Ukraine, NATO and Beyond: A Nordic Country’s View on Global Affairs with Finland’s Ambassador to the UN, Elina Kalkku
The Columbia University Club Foundation, the United Nations Association of New York, and the Columbia University Club of New York will proudly host the Columbia University Club Foundation Ambassador Series talk at the Penn Club with
Ambassador Elina Kalkku, Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations, and Foreign Affairs Reporter, Stéphanie Fillion.
Finland’s security environment changed fundamentally when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. After the invasion, Finland reassessed its security policy situation and applied for NATO membership.
In a discussion with award-winning UN Correspondent Stephanie Fillion, Finland’s Ambassador to the UN, Elina Kalkku will talk about current global affairs, what it’s like to be Russia’s neighbor right now, being a woman diplomat in one of the world’s most gender-equal countries and more.
Wednesday | 24 May 2023 | 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
6:00 to 6:30 p.m. | Registration
6:30 to 7:30 p.m. | Program with Q+A
7:30 to 8:00 p.m. | Wine and Cheese Reception
Open to all Columbia Club members. Tickets are $25.
Ambassador Elina Kalkku became the Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations, on August 30, 2022.
Prior to her current position, Ambassador Kalkku served as Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, responsible for development policy and relations with African and Middle Eastern countries. Prior to that, she served as Director-General of the Department for Americas and Asia in 2005- 2015. In 2000-2005, she served as Director of the Security Policy unit at the Political Department of the Ministry.
Ambassador Kalkku joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1983. She has previously served abroad at the Finnish Mission to the UN in New York (1987-1991) and the Finnish Mission to Nato in Brussels as well as at the Finnish Embassies in Madrid and Brussels.
She has worked with issues related to security policy and crisis management, the EU and the UN affairs, transatlantic relations, Asian and Middle Eastern affairs, Finland’s relations with African countries as well as trade promotion and development policy and development cooperation. She was member of the Finnish delegation to the UN Security Council in 1989- 1990. She also served as a Diplomatic Advisor to the Foreign Minister of Finland at the Ministry in the 1990’s.
Ambassador Kalkku holds a Masters degree and a Licentiate of Law degree, specializing in international law, both from the University of Helsinki, in 1989 and 1999 respectively. She is fluent in Finnish, Swedish and English, with a working proficiency in French and basics in Spanish.
She is married with two grown-up children. Read more.
Stéphanie Fillion is a New York-based reporter specializing in foreign affairs and human rights and a United Nations correspondent. Her work was published in outlets like Forbes, Foreign Policy, Radio-Canada, La Stampa and the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun.
She has a masters degree in journalism, politics and global affairs from Columbia University and a BA in political science from McGill University.
In recent years, her UN coverage received two UN Correspondent Association awards as well as a Gracie award from the Alliance for Women in Media.
She writes in French, English and Italian.