Foreign Minister Kanerva to meet United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington

Press release 119/2007
8 June, 2007

Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva will visit Washington in the United States on 11-12 June. The objective of the visit is to establish closer ties with the political leadership of the United States and to enhance the bilateral relations between Finland and the United States. Furthermore, the intention is to discuss foreign and security policy questions of current interest and other key topics of trans-Atlantic cooperation.

Foreign Minister Kanerva will meet Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on 11 June. The programme will also include meetings with U.S. Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs Steve Hadley as well as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Eric Edelman from the Department of Defense. During his visit, Foreign Minister Kanerva will also meet, for example, Congressman Robert Wexler and Senator Richard G. Lugar, as well as presidents of two research institutions of international policy, Strobe Talbot and John Hamre. The visit will end on Tuesday 12 June.

Minister Kanerva's delegation will also include Secretary General and Chief of Staff Jarmo Viinanen from the Office of the President of the Republic, and Ministry for Foreign Affairs representatives Director General of the Political Department Pilvi-Sisko Vierros-Villeneuve, Director General of the Department for the Americas and Asia Elina Kalkku, and Special Adviser to the Minister Jori Arvonen.

Additional information: Head of the Unit for North America Anna Wickström-Noejgaard, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 (0)9 1605 6253, and Special Adviser to Foreign Minister Kanerva Jori Arvonen, tel. +358 (0)9 1605 5016.Further information about media arrangements in Washington: Press Counsellor Kristiina Helenius, Embassy of Finland, Washington, tel. +1 202 298 5820, e-mail: [email protected]