2016
The 60th Anniversary of Finnish Peacekeeping Celebrated in Lahti on 8.12.2016
The main event of the jubilee year to celebrate the 60 years of Finnish peacekeeping will be held at Sibelius Hall in Lahti on 8.12.2016. On this day 60 years ago the President of the Republic Urho Kekkonen inspected the company set to leave on its first peacekeeping mission in the yard of the Guards garrison. The event will be hosted by Jukka Juusti, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence and the opening address will be given by Minister of Defence Jussi Niinistö.
In his address, President Martti Ahtisaari will tell about the development of peacekeeping activities from Finland's perspective and peacebuilding. The second key note speaker is the United Nations' Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous who will focus on the future of United Nations' peacekeeping.
Chief of Defence Jarmo Lindberg will address the jubilee celebration on behalf of the Defence Forces, followed by Permanent Secretary Jukka Juusti who will describe peacekeeping through the experiences gained during three generations. President of the Peacekeepers' Association of Finland Paavo Kiljunen will present the closing remarks.
Music will be performed by the Guards Band with vocalist Maria Tyyster, and the conductor is Major Pasi-Heikki Mikkola. The event will be presented by Annika Damström from the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE.
The event will be broadcast live by YLE on TV1 between 2 and 4 p.m.
A limited number of seats at the jubilee event have been reserved for representatives of the media. Media representatives are kindly requested to register with the Communications Unit of the Ministry of Defence (tiedotus@defmin.fi) by Monday 5.12.2016 by 4.15 p.m. Confirmation will be sent after the registration period has ended.
For more information about the jubilee event: Special Adviser Eijaliisa Kettunen, eijaliisa.kettunen@defmin.fi or tel. +358 295 140124.
For more information about peacekeeping: Senior Staff Officer Hannu Teittinen, hannu.teittinen@defmin.fi or tel. +358 295 140317.