Former German foreign minister Joschka Fischer has agreed to speak at the Closing Ceremony of the IPI World Congress in Helsinki on Tuesday, 8 June 2009. In his speech, Mr. Fischer will reflect upon the many topics raised over the three-day meeting of leading politicians, experts, academics and media representatives.

Speaking about his participation in the Helsinki Congress, Mr. Fischer told IPI, “I look forward with great interest to the discussions and debates in Helsinki, which will focus on some of the major challenges facing the world in 2009. The global financial crisis, the resurgence of Russia, climate change, and the omnipresent threat of terrorism – these are the issues that affect not only Europeans and Americans, but the citizens of all countries.”

As the former German vice-chancellor, second-longest serving foreign minister in German post-war history, co-chairman of the Green Party’s federal parliamentary faction, and first-ever Green Party minister of the environment, no one is better suited than Mr. Fischer to talk about the many social, political, economic and environmental challenges currently facing the world.

To see Mr. Fischer’s biography, the biographies of other confirmed speakers, as well as more about the evolving programme, visit the official Congress website: http://www.ipihelsinki.fi/programme.html

The Global Network for a Free Media

To register and for further information, please visit the Congress Website, www.ipihelsinki.fi, or contact IPI Headquarters in Vienna. 



IPI Congress Coordinators:

Michael Kudlak, Deputy Director
mkudlak@freemedia.at  

Christiane Klint, Assistant Coordinator
cklint@freemedia.at  

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