First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska began her visit to Finland with a meeting with First Lady Suzanne Innes-Stubb.
“I am grateful to you personally, to your people, to the Government of Finland, and, of course, to the President for your effective support of Ukraine’s efforts to counter Russia’s armed aggression: through diplomatic, defense, humanitarian, technical, and financial assistance. It has profound importance to us,” Olena Zelenska said.
She also highlighted Suzanne Innes-Stubb's personal participation in the Fourth Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen and invited her to attend the next one, which will be held in Kyiv in September this year.
“I am sure that First Ladies and Gentlemen have a unique role, and through their actions and initiatives, they can not only draw attention to and highlight issues of humanitarian and social policy but also contribute to solving them,” the wife of the President of Ukraine emphasized.
One of the key topics of the meeting was the safety of the educational space and, in particular, the arrangement of school shelters.
Olena Zelenska noted that this visit is also special because it will feature the first public signing of the Memorandums of Accession to the Global Coalition of Ukrainian Studies by the University of Helsinki and Tampere University.
In addition, the First Lady of Ukraine met with the Minister of Education of Finland, Anders Adlercreutz.
“Thank you for your proactive stance in advocating support for Ukraine on the global stage, and for your significant work in the Finnish Government and Parliament on fostering solidarity with Ukraine and shaping the long-term and systematic assistance to Ukraine provided by Finland and the EU,” she said.
The President's wife also pointed out that Finnish education is a global brand, so it is very important that Finland stands as a key partner of Ukraine in the establishment of the New Ukrainian School and in improving the quality of vocational education.
Together with the Minister, the First Lady visited a school in Helsinki, where she got acquainted with the work of the shelter, the catering unit and a presentation on the experience of the school meal system in Finland.
“Free hot meals for absolutely all children in educational institutions have been implemented in Finland for a long time. When we started the School Nutrition Reform in Ukraine, we were mainly inspired by the example of Finland,” Olena Zelenska emphasized.
