Finnish and Swiss former presidents to visit Azerbaijan
Baku, April 17 (AZERTAC). Former presidents Tarja Kaarina Halonen of Finland and Micheline Anne-Marie Calmy-Rey of Switzerland will visit Baku to attend the First International South Caucasus forum on May 8.
Tarja Halonen is a Finnish lawyer who was the 11th President of Finland, serving from 2000 to 2012. Halonen who was the first female president of the country, had previously been a member of the parliament from 1979 to 2000 until her election to the presidency. In addition to her political career, she had a long and extensive career in trade unions and different non-governmental organizations.
Calmy-Rey was elected on 4 December 2002 to the Federal Council, heading the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. Calmy-Rey is the fourth woman elected to the Federal Council in history. On 7 December 2005 she was elected Vice-President of Switzerland, a post she held for the calendar year of 2006. Calmy-Rey supports Switzerland joining the European Union and she is an Eminent Member of the Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation. She was also a member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2003, and was elected the President of the Confederation in 2007 and again in 2011. She resigned her office as member of the Federal Council on 31 December 2011.
The forum co-organized by Nizami Ganjavi International Center, the Club of Madrid, and the State Committee for Work with Diaspora will be attended by more than 400 foreign experts, intellectuals, former heads of state and government from more than 60 countries.
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