A World in Transition - the 2026 Kultaranta Talks bring perspectives to a current topic

Office of the President of the Republic
Press release 40/2026
4 June 2026

On 11 and 12 June, President of the Republic of Finland Alexander Stubb will host the 2026 Kultaranta Talks at Kultaranta in Naantali. The theme of this year’s discussions on foreign and security policy is A World in Transition – Global, Regional and Local Perspectives.

The two-day event will open with an international day focusing on geopolitical and local developments, as well as their interplay across and within different regions, including Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Europe and the United States. Journalists Zanny Minton Beddoes and Gideon Rachman will moderate the discussions.

The second day of the event is dedicated to examining international interactions from a Finnish perspective. Journalist Olli Seuri will serve as the moderator.

President Stubb will open the Kultaranta Talks on Thursday 11 June at 12.30 with opening remarks. After this, he will be joined by President of Kenya William Samoei Ruto in the opening panel. 

The second panel discussion, starting at 14.20, will explore Asian geopolitics and the evolving realities of the Indo-Pacific region. The topic will be discussed by Takeo Akiba, Senior Advisor to the Cabinet, Prime Minister's Office, Japan; Kevin Rudd, former Australian Prime Minister; and Samir Saran, Director of the Observer Research Foundation.

The next panel, at 15.50, will focus on emerging powers and the new geopolitical competition. The panel members include Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister of India; Lana bint Zaki Nusseibeh, Minister of State of the United Arab Emirates, and Elina Valtonen, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland.

The final session of the day at 17.30 will discuss Europe, transatlantic relations and global competition. The panel will bring together Fiona Hill, Senior Fellow, Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution; Wolfgang Ishinger, Chairman of the Munich Security Conference; Mark Leonard, Director of the European Council on Foreign Relations; and Rym Momtaz, Editor-in-Chief, Strategic Europe.

On Friday 12 June at 9.15, the event will continue in Finnish, from a Finnish and European perspective. The first panel consists of Members of the European Parliament Merja Kyllönen, Ville Niinistö and Aura Salla, who will discuss the currently ongoing global transition.

The second panel of the day, beginning at 10.45, will focus on Russia and its future. The panellists are Hiski Haukkala, Director of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs; Harri Ohra-aho, Major General (ret.); and Laura Solanko, Senior Advisor, Bank of Finland.

The final panel of the event at 12.45 will analyse Finland’s role in geoeconomic and technological competition. The discussion participants are Marko Ahtisaari, Chief Marketing Officer, ICEYE, Chair of the Board, CMI; Minna Kuusisto, Chief Economist, Danske Bank; and Peter Sarlin, Chairman of the Board, Postscriptum and Professor of Practice, Aalto University.

The Kultaranta Talks will end with the closing remarks by the President of the Republic by 14.00.

Around 160 participants from various sectors of society have been invited to the Kultaranta Talks. They include Finnish and foreign policymakers, researchers, and representatives of government, business, civil society organisations and the media. The event will be held at Kultaranta, the summer residence of the President of the Republic of Finland, located in Naantali.

Yle will broadcast the event live on Yle Areena.