On September 13, 2020, a coalition of tribes including the Hopi Tribe, the Pueblo of Acoma, the Pueblo of Zia, and the Pueblo of Zuni reburied their ancestors at the Mesa Verde National Park. Working closely with the tribes, the National Museum of Finland returned the remains of 20 ancestors. The U.S. Ambassador to Finland, Robert …
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Issued on: September 17, 2020 12:21 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Okay, thank you very much for being here as we commemorate the return of historic Native American artifacts and sacred remains to American soil. That’s a big thing. They’ve been working on this for a long time. Long, long time. Many, many years. With us today …
Read More» Press Release September 17, 2020 Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, United States of America On Sunday, September 13, a coalition of tribes including the Hopi Tribe, the Pueblo of Acoma, the Pueblo of Zia, and the Pueblo of Zuni repatriated and reinterred ancestors and associated funerary objects at the Mesa Verde National Park. The National …
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The winners of the 2019 Ambassador’s Entrepreneurial Challenge 2019 were selected on Friday, December 13, 2019, after a competition at the beautiful Oodi Library. Congratulations to Hugo Stepanoff, Eino Elsinen, and Niilo Nylund from team Charity Map (Ressun peruskoulu Helsinki) and Faruk Hodzic, Emilia Svahn and Lise Strandberg from team The Last Straw (Högstadiet i …
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President of the Republic of Finland Sauli Niinistö made an official working visit to the United States and met President of the United States Donald Trump in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, 2 October 2019. The meeting occurred during the 100th anniversary of the diplomatic relationship between Finland and the United States. President Donald J. Trump …
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Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto joined Ambassador Robert Pence for a reception honoring American Fulbright grantees on August 20, 2019. The event also marked the 70th anniversary of the ASLA-Fulbright Program and the 100th anniversary of the Finnish-U.S. diplomatic relations. For the academic year 2019-2020, the Fulbright Finland Foundation awards close to 100 grants for Finns …
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The annual Björn Savén Finnish American Scholarship was granted to Mr. Lassi Tervonen in a ceremony held at the U.S. Embassy on Tuesday, August 13, 2019. Ambassador Pence, Mr. Björn Savén, and Kristiina Helenius from the League of Finnish-American Societies congratulated Mr. Tervonen for the 35 000 euro grant for PhD studies in economics at …
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U.S. Ambassador Robert Pence accepted a special donation on behalf of the United States from the company Victor Ek on July 3. Victor Ek Executive Chairman Michael Cederkreutz donated the original 1898 commission of Victor Ek as a vice consul in Helsinki. ( In PDF 1,05 MB) The commission, which predates U.S.-Finnish diplomatic relations by more than …
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U.S. Embassy Helsinki celebrated America’s 243rd Independence Day on Thursday, June 13, with more than 1,000 distinguished guests, including political and business leaders, academicians, artists, and representatives of the media, NGOs, youth, and entrepreneurial organizations. In his remarks, the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Finland Robert Frank Pence highlighted the Centennial of U.S.-Finnish diplomatic …
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The U.S. Embassy Helsinki hosted the 15 Finnish Future Leaders program participants and their families at the U.S. Embassy Innovation Center on May 10, 2019. Each of the participants received an award certificate signed by U.S. Ambassador to Finland Robert Pence and officials from the Embassy’s partners on the project – AFS Finland and the …
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The U.S. Embassy’s 6th annual Ambassador’s Entrepreneurial Challenge (AEC) finals took place in Helsinki December 13 – 14, 2018. The AEC is a nationwide program in which middle and high school students form teams to pitch original entrepreneurial concepts in English. The U.S. Embassy invited 16 teams (46 students and 12 mentors) from around Finland …
Read More» The U.S. Embassy in Helsinki, with support from the Department of State’s Global Engagement Center, has provided a $500,000 grant to the European Center of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats (Hybrid CoE) to support its work to increase preparedness, build resilience, and defend against hostile state influence activities. The grant will help partner states to …
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Wednesday, December 5, 2018 Good morning. Secretary General Terhi Suominen, Ambassador Jukka Valtasaari. Members of the Atlantic Council. Dear guests and friends. I want to thank the Atlantic Council for inviting me here today to share a few observations about the current relationship between the United States and Finland. I very much admire the work …
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The Helsinki Book Fair , one of the biggest annual cultural events in Finland, drew a record 85,600 visitors this year. Ambassador Pence joined program director Ronja Salmi to open the fair, which featured the United States as the theme country for the first time. In his brief remarks, Ambassador Pence emphasized the meaning of literature and libraries …
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U.S. Ambassador Robert Pence visited Rovaniemi October 11-12 as part of the U.S. delegation to the Arctic Environment Ministers Meeting. The U.S. delegation was headed by Judith Garber, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. The United States aims to safeguard U.S. security, economic and …
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The U.S. Embassy hosted retired Congressmen Tom Davis (R-VA, 1994-2008) and Martin Frost (D-VA, 1979-2005) August 27-30 for a series of programs on U.S. elections in Helsinki and Turku. In addition to public events at the University of Helsinki and the John Morton Center in Turku, Mr. Davis and Mr. Frost spoke with young political …
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President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump visited Helsinki on July 15-16, 2018. They met with President Sauli Niinistö and Jenni Haukio of Finland at the Mäntyniemi Residence. President Trump met with President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation at the Presidential Palace on July 16, 2018. At the same time, Secretary of …
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Ambassador Pence presented his credentials to President Sauli Niinistö on May 24, 2018. “We have a very strong bilateral relationship with Finland. It’s as good as any we have in the world, and I intend to do everything we can to strengthen it, preserve it, enhance it as we move forward,” Ambassador Pence said Monday, …
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U.S. Embassy Finland is pleased to announce the winners of the 2016 Ambassador’s Entrepreneurial Challenge – Team Moo Free (in Finnish: Ei Muuta)! These two young ladies, Ella Martikainen (15) and Kukka Walden (15), who recently became vegans, noticed to their annoyance that there are no vegan ice cream substitute products here in Finland that …
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U.S. Embassy Finland hosted a breakfast event on the morning of the U.S. Presidential Elections on November 9. Photos of the event are available through our Flickr album .
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Ambassador Charles C. Adams hosted a reception in honor of the 2016-2017 American Fulbright Grantees at the U.S. Embassy Finland on August 23, 2016. The keynote speaker was Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Education and Culture Anita Lehikoinen. Altogether there will be over 40 American students, researchers, teachers, and experts in Finland in 2016-2017.
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Ambassador Charles C. Adams visited the Åland Islands on August 22, 2016. In addition to discussing the local economy with industry and government leaders and touring a medical tubing factory he did manage to find some time for one of his favorite activities – fishing.
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On June 16, Ambassador Adams hosted the 240th anniversary of the Independence of the United States of America. The Arctic was the central theme, in order to highlight the United States’ Chairmanship of the Arctic Council.
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Ambassador Adams experienced Finland’s maritime history and industry first hand at the Hamina-Kotka Port on May 31 as part of a visit to Kotka and the surrounding region.
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Ambassador Charles Adams and his wife Vera visited Kauniala Veterans’ Hospital in Kaunianen. Kauniala, founded in 1946, is well known Finland-wide for its veteran’s hospital status. The Ambassador was truly touched by the discussions he had with the veterans. He also conveyed the United States’ respect for the veterans in the Winter War and the …
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Ambassador Charles Adams visited the Coast Guard vessel Turva during his recent visit to the South East Finland Border Guard District. The Ambassador was impressed with the capabilities of the ship and with the Finns he met who are patrolling the border.
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Ambassador Adams delivering his opening remarks – in Finnish – at the Polar Bear Pitching Festival in Oulu. Ambassador Adams visited the Northern city of Oulu on February 10-12, 2016, for meetings with city officials and local business, cultural, and media contacts.
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Nokia Networks’ Oulu Technology Center employs around 2300 and is the key manufacturing location for radio products in Europe. Their R&D and production processes manufacture products for hundreds of customers around the globe. Ambassador Adams toured the facilities with the Head of Factory Ms. Erja Sankari.
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Ambassador Charles C. Adams and Deputy Chief of Mission Susan Elbow visited the National Library of Finland on November 27, 2015. Library Director Kai Ekholm gave them a tour in the library, and the visitors also had a privileged opportunity to take an early peek at the oldest parts of the library building, the Cupola …
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In a keynote speech on November 24, Ambassador Charles Adams outlined U.S. Arctic Council Chairmanship priorities at the second annual “In the Spirit of the Rovaniemi Process” conference. Ambassador Adams highlighted climate change as the driving focus of the U.S. Chairmanship, to include securing a new climate agreement in Paris.
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Hats off to Team AMVibrate who won the Ambassador’s Entrepreneurial Challenge 2015 with their groundbreaking hearing device! This fantastic team from Schildt High School in Jyväskylä left the AEC Grand Final with some seed money for their business and boarding passes to the United States to study entrepreneurship there. The runner-ups in the final was …
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Ambassador Adams kicked off a visit to Tampere on October 21st meeting with the Tampere Chamber of Commerce and members of the business community. He also visited the Kanjoni Elementary School in the Hervanta neighborhood where he received a special invitation.
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Ambassador Adams first visited Finland back in 1975, when he had a chance to travel to Vaasa on the west coast of Finland. In October 2015, he ventured back, this time as the U.S. Ambassador. He met with several local community, business, and university leaders.
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Ambassador Adams visited the city of Lappeenranta in South Karelia on September 16, 2015. He met with city officials as well as local business people and university leaders. Ambassador visited the Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) and toured the Green campus, as well as visited the Valio Lappeenranta Terminal.
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Ambassador Charles C. Adams’ first regional trip outside the Helsinki region since he arrived in Finland in August 2015 was to Turku. On September 9 the Ambassador visited the University of Turku, which is the second largest university in the country as measured by student enrollment, and the John Morton Center for North American Studies, …
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Ambassador Adams and Prime Minister Sipilä discussed ways to further enhance U.S.-Finnish economic ties, current challenges in the region, and cooperation to address global challenges during their introductory September 2 meeting at Kesäranta. (Photo: Valtioneuvosto)
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Ambassador Charles C. Adams Jr. presented his credentials to President Sauli Niinistö on August 4, 2015. Ambassador Adams was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 24, 2015. He arrived in Finland to take up his duties on August 3, 2015. (Photo: Office of the President of the Republic of Finland)
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U.S. Embassy Helsinki was proud to host the State Department’s first ever Special Envoy for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered and Intersexed (LGBTI) Human Rights, Randy Berry, during Helsinki Pride, June 27-28. While in Helsinki, the Special Envoy met with LGBTI activists from Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Russia, and took part in Helsinki’s Pride Parade …
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On Monday, June 8, U.S. Ambassador Bruce J. Oreck and Helsinki University Rector Jukka Kola signed the American Resource Center Cooperative Agreement. The agreement – originally established in 1993 – ensures continued, close cooperation for an additional five years. This renewal marks the 20 years of cooperation.
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‘Empowering Youth Alumni to Act for the Arctic’ conference, organized by the Embassy Helsinki, gathered these future decision-makers to learn about the Arctic opportunities and challenges. The group heard from Ambassador Oreck, U.S. Special Arctic Representative Admiral Papp, and Finnish Foreign Ministry’s Arctic Official, Counsellor René Söderman.
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Guests gathered at the Ambassador’s residence to say thank you and farewell to U.S. Ambassador Bruce J. Oreck on Thursday, March 26, 2015. Ambassador is the longest serving U.S. Ambassador to Finland, having been sworn-in August 2009. He presided over the construction of our new Chancery and repurposed the former office building into the energy …
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U.S. Ambassador Bruce J. Oreck visited the Schildt Upper Secondary school in Jyväskylä on March 5, 2015. He discussed entrepreneurship and future global challenges with the students. The visit was a follow-up to the Ambassador’s Entrepreneurial Challenge (AEC), which brought students from all over Finland to Helsinki to pitch their business ideas.
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Ambassador Oreck had the freezing pleasure of opening the Polar Bear Pitch Fest in Oulu on February 25, 2015. Start-ups get to pitch as long as they can in the icy water while being filmed and broadcast all over the world. More information, including a video of the brave contestants and the Ambassador’s remarks, is …
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Ambassador Bruce Oreck on January 15 opened the Discover America Pavilion at Nordic Travel Fair 2015. After the ribbon-cutting the Ambassador greeted the exhibitors at the pavilion. The annual travel fair gathers together industry professionals and travel aficionados at Expo and Convention Centre Helsinki. This year the fair is themed “Where the Whole World Meets.”
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Team Nuoriosaa.fi is the winner of 2014 Ambassador’s Entrepreneurial Challenge. The team seeks to address unemployment among youth aged 15-24 in Finland. The final of this year’s AEC took place on Thursday, November 20, 2014. Team Nuoriosaa.fi comes from Cygnaeus-lukio in Jyväskylä. More images available through the U.S. Embassy Finland Flickr album . More information about the Ambassador’s Entrepreneurial Challenge .
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