In May 2023, the Embassy of Romania to the Republic of Finland, in cooperation with the Embassy of Lithuania to the Republic of Finland, hosted an event on expectations for the upcoming NATO Summit in Vilnius on 11 - 12 July 2023.
The event was initially organised while Romania was serving as NATO's Contact Point Embassy to Finland. Contact Point Embassies (CPE) are a network of embassies from Allied nations that contribute to NATO's outreach efforts in partner nations, enabling NATO to engage with local audiences and increase the impact of its work.
With Finland's historic accession to NATO on 4 April 2023, Romania's role as CPE ended - but NATO's engagement with Finnish civil society as a new NATO Ally has only just begun.
The NATO Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy, Ambassador Baiba Braže; the Permanent Representative of Lithuania to NATO, Ambassador Deividas Matulionis; and the Director of Foreign and Security Policy in the Cabinet of the Finnish President, Petri Hakkarainen, contributed to discussions moderated by H.E. Maria Ligor, Ambassador of Romania to Finland.
In her pre-recorded remarks, Ambassador Braže recalled the importance of continuing to support Ukraine and to uphold the rules-based international order in today's challenging security environment.
The discussions were an important opportunity to promote a better public understanding of NATO's policies and activities among key stakeholders and civil society representatives in Finland and among the Ambassadors of NATO Allies and partners to the Republic of Finland.
