President of the United Nations General Assembly to visit Finland

Press release 261/2011
10 October 2011

Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, President of the 66th Session of the UN General Assembly, will visit Finland on 11–13 October at the invitation of President of the Republic Tarja Halonen. Al-Nasser has long been Qatar’s Ambassador to the United Nations. During his visit, he will meet with, among others, President Tarja Halonen, Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja and Development Minister Heidi Hautala. Discussions during these meetings will focus on topical UN issues, such as the situation in the Middle East.

President Al-Nasser selected peace mediation as the theme for the opening week of the General Assembly and as one of the top priorities of the entire 66th Session. During his visit to Finland, the intention is to discuss cooperation in the implementation of the peace mediation initiative launched in the UN by Finland and Turkey. Other topics that are expected to arise on the agenda include current disarmament issues and preparations for the Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) to be held in 2012.

President Al-Nasser will also visit the Finnish Parliament and will participate in the international seminar “Migration and Communication: Re-balancing information flows and dialogue”.

Additional information: Katri Viinikka, Head of the Unit for UN and General Global Affairs, mobile tel. +358 40 753 2730