28 September 2021
September 28th, Ambassador of Finland to Russia Antti Helantera visited MGIMO, marking the launch of the “Ambassadorial Dialogues” course in the new 2021/22 academic year.
The distinguished guest was greeted by the MGIMO Rector and the member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Anatoly Torkunov and the Vice-Rector for Human Resources Vladimir Morozov. The parties discussed the cooperation between MGIMO and Finnish universities as well as possible prospects for joint academic and research activities.
After the meeting with the University’s management, His Excellency delivered a lecture to the students of the School of International Relations. Antti Helantera told the audience about peculiarities of employment at the diplomatic service in Finland, the activities of the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and his personal experience and diplomatic career path.
During the lecture, His Excellency focused on the history of Finland, the development of ties with Russia and the stages of the country’s integration in the West. Antti Helantera said that today Finland is facing a few challenges related to the economic development, the age composition of its population and environmental issues. According to the diplomat, Finland seeks to build its system of government in accordance with the welfare state concept, allocating considerable share of the state budget to social welfare.
At the end of the meeting, Antti Helantera took the questions from the audience about Afghanistan, joint projects and main tracks of economic cooperation between Russia and Finland, the impact of the pandemic on the development of relations between countries as well as the most important goals and objectives set by a diplomat holding the office of the ambassador.
