The Ministry for Foreign Affairs organises a round table discussion with Muslim youth

Press release 225/2015
15 October 2015

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs will hold a round table discussion with Muslim youth on Finland's foreign policy, radicalisation and violent extremism. The event will be organised in the House of the Estates on Friday 16 October. The participants in the discussion include both Muslim youth and representatives from different departments of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Interior.

Foreign Minister Timo Soini will hold the opening address of the event. Other keynote speakers will be Jarno Syrjälä, Director General of the Department for Africa and the Middle East, and Rauno Merisaari, Ambassador for Human Rights and Democracy. Ambassador for Intercultural Dialogue Processes Pekka Metso will chair the event.

The questions to be discussed will include, among other things, Finland's foreign policy in Syria and Iraq, and Finland's ways to promote democracy and human rights. The representatives of Muslim youth will also take the floor to express their views.

In Finland, the authorities and different organisations have collaborated extensively over several years in order to prevent radicalisation and violent extremism. The collaboration has proved that it is important to talk with the different parties also about questions related to Finland's foreign policy especially from the point of view of radicalisation and violent extremism.

The round table discussion will be a closed event, in which the Chatham House rule will be observed. This is to ensure that the discussion between the participants will be as open and confidential as possible.

Inquiries: Ambassador Pekka Metso, tel. +358 295 351 808