northern European Security Redone.

 

 

Northern Security as we have known it is going through a transformation.

The Russian invasion in Ukraine has challenged the entire European security architecture in ways not seen since the end of the Second World War.

The world is now burdened by Russia’s aggressive actions which have exacerbated the relationship between the West and Russia. In this volatile situation, Finland and Sweden have chosen to apply for NATO membership.

As Russian aggression has intensified, Western countries have shown unprecedented unity in their response. The West now needs to seek ways to deter Russia from escalating the crisis and to adjust to the evolving geopolitical environment.

Nowhere else is this change more profound than in the European north – the eastern and northern flank bordering Russia.

In 2022, Helsinki Security Forum focused on the theme of Northern European Security Redone.

The main panels were livestreamed.

Photographer:
Omar El Mrabt

Image Source: Helsinki Partners
Photographer: Omar El Mrabt Image Source: Helsinki Partners

Programme

FRIDAY 30.9.2022 - Enter HSF : Northern European Security Redone

Time Session
15.45 - 17.45 Opening ceremony

Mika Aaltola, Director, FIIA

Kai Sauer, Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Security policy, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

Keynote address:

Sauli Niinistö, President of the Republic of Finland

Opening panel:

Major War Returns to Europe 

Speakers:

Mircea Geoană, Deputy Secretary-General, NATO (virtual)

Pavlo Klimkin, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine

Antti Kaikkonen, Minister of Defence of Finland

Anna Wieslander, Director Northern Europe, Atlantic Council

Andrew Michta, Dean, College of International and Security Studies, George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies

Moderator:

Charly Salonius-Pasternak, Leading Researcher, FIIA

Live-streamed

 

Saturday 1.10.2022 - A New Geostrategic Era: Security in the Long Haul

Time Session
09.00 - 10.30 New Geostrategic era in the North:

Replanning Northern Defence

Speakers:

Ine Eriksen Søreide, Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence, Parliament of Norway

Jesper Møller Sorensen, State Secretary for Foreign Policy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark

Pekka Toveri, Former Director of Finnish Defence Intelligence

Kristi Raik, Director of the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute at ICDS

François Heisbourg, Senior Adviser for Europe, IISS; Special Adviser, FRS

Moderator:

Teri Schultz, Independent reporter

Live-streamed
11.00 - 12.30 Zeitenwende – a Turning Point for European Defence?

Speakers:

Boris Ruge, Vice Chairman, Munich Security Conference

Constanze Stelzenmüller, Senior Fellow, Brookings

James Appathurai, NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges

Marko Mihkelson, Chairman of Foreign Affairs Committee of the Parliament of Estonia

Jessica Berlin, Visiting Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States

Moderator:

Shashank Joshi, The Economist

Live-streamed
12.30 - 14.00 Lunch
17.00 - 18.30 (Re)emerging Security Challenges of the North

In cooperation with the Arctic Centre

Speakers:

Marisol Maddox, Senior Arctic Analyst, Polar Institute of the Wilson Center

Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General, World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

Ruth Harris, Director Defence & Security RAND Europe

Moderator:

Tero Vauraste, Senior BD Adviser ICEYE Oy, Wilson Center Global Fellow

Live-streamed
19.00 - 21.00 Dinner Reception
21.30 - 23.00 Night Owl Session: The Geoeconomics of Digital Connectivity

In cooperation with Nokia

Speakers:

Miapetra Kumpula-Natri, Member of the European Parliament

Tommi Uitto, President, Nokia Mobile Networks

Mikko Hyppönen, CRO, WithSecure

Moderator:

Mikael Wigell, Research Director, FIIA

 

SUNDAY 2.10.2022 - At a Juncture: 21st Century European Security Architecture in the Making

Time Session
09.00 - 10.30 The Russian Challenge

Speakers:

Michael Kofman, Senior Research Scientist, Center for Naval Analyses (Russia Studies Program); Fellow at the Kennan Institute, Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington, D.C.

Kadri Liik, Senior Policy Fellow, European Council of Foreign Relations (ECFR)

Arkady Moshes, Programme Director, FIIA

Katri Pynnöniemi, Mannerheim Chair on Russian Security Studies, University of Helsinki and Finnish National Defence University

Moderator:

Henry Foy, European Diplomatic Correspondent, Financial Times

Live-streamed
11.00 - 12.30 21st Century European Security in Global Competition

Speakers:

Pekka Haavisto, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland

Helga Maria Schmid, Secretary General, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)

Jutta Urpilainen, Commissioner in charge of International Partnerships, European Commission

Moderator:

Mika Aaltola, Director, FIIA

Live-streamed
12.30 - 12.45 Closing remarks Live-streamed

 

Speakers

Andrew Michta black and white profile

Andrew Michta

Andrew A. Michta is Dean of the College of International and Security Studies at the George C. Marshall European Center…

Andrew A. Michta is Dean of the College of International and Security Studies at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, and a nonresident senior fellow at the Scowcroft Strategy Initiative in the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. He holds a PhD in international relations from the Johns Hopkins University. His areas of expertise are international security, NATO, and European politics and security, with a special focus on Central Europe and the Baltic states.

Previously, he was professor of national security affairs at the US Naval War College, an adjunct fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Europe Program, and an affiliate of the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard University. From 1988 to 2015, he was the M.W. Buckman distinguished professor of international studies at Rhodes College. From 2013 to 2014, he was a senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington, DC, where he focused on defense programming. From 2011 to 2013, he was a senior transatlantic fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the founding director of the organization’s Warsaw office. From 2009 to 2010, he was a senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC. He served as professor of national security studies and director of studies of the Senior Executive Seminar at the George C. Marshall Center from 2005 to 2009. Previously, he was a visiting scholar at the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace at Stanford University, a public policy scholar at the Wilson Center, and a research associate at the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies at George Washington University.

He is a contributing editor for 1945, a nonpartisan journal devoted to foreign- and security-policy issues. His books include The Limits of Alliance: The United States, NATO and the EU in North and Central Europe (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006); The Soldier-Citizen: The Politics of the Polish Army after Communism (St. Martin’s Press, 1997); The Government and Politics of Postcommunist Europe (Praeger Publishers, 1994); East Central Europe After the Warsaw Pact: Security Dilemmas in the 1990s (Greenwood Press, 1992); and Red Eagle: The Army in Polish Politics, 1944-1988 (Hoover Press, 1990). He also edited and contributed to America’s New Allies: Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic in NATO (The University of Washington Press, 1999); and coedited, with Ilya Prizel, Polish Foreign Policy Reconsidered: Challenges of Independence (St. Martin’s Press, 1995) and Post-Communist Eastern Europe: Crisis and Reform (St. Martin’s Press and Johns Hopkins Foreign Policy Institute, 1992).
His most recent book with Paal Hilde, The Future of NATO: Regional Defense and Global Security, was published by the University of Michigan Press in 2014.

Michta is fluent in Polish and Russian and proficient in German and French.

Anna Wieslander black and white

Anna Wieslander

Anna Wieslander is Director for Northern Europe at the Atlantic Council and concurrently serves as Secretary General of the Swedish…

Anna Wieslander is Director for Northern Europe at the Atlantic Council and concurrently serves as Secretary General of the Swedish Defence Association. She also chairs the Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP) in Stockholm, and is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences.

Anna Wieslander was previously Deputy Director at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI). She has held positions as Head of the Speaker’s Office in the Swedish Parliament, Secretary of the Swedish Defence Commission and Deputy Director of the Swedish Defence Ministry. She has also served as Communications Director in the private sector.

She holds an IB exam from United World College of the American West (1987), a BA degree in journalism from Gothenburg University (1990), and a MA degree in political science from Lund University (1995). She is a PhD candidate in international relations at Lund University, and has pursued doctoral studies at University of California at Berkeley. She is a 2015 alumni of the Georgetown University Leadership Seminar and 2018 alumni of the Swedish Defence University Higher Comprehensive Security Course.

Antti Kaikkonen black and white

Antti Kaikkonen

Antti Kaikkonen is Finland’s Minister of Defence, representing the Centre Party. Kaikkonen served as Minister of Defence in the Government…

Antti Kaikkonen is Finland’s Minister of Defence, representing the Centre Party. Kaikkonen served as Minister of Defence in the Government of Prime Minister Antti Rinne from 6 June to 2 December 2019 and in the Government of Prime Minister Sanna Marin since 10 December 2019.

Having completed his general upper secondary education in 1993, he obtained a Master’s degree in Social Sciences from the University of Helsinki in 2014.

Antti Kaikkonen has been serving as an MP for the Uusimaa electoral district from 2003 without interruption. During his parliamentary career, Kaikkonen has acted as Vice-Chair of the Grand Committee (2004–2013) and Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee (2015–2016). In 2016-2019, he chaired the Centre Party parliamentary group.

Kaikkonen has been a member of the municipal council of Tuusula since 1996. He has the rank of Captain in the reserve.

Arkady Moshes black and white profile

Arkady Moshes

Arkady Moshes is Program Director for the EU Eastern Neighborhood and Russia research program at the Finnish Institute of International…

Arkady Moshes is Program Director for the EU Eastern Neighborhood and Russia research program at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (Helsinki) and a member of the Program on New Approaches to Research and Security in Eurasia (PONARS Eurasia), currently at George Washington University. He received his Ph.D. in history of international relations from the Russian Academy of Sciences (1992). Before moving to Finland in 2002, he had been since 1988 working in the Institute of Europe in Moscow. From 2008 to 2015 he was an associate fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Program at Chatham House. He has authored a large number of academic and analytical publications and is a frequent media commentator. He co-edited What has remained of the USSR: Exploring the erosion of the post-Soviet space (FIIA report 58, 2019) and Russia as a Network State: What Works in Russia When State Institutions Do Not (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011), and contributed articles to, among others, International Affairs (2012), Post-Soviet Affairs (2016) and Demokratizatsiya (2021).

Boris Ruge black and white profile

Boris Ruge

Ambassador Boris Ruge is Vice Chairman of the Munich Security Conference. He previously served as Director Middle East/North Africa at…

Ambassador Boris Ruge is Vice Chairman of the Munich Security Conference. He previously served as Director Middle East/North Africa at the Foreign Office in Berlin, as German Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, and as Deputy Ambassador in the US. Having joined the Foreign Service in 1989, much of Ambassador Ruge’s career has been focused on security policy. He worked on European Security and Defense Policy at the Foreign Office and was seconded to NATO Headquarters in Brussels during the Kosovo air campaign. He also served as chief political adviser to two successive Commanders of NATO’s Kosovo Force. Ambassador Ruge holds a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as well as a diploma in international studies from Johns Hopkins/SAIS. He is a graduate of the 2005 course of the Royal College of Defence Studies, London.

Constanze Stelzenmueller headshot

Constanze Stelzenmüller

Constanze Stelzenmüller is an expert on German, European, and trans-Atlantic foreign and security policy and strategy. She is the director…

Constanze Stelzenmüller is an expert on German, European, and trans-Atlantic foreign and security policy and strategy. She is the director of the Center on the United States and Europe and the inaugural holder of the Fritz Stern Chair on Germany and trans-Atlantic Relations at Brookings. She held the Kissinger Chair on Foreign Policy and International Relations at the Library of Congress from October 2019 to March 2020, and served as the inaugural Robert Bosch Senior Fellow at Brookings from 2014 to 2019.

Francois Heisbourg black and white profile

Francois Heisbourg

François Heisbourg is special adviser to the Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique and senior adviser for Europe at the IISS….

François Heisbourg is special adviser to the Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique and senior adviser for Europe at the IISS.

His career spans government, notably as international security adviser at the French Ministry of Defence (1981-84), industry at Thomson-CSF (now Thales) and Matra (now Airbus), the think-tank world as director of IISS and of FRS, and academia as professor of world policy at Sciences-Po Paris. He chaired the IISS and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy during the first two decades of the century.

He participated in a number of blue-ribbon bodies, e.g. the French government’s “Facing terrorism” study (2005) and the Defence and National Security White Papers under Presidents Sarkozy and Hollande; the International Commission on the Balkans; the International Committee on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (2010).

F.Heisbourg was part of the four person team which crafted the Finnish governmental Report on the possible consequences of joining NATO (2016). He was part of Emmanuel Macron’s campaign team in 2017-17 handling defence and national security issues.

In Berlin (2015-17) he served as Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow at the Bosch Academy.

He has written extensively on strategic affairs. His latest book is “Retour de la guerre”, Paris (Odile Jacob ed.), 2021 which focussed on the prospective return of high intensity conflict in Europe and the Indo-Pacific.

Twitter: @FHeisbourg
f.heisbourg@frstrategie.org

Helga Schmid black and white profile

Helga Maria Schmid

Helga Maria Schmid was appointed to the post of Secretary General of the OSCE in December 2020 for a three-year…

Helga Maria Schmid was appointed to the post of Secretary General of the OSCE in December 2020 for a three-year term.

She first joined the diplomatic service as Assistant Private Secretary to the Minister for European Affairs of Germany (1990–1991). Since then she has held several prominent diplomatic positions during her career. Early on, Ms. Schmid was Political Adviser to Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel and Head of Cabinet to Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer; and just prior to her appointment as OSCE Secretary General, she was Secretary General for the European External Action Service.

From 2011 to 2016, Ms. Schmid was the Deputy Secretary General for Political Affairs for the European External Action Service. Preceding that, she was the Director of the Policy Planning and Early Warning Unit (Policy Unit) of High Representative Javier Solana in the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union in Brussels.

Henry Foy black and white

Henry Foy

Henry Foy is the FT’s European Diplomatic Correspondent, based in Brussels. He heads the newspaper’s coverage of EU foreign policy,…

Henry Foy is the FT’s European Diplomatic Correspondent, based in Brussels. He heads the newspaper’s coverage of EU foreign policy, relations between Brussels and other world powers, and the diplomatic intrigues between member states.

He also leads coverage of Nato, and the evolving defence and security issues affecting Europe, and has been at the heart of the FT’s continuing coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the western response to it.

Previously, Henry was the FT’s Moscow Bureau chief, where he interviewed Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin in summer 2019, a rare meeting between the Russian president and an international journalist where Putin made his historic declaration that the “liberal idea is obsolete.”

During his almost five years in Moscow, Henry charted the Putin regime’s descent into repression and autocracy, including the attempted assassination and jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the collapse of western cooperation with Russia and relations between the Kremlin and Donald Trump’s White House.

He has also held FT assignments in Warsaw, where he covered the eastern EU nations, and in London, as the newspaper’s global automotive correspondent. Henry joined the FT in 2013 from global news agency Reuters, where he was a correspondent in India.

Ine Eriksen Soreide black and white

Ine Eriksen Søreide

Ine Eriksen Søreide Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence (Conservative Party), Norwegian Parliament • Member of…

Ine Eriksen Søreide

Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence (Conservative Party), Norwegian Parliament

• Member of Norwegian Parliament 2001-
• Chair of the Standing Committee on Education, Church and Research Affairs, Norwegian Parliament, 2005-2009
• Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence, Norwegian Parliament, 2009-2013
• Minister of Defence, Government of Norway, 2013-2017
• Minister of Foreign Affairs, Government of Norway, 2017-2021
• Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence, Norwegian Parliament, 2021-

Education:
• Law degree from the University of Tromsø, Norway

James Appathurai black and white profile

James Appathurai

Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges James Appathurai was appointed to this post in September 2021. As DASG,…

Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges

James Appathurai was appointed to this post in September 2021. As DASG, he works on policy development and implementation in the fields of Emerging and Disruptive Technologies, cyber security, counter-terrorism, the security implications of climate change, and hybrid defence. Mr. Appathurai previously served as DASG for Political Affairs and Security Policy, as well as Special Representative to Central Asia and the Caucasus. He was NATO’s Spokesperson from 2004 to 2010. He served as Deputy Head and Senior Planning Officer in the Policy Planning and Speechwriting Section of NATO’s Political Affairs Division from 1998 to 2004. He served in the Canadian Defence Department from 1994 to 1998.

Jesper Moller Sorensen black and white profile

Jesper Møller Sorensen

Mr. Jesper Møller Sørensen has served in the Danish Foreign Service for more than 25 years, including as the Political…

Mr. Jesper Møller Sørensen has served in the Danish Foreign Service for more than 25 years, including as the Political Director and Ambassador to Pakistan and postings in Kabul, Washington and Ankara.

Jessica Berlin black and white profile

Jessica Berlin

Jessica Berlin is a Visiting Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the US and the founder of strategy advisory…

Jessica Berlin is a Visiting Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the US and the founder of strategy advisory CoStruct. She focuses on transatlantic relations, geopolitical order, African-European relations, and Germany’s evolving role in the world. Her career has spanned 15+ years in security, economic development, and tech, including work with civil society and media organizations in Rwanda, with the US Senate and Department of Defense, with the German aid agency in Afghanistan, and with technology companies across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

Jessica’s commentary has been featured by DW News, the Washington Post, BBC World Service, Tagesspiegel, ZDF, Euronews, et al. She serves as Vice Chairman at pan-African fintech company :brij, as an Advisory Board member at pan-European think tank Europa Nova, a Futurity Fellow at the BMW Foundation, and as a Global Governance Futures Fellow of the Robert Bosch Foundation. She holds an M.Sc. in Political Economy of Emerging Markets from King’s College London, a B.A. in International Relations from Tufts University, and speaks five languages.

Jutta Urpilainen black and white profile

Jutta Urpilainen

Jutta Urpilainen is the Commissioner in charge of International Partnerships at the European Commission.

Jutta Urpilainen is the Commissioner in charge of International Partnerships at the European Commission.

Kadri Liik black and white profile

Kadri Liik

Kadri Liik is a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Her research focuses on Russia, Eastern…

Kadri Liik is a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Her research focuses on Russia, Eastern Europe, and the Baltic region.

Before joining ECFR in October 2012, Liik was the director of the International Centre for Defence Studies in Estonia from 2006 until 2011, where she also worked as a senior researcher and director of the Centre’s Lennart Meri Conference. Throughout the 1990s, Liik worked as a Moscow correspondent for several Estonian daily papers, including the highest-circulation daily in Estonia, Postimees, as well as Eesti Päevaleht and the Baltic News Service. In 2002, she became the foreign news editor at Postimees. In 2004, she left to become editor-in-chief at the monthly foreign affairs magazine, Diplomaatia. She was also the host of “Välismääraja”, a current affairs talkshow at Raadio Kuku in Tallinn.

Liik holds a BA in Journalism from Tartu University (Estonia) and an MA in International Relations specialising in diplomacy from Lancaster University.

Katri Pynnöniemi black and white profile

Katri Pynnöniemi

Katri Pynnöniemi is an associate professor at the University of Helsinki and holds Mannerheim Chair of Russian Security Studies. The…

Katri Pynnöniemi is an associate professor at the University of Helsinki and holds Mannerheim Chair of Russian Security Studies. The joint professorship between the University of Helsinki and the National Defense University was established in August 2017.

Pynnöniemi has published widely on the system change in Russia and on Russian foreign and security policy. Her current research deals with Russia’s war in Ukraine, threat perceptions and strategic thinking. Her latest publications include edited book Nexus of Patriotism and Militarism in Russia: Quest for internal unity (Helsinki University Press, 2021); co-authored article with Minna Ojala “Perceptions of hybrid war in Russia: Means, targets and objectives identified in the Russian debate” (Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 2020); “Russia’s National Security Strategy: Analysis of Conceptual Evolution” (Journal of Slavic Military Studies, 2018).

Kristi Raik black and white profile

Kristi Raik

Dr Kristi Raik is the Director of the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute at the International Centre for Defence and Security…

Dr Kristi Raik is the Director of the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute at the International Centre for Defence and Security since February 2018. She is also an Adjunct Professor of International Relations at the University of Turku. She has previously served inter alia as a Senior Research Fellow and Acting Programme Director at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs in Helsinki and an official at the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union in Brussels.

Kristi has published, lectured and commented widely on European security and EU foreign policy, including the EU’s relations with Russia, Ukraine and other Eastern neighbours. Kristi is also an expert of the foreign and security policies of the Baltic states and Finland. She has provided expert contributions to the Estonian, Finnish, EU and NATO institutions. Kristi has a Ph.D. from the University of Turku.

Marisol Maddox black and white profile

Marisol Maddox

Marisol Maddox is a Senior Arctic Analyst at the Polar Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in…

Marisol Maddox is a Senior Arctic Analyst at the Polar Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC. Her research considers the nexus of the Arctic, climate change, security, and geopolitics. She is particularly interested in the ways actorless threats– such as climate change and biodiversity loss– increasingly challenge strategic thinking and first-order assumptions about security.

Ms. Maddox is a non-resident research fellow at the Center for Climate & Security, a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a member of the Newport Arctic Scholars Initiative at the U.S. Naval War College.

Ms. Maddox holds an M.A. in International Security with a concentration in Transnational Challenges from George Mason University’s Schar School. She holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies with a concentration in Ecosystems from Binghamton University.

Marko Mihkelson black and white profile

Marko Mihkelson

Marko Mihkelson (52) is a Member of Estonian Parliament and he is a member of the liberal Reform Party (Renew…

Marko Mihkelson (52) is a Member of Estonian Parliament and he is a member of the liberal Reform Party (Renew Europe). He is a Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Marko Mihkelson was first elected to the Parliament in 2003 and is currently serving his fifth mandate. He has served in previous parliaments as a Chair of Foreign Affairs Committee, Chair of EU Affairs Committee and Chair of National Defense Committee. Between 2000 and 2003 he worked as the Director of the Baltic Centre for Russian Studies, from 1997 to 2000 he was the Editor-in-Chief of the biggest national daily newspaper Postimees and from 1994 to 1997 he was Postimees’s correspondent in Moscow. He has a MA degree in History from the University of Tartu. He is leading the Council of Foreign Relations of Estonia and he is a member of the ECFR Council. He is author of the books „Russia: In Dusk and Dawn“ (2010) and “The Disruptive Era” (2018).
Twitter: @markomihkelson

Miapetra Kumpula-Natria black and white profile

Miapetra Kumpula-Natri

Ms. Miapetra Kumpula-Natri is a Member of the European Parliament representing Finland and the S&D Group. She is a member…

Ms. Miapetra Kumpula-Natri is a Member of the European Parliament representing Finland and the S&D Group. She is a member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) and a substitute of the Committee on International Trade (INTA). She served as the first vice-chair of the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age (AIDA). MEP Kumpula-Natri is the vice-chair of the Delegation for relations with the United States and a substitute of the Delegation for relations with Japan. Her interests are digitalisation, data, AI, trade, energy and climate.

Kumpula-Natri, who is an engineer by education, was a member of the Finnish Parliament for 11 years. Among other things, she was the chairperson of the Parliament’s Grand Committee, which is responsible for EU affairs. Prior to elections she worked for three years as a Special Adviser for Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen and another three years for the European Movement in Finland. She has been a member of the municipal council of Vaasa for 24 years.

Michael Kofman black and white profile

Michael Kofman

Michael Kofman serves as Research Program Director in the Russia Studies Program at CNA and as a Fellow at the…

Michael Kofman serves as Research Program Director in the Russia Studies Program at CNA and as a Fellow at the Kennan Institute, Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington, DC. His research focuses on the Russia and the former Soviet Union, specializing in Russian armed forces, military thought, capabilities, and strategy. Previously, he served as a Program Manager and subject matter expert at National Defense University, advising senior military and government officials on issues in Russia and Eurasia. Mr. Kofman is also a Senior Editor at War on the Rocks, where he regularly authors articles on strategy, the Russian military, Russian decision-making, and related foreign policy issues. He runs a personal blog on the Russian armed forces at https://russianmilitaryanalysis.wordpress.com/

Mr. Kofman has published numerous articles on the Russian armed forces, security issues in Russia/Eurasia, and analyses for the US government. He holds an MA in International Security from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Mika Aaltola black and white profile

Mika Aaltola

Dr. Mika Aaltola is the Director of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA). He is also a tenured professor…

Dr. Mika Aaltola is the Director of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA). He is also a tenured professor of International Relations and European Union Affairs at Tallinn University (part-time), Estonia, and holds the rank of docent at Tampere University. He has been a visiting fellow at Cambridge University, Sciences Po (CERI), and Johns Hopkins as well as a visiting professor at the University of Minnesota. His areas of expertise include the U.S. global role, dynamics of major power politics, democratic vulnerability, pandemic security, and Finnish foreign policy. His published peer reviewed monographs include research on Finnish foreign policy (Tampere University Press, 2003), on the cultural foundations of the U.S. foreign and security policy (Brill, 2008), on ethics and humanitarianism as geopolitical practices (2008, Palgrave), on pandemic security (Routledge 2012), on the power politics of U.S. global infrastructure (Palgrave 2014, Routledge 2016, co-authored). His latest published monograph is Democratic Vulnerability and Autocratic Meddling – The ‘Thucydidean Brink’ in Regressive Geopolitical Competition (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2021).

He has also published a monograph on Finnish foreign policy after Crimea (Docendo 2019) as well as an edited volume together with Mikael Wigell and Sören Scholvin (Geo-economics and Power Politics in the 21st Century: The Revival of Economic Statecraft, Routledge, 2018). He defended his doctoral degree at Tampere University in 1999 (“The Rhythm, Exception, and Rule in International Relations: The Case of Mad Cow Disease”), received his MA degree from Tampere University (1994), and BA degree from Columbia University (1992).

Mikko Hyppönen black and white profile

Mikko Hyppönen

Mikko Hyppönen is a global cyber security expert. He works as the Chief Research Officer for WithSecure and Principal Research…

Mikko Hyppönen is a global cyber security expert. He works as the Chief Research Officer for WithSecure and Principal Research Advisor for F-Secure. Mr. Hyppönen has written on his research for the New York Times, Wired and Scientific American and lectured at the universities of Oxford, Stanford and Cambridge. His latest book is “If It’s Smart, It’s Vulnerable” (Wiley 2022).

Mircea Geoana black and white profile

Mircea Geoană

Mircea Geoană is NATO Deputy Secretary General.

Mircea Geoană is NATO Deputy Secretary General.

Pavlo Klimkin black and white profile

Pavlo Klimkin

Pavlo Klimkin graduated from Kyiv school with a focus on physic and math, has Master Degree in Physics and Applied…

Pavlo Klimkin graduated from Kyiv school with a focus on physic and math, has Master Degree in Physics and Applied Math from the Moscow Physical Technical Institute (1985-1991), Worked as a researcher in the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, in 1993 joined the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine, working on arms control. disarmament, nuclear safety and energy security issues. Has been posted to the Embassies of Ukraine in Germany and the UK, served as Ukrainian ambassador to Germany. Was chief negotiator for the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement as well as a number of other negotiations. In 2014-2019 serves as Foreign Minister of Ukraine.

Pekka Haavisto black and white profile

Pekka Haavisto

Pekka Haavisto is the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland. He was born in Helsinki on 23 March 1958. He…

Pekka Haavisto is the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland. He was born in Helsinki on 23 March 1958. He was a Member of Parliament in 1983–1995 and was returned to Parliament in 2007. In 1995–1999, he served as Minister of Development and the Environment and in 2013–2014 as Minister for International Development. In 1993–1995 and in 2018–2019, he was Party Leader of the Greens in Finland. He has also served several years as a member of the Helsinki City Council. He stood as a candidate in the presidential election in Finland in 2012 and in 2018.

He has gained wide experience of various areas of foreign policy, for example, while chairing the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Task Forces on environmental impacts of war in the Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq, Liberia, occupied Palestinian territory and Sudan. He has also worked as the EU Special Representative for Sudan and Darfur, Special Advisor for the UN (ASG) in the Darfur peace process, and Special Representative to the Minister for Foreign Affairs in African crises.

Pekka Haavisto lives in a registered partnership. His main interests are books, cycling, wooden boats and cultural backyards.

Pekka Toveri black and white profile

Pekka Toveri

Major General Toveri served in the Finnish Defence Forces from 1985 to 2021. His over 35 years long career can…

Major General Toveri served in the Finnish Defence Forces from 1985 to 2021. His over 35 years long career can be divided to three parts.

For around 13 years MG Toveri served in the troops, mainly in the Armoured Brigade, where he served three times as platoon leader, Tank Company Commander, Tank Battalion Chief of Staff, Commander of Armoured School and Commander of the Brigade. MG Toveri also served as the Commander of the Guards Jaeger Regiment.

MG Toveri served 10 years abroad, including two deployments in Bosnia and Afghanistan. He also served as the Finnish Liaison Officer to U.S. Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Virginia, USA; as the Deputy Defence Attaché to Sweden and as the Defence Attaché to USA and Canada.

For 12 years of his career MG Toveri served in staff positions, mainly in the Finnish Defense Command J3 and J5. MG Toveri´s last assignment was to serve as the Director of the Finnish Defense Intelligence, from which position he retired.

He is currently working as a Board Member in two start-up companies and in a Cooperative Bank, as an Advisor to a Strategic Communications Company, and as a Consultant and Mentor for the General Staff Officer Students in the National Defense University. He holds also positions on Boards of three different Foundations.

Petteri Taalas black and white profile

Petteri Taalas

-Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization 2016- -Director General of the Finnish Meteorological Institute 2002-2015 -Professor & scientist 1985-2002 -PhD…

-Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization 2016-
-Director General of the Finnish Meteorological Institute 2002-2015
-Professor & scientist 1985-2002
-PhD in Meteorology 1993
-Member of United Nations/SG Guterres Climate Core Group 2017-
-Delegate & Chair of national IPCC group 2007-2015
-Chairman of the Board of University of Eastern Finland 2009-2015
-Member of Board of Directors of Fortum energy company 2014-2016
-Member of Science Academy of Finland and the Academy of Technical Sciences

Ruth Harris black and white profile

Ruth Harris

Ruth Harris (she/her) is the director of the Defence, Security and Infrastructure Group at RAND Europe. Formerly she worked for…

Ruth Harris (she/her) is the director of the Defence, Security and Infrastructure Group at RAND Europe. Formerly she worked for 23 years in the UK Armed Forces and was employed for 5 years within humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. Her experience has focused on operational and geopolitical assessment, working with the UN, ICRC, NATO and Armed Forces from across Europe and the U.S.

Harris has an extensive track record in the contemporary and future operating environment, strategy, policy and conflict analysis. She has conducted evaluation of defence operations, grey zone conflicts and the future threat environment.  She has recently worked extensively on the impact of climate change on defence planning and security threats. She has conducted analysis on CT/CVE operations Africa, assessments in the movement of illicit arms and on operational deployments across Africa, Iraq, Afghanistan and in humanitarian and disaster relief operations in Kenya, Pakistan, Haiti and Indonesia. She was a senior analyst for the transition processes in Afghanistan and supported work in the field of WPS in Iraq and Afghanistan working alongside the UN. Her experience with NATO also includes appointments within NATO HQ and SHAPE – CIMIC and Plans (J5). As a senior research fellow at the Changing Character of War Centre, Oxford University, she studied future threats and innovation in conflict. Harris holds a M.Phil. in international relations (Oxford), an M.A. in defence and security studies (Kings College London), an M.Sc. in conflict studies and disaster response, and an M.Sc. in logistics management.

Sanna Marin black and white profile

Sanna Marin

Sanna Marin was appointed Prime Minister of Finland on 10 December 2019. She is the third female prime minister of…

Sanna Marin was appointed Prime Minister of Finland on 10 December 2019. She is the third female prime minister of Finland and the youngest prime minister in Finland’s history.

Marin has been actively engaged in politics since 2006. “Being involved and making a difference represent civil rights for me. Changing things takes commitment. The welfare state and the ground rules for working life should not be taken for granted; they are the result of hard work and determined efforts.”

Marin was elected Second Deputy Party Leader of the Social Democratic Party in 2014 and First Deputy Party Leader in 2017. In August 2020, Marin was elected Leader of the Social Democratic Party.

Marin was elected to Parliament for her first term in 2015. While in Parliament, she has been a member of the Grand Committee, the Legal Affairs Committee and the Environment Committee. She is also a member of the City Council of Tampere, which she chaired in 2013–2017. Prior to her term as Prime Minister, Marin served as Minister of Transport and Communications in the Rinne Government.

Sauli Niinistö black and white profile

Sauli Niinistö

Sauli Niinistö is the 12th President of the Republic of Finland. He was inaugurated on 1 March 2012 and was…

Sauli Niinistö is the 12th President of the Republic of Finland. He was inaugurated on 1 March 2012 and was re-elected for another six-year term in January 2018.

Shashank Joshi black and white

Shashank Joshi

Shashank Joshi is Defence Editor at The Economist and a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Department of War Studies…

Shashank Joshi is Defence Editor at The Economist and a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Department of War Studies King’s College London. Prior to joining The Economist in 2018 he served as Senior Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), where he now serves on the Advisory Board, and Research Associate at Oxford University’s Changing Character of War Programme. He has lectured to institutions including the UK Defence Academy and Atomic Weapons Establishment, given evidence to the House of Commons’ foreign affairs and defence committees, and published books on Iran’s nuclear programme and India’s armed forces. He holds degrees from Cambridge and Harvard, where he served as a Kennedy Scholar from Britain to the United States. He has also been a participant in the Summer Workshop on the Analysis of Military Operations and Strategy (SWAMOS) at Cornell University. His most recent cover stories for The Economist have covered global nuclear risks, the Russian army and the war in Ukraine.

Teri Schultz black and white profile

Teri Schultz

Teri Schultz has been covering NATO and the European Union from Brussels since 2007. She can regularly been seen and…

Teri Schultz has been covering NATO and the European Union from Brussels since 2007. She can regularly been seen and heard on the American network National Public Radio and on Deutsche Welle, Germany’s public broadcaster. Previously, Teri covered the U.S. State Department in Washington, DC and prior to that, she worked for YLE and CNN in Finland from 1989-1997, spending a lot of time in the Baltic States. She has a MSc in International Relations from the University of Helsinki and a BA in Journalism from New Mexico State University.

Tero Vauraste black and white profile

Tero Vauraste

MSc, Lt Cdr (Ret) Tero Vauraste is a Senior BD Advisor of ICEYE. ICEYE is launching and operating a constellation…

MSc, Lt Cdr (Ret) Tero Vauraste is a Senior BD Advisor of ICEYE.

ICEYE is launching and operating a constellation of small radar imaging satellites, providing
access to timely and reliable Earth Observation data with a track record of 4 + years already.
Since ICEYE’s initial start in 2012, Vauraste has supported the founders in terms of market
approaches and platforming technology tests. Permanently joining ICEYE in 2020, Vauraste is Senior BD Advisor responsible of long term strategic client relations mainly on the governmental and defense sector. He is a member of the DG Defis Space Expert Committee.

Prior to ICEYE, Vauraste has served as a Naval and Coast Guard officer during 1991-1997 and
then he has held various CEO and Senior Executive positions within security, aviation,
automotive, maritime, rail, logistics and Arctic industries. During his career as a
commissioned officer he served in the Navy and in the Finnish Coast Guard as a CO of patrol
crafts and a CO of the Gulf of Finland District Special Unit.’

He has a Master of Science degree from the Leicester University (2002) in Risk, Crisis and
Disaster Management and he is currently a PhD Student at the National Defence Academy in
Finland researching security of supply.

During 2009-2018 he served as the CEO of Arctia Ltd, owner of the Finnish icebreaker fleet
with operations in the Baltic Sea and Arctic areas.

He has also held a long-term position of Chair/Vice Chair of the Arctic Economic Council
during 2014-2019. He is a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center Polar Programme in
Washington DC with and a Director and a Board Member of EARSC, the European Association of Remote Sensing Companies. He has is own Arctic and Maritime Consulting Company, Mariadi Oy and he is an Emissary of the Arctic Circle.

Tommi Uitto black and white profile

Tommi Uitto

As the head of Nokia’s Mobile Networks (MN) Business Group since end of 2018, Tommi is shaping not only mobile…

As the head of Nokia’s Mobile Networks (MN) Business Group since end of 2018, Tommi is shaping not only mobile industry, but society itself by bringing 5G, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Open RAN, and Cloud RAN to the market to fuel fourth industrial revolution. Tommi is passionate about developing, selling, and building Radio Access Networks (RAN) and Microwave Radio Links (MWR), and seeing his Communication Services Provider (CSP) and Enterprise customers with Private/Dedicated Wireless Networks thrive in delivering ever better services in mobile broadband and Internet of Things (IoT). His previous roles include leading worldwide product sales of Nokia’s Mobile Networks and heading all of Nokia’s networks business in West Europe. After having joined the industry in Microwave Radio Link business during the heyday of 2G/GSM, Tommi played a key part in introducing and rolling out Nokia’s 3G/WCDMA and 4G/LTE technologies to the market. He was heading Nokia’s LTE Radio Access business line at the time when 4G/LTE services were launched in the pioneering markets of South Korea, Japan, and Scandinavia. Tommi holds Master’s degrees from the Aalto University (previously Helsinki University of Technology), Finland, and Michigan Technological University, USA. He is based in Finland and has also lived in the US and France.

Contact

Kukka-Maria Kovsky

Head of Strategic Partnerships at FIIA,
Head of the HSF Secretariat
kukka-maria.kovsky@fiia.fi

ANNI Lindgren

Specialist,
HSF Conference Coordinator
anni.lindgren@fiia.fi

 

Photography: Jussi Helsten

Image Source: Helsinki Partners
Photography: Jussi Helsten Image Source: Helsinki Partners