The recording of the 2024 Annual Harri Holkeri Lecture on 6 June 2024 is now available.

The speaker was Pekka Haavisto MP, who discussed The New European Security: Lesson’s Learned from Finland’s Road to NATO.

Finland has been a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization since the 4th of July 2023. But how to be a member of NATO without narrowing the possibilities for Finnish trademark foreign policy: non-violent mediation and peace building?  The ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza have a negative effect on the security of the whole of Europe.  What possibilities do small countries, such as Finland and Ireland, have in mediating sustainable peace?

Pekka Haavisto is a Member of Parliament and the former Foreign Minister of Finland.  He is a peace negotiator and a defender of both democracy and human rights.  Haavisto is especially experienced in foreign policy and international operations.  He has led research into the environmental impact of wars and represented the EU and the UN in various crises all over the world.  Haavisto has also authored numerous books.  His beloved hobbies are literature, Beetle cars, and wooden boats.

The Harri Holkeri Lecture Series celebrates the contribution of the late Finnish Prime Minister Harri Holkeri to the Northern Ireland peace process.  His aim of transforming conflict and promoting social justice in Northern Ireland and across the world is shared by the Mitchell Institute.  We are honoured to partner with the Embassy of Finland, London, to host the Harri Holkeri Lecture Series.

Watch the Lecture here.