President of Iceland to make state visit to Finland

Office of the President of the Republic
Press release 19/2018
3 May 2018

President of Iceland Guðni Th. Jóhannesson and First Lady Eliza Reid will make a state visit to Finland from 14 to 17 May 2018. The visit will be hosted by President of the Republic of Finland Sauli Niinistö with his spouse, Mrs Jenni Haukio. President Niinistö and Mrs Haukio will receive the visitors at a welcoming ceremony in the Presidential Palace on Tuesday 15 May 2018.

The programme of the visit will include a bilateral discussion between the presidents as well as discussions among a larger group. The topics will include the bilateral relations between Finland and Iceland, the successive chairmanships of the Arctic Council of the two countries, security questions regarding the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea as well as Nordic cooperation. On Tuesday 15 May, President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson will also meet Speaker of the Finnish Parliament Paula Risikko and Prime Minister Juha Sipilä. The day will conclude with a gala dinner hosted by President Niinistö and Mrs Haukio in the Presidential Palace.

On Wednesday 16 May, the presidents will visit icebreaker Urho where they attend a round table discussion on Arctic matters. President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson will also participate in a seminar organised by the Confederation of Finnish Industries and the Federation of Icelandic Industries, give a lecture at the University of Helsinki and visit the Me & MyCity learning environment. In the evening, the Icelandic presidential couple will host a reception at the Finlandia Hall in Helsinki.

On Thursday 17 May, President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson and First Lady Eliza Reid will travel to Turku to visit Visitor and Innovation Centre Joki, the Startup Community SparkUp, the University of Turku, the Turku Castle, the Åbo Akademi University, and the Forum Marinum Maritime Centre.

The Icelandic presidential couple last visited Finland in June 2017 to celebrate the centenary of Finland’s independence with other Nordic heads of state. President Niinistö last visited Iceland in the autumn of 2014 and made a state visit there in May 2013.