President Halonen to visit Lisbon and Astana

Office of the President of the Republic of Finland
Press Release 15 November 2010

President of the Republic Tarja Halonen, Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Stubb and Minister of Defence Jyri Häkämies will participate in the summit meeting on Afghanistan organised in connection with the NATO Summit in Lisbon on Saturday, 20 November.

In addition to NATO members, countries participating in the ISAF operation have also been invited to the summit meeting on Afghanistan. Guests invited to participate also include President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, President of the World Bank Robert Zoellick and President of the European Council Herman van Rompuy.

The summit meeting will focus on the current situation and outlook in Afghanistan and the actions of the international community. Topics will include President Karzai’s objective of transferring the responsibility for the country’s security to Afghan authorities by the end of 2014, an objective supported by the international community.

Lisbon will also be the venue for the Summit of the NATO–Russia Council held in connection with the NATO Summit on Saturday, 20 November.

OSCE Summit in Astana

President of the Republic Tarja Halonen and Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Stubb will participate in the OSCE Summit to be held in Astana, Kazakhstan on 1–2 December.

The topics of the Summit will include OSCE objectives and future focus areas in the organisation’s three operational dimensions: the politico-military, the economic-environmental and the human. Featured themes will include arms control, protracted conflicts and media freedom.

The previous OSCE Summit was held in Istanbul in 1999.