The main themes of the state visit of King Frederik X and Queen Mary of Denmark to Finland are bilateral relations between Finland and Denmark, Nordic cooperation, and Baltic Sea security.
King Frederik X and Queen Mary of Denmark are visiting Finland on 4-5 March. The two-day state visit is hosted by President Alexander Stubb, together with his wife Suzanne Innes-Stubb.
The themes of the visit include bilateral relations between Finland and Denmark, Nordic cooperation and the security situation in the Baltic Sea region, as well as support for Ukraine. The royal couple will meet with Finland’s political leadership and visit several destinations during their stay.
The Mayor of Helsinki Juhana Vartiainen hosted the royal couple at a luncheon reception at the Helsinki City Hall on Tuesday, 4 March.
“As the years go by, we seem to trade back and forth the title of the Capital of the World’s Happiest Country – a rivalry of the best kind that keeps both of our cities striving to be even better," Helsinki Mayor Juhana Vartiainen said.
“The capitals of Helsinki and Copenhagen share many attributes. We are both committed to being pioneers in the green transition, to practicing sustainable development, and to creating jobs and financial stability.”
During the visit, Mayor Vartiainen presented King Frederik with the City of Helsinki’s Medal of Honour in recognition of Denmark and Finland’s shared European and Nordic values, and their joint commitment to world peace, a healthy planet and a happy future.
Helsinki’s preparedness efforts and network of civil defence shelters have attracted a great deal of attention on the international scene following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Shelter tours have been arranged for hundreds of decision-makers, authorities and media representatives from all over the world.
During their visit, the Danish King and Queen visited the Merihaka civil defence shelter together with the Finnish presidential couple.
The City of Helsinki has spent decades ensuring that its civil protection capacity is sufficient. The civil defence shelters in Helsinki can accommodate approximately 900,000 people. At present, the city has fewer than 700,000 residents.
“Thanks to the network of civil defence shelters, Helsinki is able to keep society functioning in all circumstances,” said Jani Pitkänen, Helsinki City Rescue Department’s Rescue Commander, who hosted the dignitaries during their visit.
“We have learned from the situation in Ukraine and intensified our cooperation with our colleagues from different countries. In addition to civil protection readiness, we have taken steps to prepare our firefighting and rescue services for exceptional situations. We have enhanced our urban search and rescue capabilities and our rescue operations involving hazardous substances and the threat of armed violence.”
“The latest in our new areas of expertise is our Rescue Task Force, which specialises in demanding situations. We have learned a lot from our Nordic colleagues – Copenhagen in particular – in our development of these services,” Pitkänen continued.
On Wednesday, the King and Queen of Denmark will join the Finnish President and his wife in a visit to the Espoo Museum of Modern Art EMMA and the Arkki School of Architecture for Children and Youth. Their final state visit destination will be Finlandia Hall, a masterpiece of Finnish architecture.
Members of the Danish royal family have visited Helsinki in the past. Queen Mary visited Helsinki City Hall in 2018 when she was still Crown Princess, and Queen Margarethe travelled to Finland’s capital in 2017.
