On Monday, 27 April, Finland marks Veterans' Day, a commemorative occasion that has been observed since 1987. Among those participating in the ceremonies is the country's president, Alexander Stubb, who attends the main celebrations in the city of Mikkeli (southern Finland), while Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen delivers a speech dedicated to the country's veterans. The Ministry of Defence also marks the occasion on social media.
Veterans' Day has been celebrated annually in Finland since 1987, and this year Mikkeli (southern Finland) hosts the national main celebration. The theme of the main celebration is "Together, with our eyes on the future", according to a press release from the Finnish Army.
A press release from the Presidential Palace states that Finland's President Alexander Stubb and his wife Suzanne Innes-Stubb are attending the celebrations by visiting Mikkeli on Monday. Among other engagements, the presidential couple will meet veterans and Lotta Svärd members at the Veterans' Day main celebration at the Mikaeli concert and congress centre in Mikkeli.
Finland's Ministry of Defence also marks the occasion, and in a post on X they express their gratitude to the country's veterans.
"We thank the veterans, the Lotta Svärd members, and the entire wartime generation for their sacrifices for an independent Finland," they write.
Finland's Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen delivered a speech on Monday dedicated to the veterans and the burden they carried.
"The wartime generation bore by far the heaviest burden in the history of independent Finland. A free Finland was paid for at a great price, for the sake of future generations. Now it is the turn of our generations to carry our share of the responsibility for the welfare and security of our homeland," he said in the speech.