Subject: FW: Invitation to Minister Riisalo - State of Europe high-level roundtable: 6-7 November 2024
From: "MKM info"
To: "MKM info"
Date: Mon, 20 May 2024 10:35:42 +0300

From: Thomas Van Vynckt < <mailto:[email-masked]> 
[email-masked]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 30, 2024 5:40 PM
To: Anu Vask < <mailto:[email-masked]> [email-masked]>
Cc:  <mailto:[email-masked]> [email-masked]; Nathalie Furrer 
< <mailto:[email-masked]> 
[email-masked]>
Subject: Invitation to Minister Riisalo - State of Europe high-level 
roundtable: 6-7 November 2024

Dear Ms. Vask,

I hope that you are well. We were briefly in contact in October 2023 in the 
context of Friends of Europe’s invitation to Minister Riisalo to join the 
State of Europe high-level roundtable, but he was unfortunately unable to 
join us. We hope this year may be different with a much timelier invitation. 
Please find an invitation below and attached.

I am delighted to invite Minister Riisalo, on behalf of the Board of 
Trustees of Friends of Europe, to take part in the 21st edition of our 
annual State of Europe high-level roundtable: 
<https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fwww.friendsofeurope.org%2fevents%2fvoices-choices-and-leadership-a-tipping-point-for-europe%2f&c=E,1,h2PuM84_WdGZqFb5ZYI_6YiLfyGfMR4qeIIVuVxk4NsAn1eF0a0Hrhb0nuZ3-YDZgUAYp7V2QQ4pDabbiVy4GTwWYFsfv55VyzwiR5fiIbzB1Q,,&typo=1> 
Voices, choices, and leadership: a tipping point for Europe. Our high-level 
roundtable will take place on Thursday 7th of November in Brussels and will 
be preceded by our President’s Gala Dinner on the evening of the 6th. We 
would be honoured to welcome the Minister to speak at our roundtable this 
year as Europe embarks on a new era of collaboration, amidst challenges that 
will require continued collaboration across EU Member States.

Specifically, we would like to welcome the Minister to speak on the topic of 
European digitalization, AI and Industry taking place from 14:00 until 15:30 
on 7 November. You may find a draft programme attached to this email. The 
Minister’s extensive experience and lifelong expertise in both the private 
and public sector would greatly elevate the conversation. In the context of 
elections taking place across the world, including the European 
Parliamentary elections in June and the US Presidential elections in 
November, our 2024 high-level roundtable will be dedicated to debating the 
Europe we want and need as new administrations are elected on both sides of 
the Atlantic.

State of Europe annually brings together more than 200 influential 
personalities from more than 40 countries: current and former (prime) 
ministers, company presidents, NGO leaders, senior European civil servants, 
members of parliaments (national and European), influencers, renowned 
journalists, young European leaders, as well as citizens in order to 
generate new ideas in a new and productive way.

Recent personalities who spoke at our Gala Dinner and roundtable include 
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nigerian novelist; Nadia Calvino, then-Spanish 
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Economy and Digitalisation; 
European Commissioners Mariya Gabriel, Elisa Ferreira, Didier Reynders, and 
Nicolas Schmit; Paschal Donohoe, President of the Eurogroup and Irish 
Minister for Public Expenditure; Mario Draghi, former President of the 
European Central Bank and former Italian Prime Minister; Brian Eno, artist, 
music producer and activist; Mario Monti, former Italian prime Minister and 
EU Commissioner; Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for the 
Economy; Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.

In order to get a better idea of the level of representation at the State of 
Europe, you may wish to have a look at our 
<https://www.friendsofeurope.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/State-of-Europe_brochure_2024.pdf> 
brochure. Additionally, you may wish to consult through our 
<https://www.friendsofeurope.org/events/making-sense-of-transitions-in-an-age-of-crises-a-renewed-social-contract-for-a-new-era/> 
2022 and 
<https://www.friendsofeurope.org/events/the-state-of-europe-high-level-roundtable/> 
2023 event pages.

We would be honoured if Minister Riisalo could join us for our high-level 
roundtable in November, the most prestigious event on the Brussels calendar. 
In the event that the Minister is available, we would be happy to have a 
conversation with his team to best tailor his engagement.

I look forward to your response and wish you a delightful evening,

Kind regards,

Thomas

Thomas Van Vynckt (he/him)

Programme Manager State of Europe

Friends of Europe ‑ Connect. Debate. Change.

​The think tank for a more inclusive, sustainable and forward‑looking Europe

Transparency register 99436366768‑45

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