Kultaranta Talks 2025 begin on Monday with the theme “The Changing World Order”

Office of the President of the Republic of Finland
Press release 38/2025
10 June 2025

President of the Republic of Finland Alexander Stubb will host the Kultaranta Talks 2025 on 16–17 June at the presidential summer residence in Naantali. The theme of this year’s discussions on foreign and security policy is The Changing World Order – Old Meets New.

The two-day event will begin with an international day examining current shifts in the world order. On the first day, the discussions will be moderated by journalists Fareed Zakaria and Francine Lacqua. The second day will focus on Finland’s role in a changing world and the balance between a value-based and a realistic approach in Finnish foreign policy. These discussions will be moderated by journalist Seija Vaaherkumpu.

The Kultaranta Talks will be opened by President Stubb on Monday 16 June at 12.30. He will then engage in the first discussion of the day, entitled Europe in the Shockwaves, alongside President of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs and President of Estonia Alar Karis.

The second discussion, starting at 14.00, will cover the topic of Accumulation of Shocks at the Global Level – What the West Should Understand. The panel will include Elina Valtonen, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland; Musalia Mudavadi, Prime Cabinet Secretary of Kenya; Arnoldo André Tinoco, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Costa Rica; Olushegun Adjadi Bakari, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Benin and Russ Jalichandra, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of Thailand.

On Monday, the third session, Security Policy: Transatlantic Transitions, is scheduled to begin at 15.45. The panellists will be Rachel Ellehuus, Director General, Royal United Services Institute; Camille Grand, Deputy Head, European Council on Foreign Relations ECFR; Lieutenant General (Retired) Ben Hodges, Former Commander, US Army Europe, and Claudia Major, Senior Vice President, German Marshall Fund.

The title of the fourth and final discussion of the day, starting at 17.15, is International relations: Managing Interdependencies. The theme will be addressed by Carl Bildt, Co-Chair, European Council on Foreign Relations; Mathias Döpfner, Chairman and CEO, Axel Springer SE; Børge Brende, President and CEO, World Economic Forum, and Jeremy Shapiro, Director of Research, European Council on Foreign Relations.

On Tuesday 17 June at 9.15, the programme will continue with President Stubb and Jussi Halla-aho, Speaker of the Finnish Parliament, discussing Values or Realism and how these two perspectives can be balanced in Finnish foreign policy.

The second session of the day, which will start at 10.45, will deal with issues concerning Finland in the Multipolar World. The subject will be deliberated by Mikko Hautala, Chief Geopolitical & Government Relations Officer, Nokia Corporation; Risto E. J. Penttilä, Secretary General, European Business Leaders' Convention, and Iida Tikka, journalist.

The last discussion will begin at 12.30 and examine Finland in the Multilateral World. The speakers are Li Andersson, Member of the European Parliament; Elina Kalkku, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations, and Taneli Lahti, Director for Global Issues, European External Action Service.

The event will conclude with closing remarks by President Stubb at 13.45.

The Kultaranta Talks will bring together around 140 invited experts and professionals from various sectors of society. These include national and international policymakers, academics, public administrators, trade and industry representatives, civil society actors and members of the media. After a two-year pause, the discussions will once again be held at the President's summer residence, Kultaranta, where extensive renovations of the park and main building were completed in October 2024.

The Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) will broadcast the Kultaranta Talks live on Yle TV1 and Yle Areena.