Gabriela Arias Villela, Deputy Public Affairs Officer of the U.S. Embassy in Helsinki, and Anne Ukkola, Public Engagement Coordinator of the U.S. Embassy in Helsinki, accompanied Michel, who is a Nonresident Senior Fellow of the Snowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. The lecture and discussion covered Arctic security, collaboration efforts between the U.S. and Finland, and how the upcoming U.S. elections could affect international relations.
Attendants included professors, researchers, scholars, and directors from the University of Lapland, the Lapland University of Applied Sciences, and the Arctic Centre. The visit was part of the American Arctic Connection agreement that began in 2021 as a collaboration between the U.S. Embassy and University of Lapland to help facilitate communication and connections between the U.S. and Finland.