Get to know the speakers of the 16th Baltic Sea Region Forum below.
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Kari Liuhto - Director, Centrum Balticum Foundation |
| Kari Liuhto received his Ph.D. from the University of Glasgow, the United Kingdom, in 1997, and the degree of Doctor of Science from the Turku School of Economics, Finland, in 2000. Dr. Kari Liuhto was nominated as a professor in International Business at the Lappeenranta University of Technology in the year 1997. Liuhto has been Director of the Pan-European Institute and full Professor at the University of Turku since 2003 and Director of Centrum Balticum Foundation since 2011. Professor Liuhto has been involved in several projects funded by the European Commission and several Finnish ministries. Liuhto is the founder and the editor-in-chief of one of the world’s leading discussion platforms dealing with the Baltic Sea region, namely the Baltic Rim Economies (BRE) review, which has been published quarterly since the year 2004. |
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Minna Arve, Chair of Board of Directors of Centrum Balticum Foundation, Mayor of City of Turku, Finland |
| Minna Arve has served as the Mayor of Turku since 2017. Turku-born Arve is a Master of Economics and a nurse. During her career Arve has worked i.e. as the Managing Director of Turku Chamber of Commerce and as the Party Secretary of the Finnish National Coalition Party. She has also led a long career in municipal politics. As the Mayor of Turku, Arve has highlighted major issues such as sustainable growth, urban inclusion, the prevention of social exclusion, and new means of industrial and business policies. She has promoted international networks and co-operation, and serves as Vice President of ICLEI - Local Governments for sustainability. |
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Markus Granlund - Dean, Turku School of Economics |
| Markus Granlund is a Professor of Management Accounting and the Dean of Turku School of Economics at the University of Turku. He has published widely in respected scientific journals and is an awarded executive educator. Markus has also been involved with a number of development projects concerning accounting and information systems in major companies and public sector organizations in Finland and abroad. He holds several positions of trust in the university sector, in research foundations, and in companies. |
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Tuomas Tiilikainen, Commander of the Finnish Navy, Finland |
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Rear Admiral Tuomas Tiilikainen, the Commander of the Finnish Navy, is a seasoned naval officer whose career has spanned diverse roles and challenging periods. His expertise is further underscored by completing the Naval Command Course at the Naval War College in the USA in 2011-2012, which fortified his strategic vision for the development of the Navy. Rear Admiral Tiilikainen's extensive experience includes numerous roles including Commanding Officer roles aboard Finnish Fast Attack Crafts and various instructional and staff positions. He has adeptly served in key positions such as squadron commander, Commandant of the Finnish Naval Academy and Chief of Staff in Navy Command Finland. His contributions to the development of the Navy and defense education have been substantial.Furthermore, his recent role as the Chief of Personnel at the Defence Command Finland from 2022 to 2023 adds another dimension to his career, showcasing his leadership capabilities in overseeing strategic military planning and coordination at the highest national level. Rear Admiral Tiilikainen has demonstrated leadership and dedication in the field of national defense, and his appointment as the Commander of the Finnish Navy in 2024 crowns a long and distinguished career. |
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Ben Hodges, Commander of United States Army Europe (2014-2017), USA |
| Lieutenant General (Retired) Ben Hodges, the former Commanding General of US Army Europe (2014-2017), currently serves as NATO Senior Mentor for Logistics, he consults for several companies on Europe, NATO, and the European Union, and he is co-author of the book, Future War and the Defence of Europe, published by Oxford University Press. Hodges has a regular media presence on CNN, MSNBC, Fox, BBC, Times Radio, ZDF, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Deutsche Welle, Bloomberg, The Daily Telegraph, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and other media. He offers insight and analysis on NATO, US and European security, the Russian War against Ukraine, the greater Black Sea and Baltic Sea Regions, the Israel-Hamas war, the upcoming US Election and its implications for Transatlantic Security, human rights, and other related geostrategic topics. Hodges was most recently Senior Advisor to Human Rights First, a non-profit, nonpartisan international human rights organization based in the United States. Prior to joining Human Rights First, he held the Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA). |
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Maria Stenroos, Defence Correspondent, Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE, Finland |
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Maria Stenroos is a senior political correspondent at Yle, the Finnish Broadcasting Company. She is currently working as Defence Correspondent, covering the Finnish defence and security policy and the Nato membership. Stenroos is a former Nato Correspondent and Brussels Correspondent. She has also been working as a Producer in the Politics Desk of YLE, lately she was in charge of 2024 Finnish presidential elections TV debates. |
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Niklas Eklund, Professor, Department of Political Science, Umeå University, Sweden |
| Professor Niklas Eklund is Chair of politics and public administration at the Department of Political Science, Umeå University. He is a former Director of the Arctic Centre at the university, currently serving on its Steering committee. He also serves on the board of the 21st Century Scandinavian Policy Studies Foundation. In his research, he specializes among other things in Arctic security, geopolitics, and Russian studies, at one point engaged in commissioned research for the Swedish Defence College in Stockholm. He is the current PI of a multi-disciplinary study of critical flows and infrastructure in Sweden, financed by the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, and participant in a research project on information security headed by the University of Tromsö, financed by the Norwegian Research Council. |
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Mykhailo Gonchar, President of Center Strategy XXI, Advisor to the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (1996-2000), Ukraine |
| Founder & President of the Center for Global Studies Strategy XXI (since 2008), Editor-in-Chief of the Black Sea Security Journal (since 2017). An expert with 38 years of combined experience in national, international security and energy security, who has a unique employment history of serving in the Air Forces, working in the shipbuilding industry, governmental agencies, energy companies, and non-governmental think tanks. He held positions in the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, the National Institute for Strategic Studies, NJSC “NaftoGaz of Ukraine”. He was a Consultant to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Parliament of Ukraine and a Member of the National Committee for Industrial Development headed by the Prime Minister of Ukraine. He is a visiting lecturer at the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine, a visiting research fellow for Russian energy, foreign and military policies at the Centre for Russian Studies and the author/co-author of numerous publications (books, case studies, and articles) in Ukraine and abroad. |
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Paal Sigurd Hilde, Professor, Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Norway |
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Paal Sigurd Hilde is professor of war studies at the Institute for Defence Studies (IFS) of the Norwegian Defence University College. He earned his DPhil in politics at the University of Oxford in 2003 and is primarily an academic, but has worked for the Norwegian Ministry of Defence for two government-appointed commissions. His main research interests include Norwegian security and defence policy, NATO and the Arctic. |
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Harri Mikkola, Programme Director of Finnish Foreign Policy, Northern European Security and NATO Research Programme, Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Finland |
| Dr. Harri Mikkola works at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) as the Programme Director of the Finnish Foreign Policy, Northern European Security and NATO research programme. His fields of expertise include the Arctic region, societal resilience, security of supply, hybrid threats, Finnish defence and security policy, as well as defence market issues. Prior to joining the FIIA in 2011, Mikkola worked at the Finnish Defence Command, at the University of Tampere, Finland, and as a Visiting Researcher at the University of Minnesota, USA. He received his PhD in Political Science from the University of Tampere, Finland in 2013. |
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Meelis Oidsalu, Editor for Defence and Governance Issues, Postimees Media, Former Undersecretary for Defence, Ministry of Defence, Estonia |
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Meelis Oidsalu started his professional journey in 2001 at the Ministry of Defence of Estonia, where his last position before resigning in 2021 was that of the Undersecretary for Defence Planning. In this capacity he was in charge of drafting the Estonian yearly defence budget and composing the national defence development plans. He also was representing Estonia in NATO defence planning committees. Meelis Oidsalu currently works as an editor for governance and defence issues at Estonia’s largest and oldest newspaper Postimees. |
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Michael Paul, Senior Fellow, International Security Division, German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), Germany |
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Dr. Michael Paul is Senior Fellow at International Security Division of German Institute for International and Security Affairs (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, SWP) in Berlin. Since 1995 he has acted as the Project Director of SWP Armed Forces Dialogue and since 2017 as the Project Director of SWP Maritime Security Dialogue. Paul is a Special Matters Expert at the Center of Excellence for Confined and Shallow Waters and at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. He is a member of Arctic Dialogue at the Alfred Wegener Institute. In 2018-2019 he was a member of the Expert Team on Maritime Security of the German Government. |
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Jyri Raitasalo, Brigade Commander, Karelia Brigade, The Finnish Defence Forces |
| Brigadier General Jyri Raitasalo is Commander of Karelia brigade. He has previously served for example in the Ministry of Defence (Military Advisor to the Minister of Defence; Senior Staff Officer - strategic planning), Defence Command Finland (Head of strategic planning sector, Aide-de-camp to the Chief of Defence, Staff Officer - strategic planning) and Finnish National Defence University (Military Professor of war studies; Senior lecturer and lecturer of strategy). He holds the title of Docent of Strategy and Security Policy at the Finnish National Defence University. Jyri Raitasalo is a called member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences. |
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Veijo Hyvönen, Editorial Editor, Turun Sanomat, Finland |
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Veijo Hyvönen is a finnish journalist. He is in charge of the editorials in the newspaper Turun Sanomat, which is the largest newspaper in south-west Finland. He is also deputy to the editor in chief. Hyvönen has been working in Turun Sanomat for over 20 years in various positions for example business journalist, news editor and managing editor. He has a masters degree from the Turku School of Economics. |
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Benita Heiskanen, Professor, John Morton Center for North American Studies, University of Turku, Finland |
| Benita Heiskanen is Professor of North American Studies and Director of the John Morton Center at the University of Turku. Her research and teaching deals with U.S. history, politics, and culture. Heiskanen received her Ph.D. in American Studies at The University of Texas at Austin in 2004 and has since then worked in American Studies in Ireland, Denmark, and Finland. Within the past decade, Heiskanen has led three major research projects, funded by the Research of Finland and the Kone Foundation. She is a member of the University of Turku Collegiate Council and sits on the advisory board of the European Journal of American Studies. Heiskanen is a frequent media commentator on U.S. politics, elections, and current events. |
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Gunilla Herolf, Senior Associate Research Fellow, Swedish Institute of International Affairs, Sweden |
| Gunilla Herolf is PhD in political science from Stockholm University. Her main fields of research are European security policy cooperation, Nordic security policy and transatlantic relations. She has previously been Senior Research Fellow at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). She is member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences. |
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Vira Konstantynova, Foreign Policy Adviser to the Chairman of the Parliament of Ukraine (2019-2021), Ukraine |
| Vira Konstantynova is an independent international security analyst, focusing on Ukraine’s foreign policy and geopolitics. She graduated from Odesa I.I. Mechnikov National University with MA in International Relations. She gained professional experience at private and governmental institutions, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine, and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (Parliament). In 2015-2016, and later in 2018-2019 Konstantynova served as an Adviser to a Member of Parliament, Energy Committee (VIII convocation), dealing with the issues of energy security and diplomacy. After appointment as Foreign Policy Adviser of the Chairman of the Parliament, in 2019-2021 Konstantynova provided her analytical and organizational support of the inter-parliamentary track. In February 2022 she joined the Ukrainian NGO "Association of Middle East Studies - AMES" as an Associate Fellow, working with Ukraine-MENA programs until August 2023. In 2022-2023 she was a Head of Analytical Department at the Professional Development Training Center of the Udovenko Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and devoted her professional efforts to analytical support of the Ukrainian foreign policy agenda. Currently Konstantynova takes the Executive Education Program at the European Academy of Diplomacy (Warsaw, Poland). |
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Miapetra Kumpula-Natri, MEP, Vice-Chair of Delegation for Relations with the United States, European Parliament |
| Ms. Miapetra Kumpula-Natri is a Member of the European Parliament representing Finland and the S&D Group. She is Vice-Chair of the EP’s Delegation to the United States and the head of the Finnish Social-Democrats in the European Parliament. Kumpula-Natri is sitting in the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE), the Committee on International Trade (INTA), chairing Monitory Group on Russian (sanctions) and e-commerce, and the Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO). In her work, Kumpula-Natri advocates digital cooperation, sustainable solutions to climate change and energy, and strengthening the relationship between the United States and the European Union. Kumpula-Natri has been a Member of the European Parliament for ten years, and will return to the Finnish Parliament in summer 2024 from Uusimaa constituency. Earlier Kumpula-Natri was a Member of Parliament in Finland from 2003 until 2014. |
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William Pomeranz, Director, Kennan Institute, USA |
| William Pomeranz is the Director of the Kennan Institute, a part of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars located in Washington, D.C. He also has taught Russian law at the Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies (CERES), Georgetown University. Prior to joining the Kennan Institute, Dr. Pomeranz practiced international law in the United States and Moscow, Russia. He has provided commentary and conducted numerous press interviews with CNN, NPR, C-SPAN, Reuters, VOA, Bloomberg, and other media outlets. He is also the author of Law and the Russian State: Russia's Legal Evolution from Peter the Great to Vladimir Putin (Bloomsbury, 2018). |
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Jari Sinkari, Director General, Department for the Americas and Asia, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Finland |
| Jari Sinkari (Mr) is Director General of the Department for the Americas and Asia at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. Sinkari joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland (MFA) in 1997, and since then he has held a variety of positions. He has served, for instance, at the Finland’s Embassy in Jakarta, where he worked as the Head of Mission in 2018–2022. From 2014 to 2018, Sinkari served as the Consul General in Hong Kong. In addition to working at the MFA as Deputy Director General of the Department for Communications in 2011–2014, Sinkari has also worked as Director of the Unit for Communications in 2010–2011, and as the official responsible for trade policy communications in 2007–2010. Sinkari has worked at the Department for the Americas and Asia as Desk Officer, responsible for relations with Japan, the Korean Peninsula, Australia, and New Zealand (2005–2007). Additionally, Sinkari has served at the Embassy of Finland in Tokyo (1998–2001), and at the Consulate General of Finland in New York (2001–2005). Before joining the MFA, Sinkari was the Associate Editor of “Yliopisto” – a University Magazine covering sciences, humanities, and higher education and culture. |
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Heidi Steiger, Audit, Risk & Cyber Chair, Fidelity Strategic Advisors, Boston, USA |
| Heidi Steiger is a respected leader and strategic visionary who brings more than 30 years of executive management experience in a variety of challenging environments. She has run businesses in Financial Services, Media and Investment Management. Until April 2015, she was East Region President of US Bank’s Private Client Reserve. Prior to this role, Steiger was an advisory director at Berkshire Capital Securities, President of Worth Magazine and President of Lowenhaupt Global Advisors, LLC. In addition, she spent 18 years as EVP at Neuberger Berman, directly responsible for the wealth management business. Steiger is a seasoned operating executive with experience serving on 18 boards of public, private, and not-for-profit organizations. She currently is Chair of Audit, Risk and Cyber at Fidelity Strategic Advisors in Boston, as well as Chair of Live Current Media in San Diego. In addition, Steiger leads bootcamps for first-time board directors, and is an executive coach. |
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Jussi Orell, Editor-in-Chief, Turun Sanomat, Finland |
| Jussi Orell has been working as Editor-In-Chief of Turun Sanomat since January 2022. Turun Sanomat is the largest Newspaper in Southern Finland and it is published seven days a week both paper and digital formats. Turun Sanomat is local but also provides accurate news on security policy. Due to Turku´s location the Baltic Sea region is very important to our readers. Turun Sanomat not only reports security policy news but also comments on it in background columns and editorials. |
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Ekaterina Glikman, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Novaya Gazeta Europe, Latvia |
| Ekaterina Glikman has worked for one of Russia’s oldest independent newspapers Novaya Gazeta for over 20 years. She is one of the founders of Russian media in exile Novaya Gazeta Europe, launched in April 2022. She currently lives in Switzerland and is the first deputy editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta Europe. In 2022 she received the Swiss ProLitteris award for “outstanding journalism” and the Press Emblem Campaign award for “ongoing and exemplary commitment to press freedom in Russia”. |
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Mika Hentunen, Asia Correspondent, Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE, Finland |
| Mika Hentunen is a journalist, lecturer and author. His 30 years of on-site reporting for television, radio and online span from the 1990’s Balkan wars to contested US elections to China. After covering American news in the US capital for 10 years altogether he reported on Finland’s ascension to Nato. He started in summer 2023 in his current position as the Asia Correspondent for the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE, based in Beijing. Besides own reporting, Mika has served as an international judge of Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards in the US since 2018. He is a published author of three non-fiction books and two novels. He has a Master’s degree from the Turku School of Economics. |
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Anne-Françoise Hivert, Journalist, Le Monde, France |
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Anne-Françoise Hivert is a journalist based in Lund, Sweden, since 2002. She is a Nordic correspondent for the French daily newspaper Le Monde, covering Scandinavia, Finland and the Baltic States. Anne-Françoise Hivert been writing more and more about security issues, since 2014 and even more since 2022, as the question has become more prominent in the region. |
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Ruslanas Iržikevičius, Director, Media Support Fund, Lithuania |
| Ruslanas Iržikevičius is a director of the Media Support Fund in Lithuania, the founder and former publisher and former editor-in-chief of the Lithuania Tribune news portal, and the founder and former editor-in-chief of lrytas.lt English section. He is also the founder and former editor-in-chief of the English sections in DELFI.lt and 15min.lt news portals. He earned a Master's degree with Honours in History from the University of Edinburgh in 2001 and worked at the Bank of Scotland before returning to Lithuania. Iržikevičius later served as a press and political officer at various embassies in Vilnius. He is interested in politics, security, media, information warfare, and transatlantic cooperation, focusing on the Baltic region, Nordic/Baltic cooperation, Russia, and Central and Eastern Europe. He writes opinion pieces for Lithuanian and international media. Iržikevičius is an associate of the Visegrad Insight think tank in Poland. |
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Markku Mantila, Editor-in-Chief, Ilkka-Pohjalainen, Finland |
| Mr. Markku Mantila is the editor-in-chief of Ilkka-Pohjalainen, a provincial media in Ostrobothnia area, Finland. Before assuming the present post, Mr. Mantila has worked as Branch Chief of Nato Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence in Riga, Latvia, and Head of Government Communications at the Prime Minister´s Office of Finland, among many other positions. He holds MSc Degree from the University of Turku and MSc Degree from The London School of Economics, London. |
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Francesca Marretta, Press Officer, EU Crisis Management Missions, Ukraine |
| Ms Francesca Marretta has 25 years of field experience both as journalist and as Press Officer in EU Crisis Management Missions and the UN. She has worked extensively in the Middle East, Africa, the Caucasus, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. While maintaining her membership at the Brussel’s based International Federation of Journalists (IFG) and the Italian Ordine dei Giornalisti, as of 2013 she has worked in EU Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) Missions in Libya, Somalia, Georgia, the Sahel Region, and Ukraine. In 2011 Marretta was honoured with the “Premio Enzo Baldoni” Award, recognising distinguished Italian war reporters. Marretta has recently been a mentor in the EU CSDP Mentoring Programme for Women and a lecturer for the European Security and Defence College. She has an MA in Politics and is currently a student of Italian Language and Literature at Roma Tre University in Italy. |
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Matti Posio, Editor-in-Chief, Lännen Media, Finland |
| Matti Posio is a Finnish journalist, correspondent, and Editor-In-Chief of the several newspapers’ joint production company Lännen Media (lit. Western Media). He has specialized in covering international issues and security policy since 1990’s. Fluent in seven languages, Matti has closely followed Russia as a former Moscow correspondent (1999-2001) and the United States where he had a Stanford fellowship in innovation journalism in 2010. Lately his focus point has been Ukraine, which he knows since being a young reporter in the Orange Revolution (2004-2005). Matti leads a team of journalists covering national and international topics to Finnish newspapers including “Turun Sanomat” and “Ilkka-Pohjalainen”. Recently, Matti helped found the first Tampere Freedom of Speech event, with Ukraine’s story of independence and free media as its main topic. |
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Juha Vauhkonen, Rear Admiral (ret.), Former Director of Finnish Defence Intelligence, Finnish Defence Forces, Finland |
| Juha Vauhkonen, Rear-Admiral (ret.), former Director Finnish Defence Intelligence (2021-2023.) The early part of his career followed a very typical young officer's job description, with a clear focus on various trainer tasks. After the General Staff Officer course, he served in the Defence Command and the Navy HQ in operational planning and command positions, including as Chief of Staff of Navy HQ. He has field command experience in the Nyland Brigade in three different positions, as Commander of the Vaasa Coastal Jaeger Battalion, as Chief of Staff of the Brigade and as Commanding Officer of Nyland brigade. He has international experience as a defence attaché in Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia (2002-2005), as commander of the Finnish crisis management force in Afghanistan (2007-2008) and as deputy commander of the EU Nordic Battle Group (2009-2011). He has served in Brussels as Finland's military representative to the EU and NATO (2016-2020). |
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