State of Europe high-level roundtable

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 21^st edition of our annual State of Europe high-level roundtable: Voices, choices, and leadership: a tipping point for Europe. Our high-level roundtable will take place on Thursday 7^th of November in Brussels and will be preceded by our President’s Gala Dinner on the evening of the 6^th. 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 brochure. Additionally, you may wish to consult through our 2022 and 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