On Nov. 9, Finnish Ambassador Leena-Kaisa Mikkola, attended an event hosted by the International Affairs Forum (IAF) at the Hagerty Center on NMC’s Great Lakes Campus. IAF members and community members who purchased tickets engaged in a night of dialog about national and international relations. 

 

Mikkola has previously served as Finland’s Ambassador to China and Israel, along with diplomatic work in the Middle East and Africa. Mikkola’s work as a diplomat requires a large amount of time abroad while still returning to Finland. She began her stint in the United States in 2024 after serving in China. 

 

In 2020 Michigan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Finland, which was updated on Mar. 18 of this year. The goals of the MOU are to jointly strengthen their respective industries, and build a stronger connection. 

 

Finland currently has MOU’s with seven U.S. states. The Finnish government aims to collaborate on the state and federal level to find areas where corporations can find connections across borders. The MOU’s also promote innovation that can be shared between the United States and Finland, especially within the maritime and ship-building industries in Michigan. 

 

As part of the MOU with Michigan, forestry and nature-focused education take priority. Finland has the most forest coverage in Europe, with an estimated 75% of the land considered forests. Mikkola believes that this is the most important area of the MOU. 

 

Mikkola spent time in Hancock in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in June. She is attending a Finno‑Ugric cultural event in celebration of the Midsummer event which celebrates the summer solstice. Mikkola noticed during her time in Hancock that not only American flags, but Finnish flags were on display year-round. Finno-Ugric is a linguistic group consisting of languages such as Finnish, Estonian, and Hungarian, in addition to several minority languages native to Northern Europe and Western Siberia.  For her this was an opportunity to connect with minority groups in the area, and experience firsthand the connection between the different cultures. 

 

Mikkola’s goal as Finnish ambassador is to continue the connection between the two countries. Mikkola told the White Pine Press “The United States is a very [important] ally and partner for Finland. It doesn’t matter which administration.”