During the forum, we had the opportunity to hear speeches from Mr. Harri Martikainen – Director General of the Finnish Government Strategy Department, Michaela Moua, Anti-racism Coordinator of the European Commission, who spoke about the European Commission’s anti-racism policy, and participated in an expert panel discussion about the development of anti-racism policies in Finland since 2000.

An important part of the forum was the presentation by Ms. Katriina Nousiainen from the Prime Minister’s Office, who introduced the Finnish government’s action plan to combat racism and discussed the role of civil society organizations in its implementation. The afternoon session of the forum consisted of workshops where participants were divided into smaller groups to work on specific action proposals, which were then presented to representatives of the Prime Minister’s Office.

After the intensive forum, SPPF representatives were invited to the Polish Embassy in Helsinki, where they met with the new head of mission at the Embassy Mr. Tomasz Chłoń and the Consul of the Republic of Poland in Helsinki, Mr. Piotr Furmaniak. The meeting provided an excellent opportunity to discuss the ongoing cooperation between the Association of Poles in Northern Finland and the Consulate and Embassy, as well as to talk about development plans and upcoming Polish community events in Finland.

The representatives of the Association of Poles in Northern Finland would like to express their sincere thanks to the head of mission at the Polish Embassy in Helsinki and the Consul of the Republic of Poland for this very pleasant and productive meeting.