Helsinki, 16-17-18 June 2017
On the weekend of 16-17-18 June, we participated in our 17th Multilateral Meeting in Helsinki, our event of the year, where our Finnish partners, in particular Aleksis PEKKALIN, surpassed themselves. Unfortunately, we had to regret that the number of participants was not very high, due among other things to the absence of the Greeks.
On Friday 16th we dined in the luxurious surroundings of the Finnjavel restaurant, in the presence of Arto ANILUOTO, the Secretary General of the Finnish ME.
The following day, Saturday, was our working day, with the morning devoted to "European Defence" and the afternoon to "Ageing in Europe". The morning was spent in the old Russian officers' mess, the Casino Katajankan. We heard a contribution from our British participant, Dirk HAZELL, as well as from honorary ambassador M. RANTAKARI and from J-P MORIZOT, followed by some very stimulating exchanges.The afternoon was devoted to "Ageing in Europe". We had contributions from Kaisa KAUPPINEN (Finland), Olga IMBERT (France) and Mark PATTERSON (UK).
After that, we visited a collective residence where Kaisa KAUPPINEN lives, one of the members of ME Finland, who also gave us a presentation on the situation of the Third Age in Finland. At the residence, we were welcomed by Mrs TAAVETTI, who gave us a presentation on how it works.
Saturday evening's dinner was at the NJK restaurant on the island of Valkosaari opposite Helsinki, a sailing club.
Sunday morning was devoted to a boat trip around Helsinki Bay. Everything was remarkable in terms of organisation and cuisine, but the low number of participants remains a source of concern and perplexity.
