International receptions for the mayors of Vitoria and Bilbao – Norte Exprés
In the last hours the mayors of Vitoria, Gorka Urtaran, and Bilbao, Juan Mari Aburto, have had international visits of different rank.
Bilbao with the ambassador of Finland and Vitoria with the delegate of the Polisario Front.
VITORIA
The Mayor of Vitoria-Gasteiz, Gorka Urtaran, and the Councilor for Development Cooperation, Jon Armentia, received the new Polisario Front delegate in Euskadi, Jadiyetu El Mohtar, this afternoon at the Town Hall.
The purpose of the meeting was to establish a first contact with the Saharawi representative and analyze the possibilities of collaboration after her inauguration on June 29, replacing Liman Mohamed Ali.
BILBAO
The Mayor of Bilbao, Juan Mari Aburtoreceived this afternoon at the Town Hall the Ambassador of FinlandSari Rautio, who has attended the meeting accompanied by several high officials of the diplomatic delegation of his country.
Sari Rautio, 49, is fluent in four languages (Finnish, Spanish, English and French) and has basic knowledge of three others (Swedish, Russian and Amharic). Married and mother of a daughter, she studied a Master in Social Sciences at the University of Tampere (Finland) and in June 2000 she joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of her country, where she has held positions of maximum responsibility, both in the embassies of Finland in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) and Moscow (Russia) as well as in the Permanent Representation of Finland to the European Union.
After passing through the Directorate for Common Foreign and Security Policy of the EU and the Directorate for Security Policy and Crisis Management of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, Rautio accepted in September 2022 the position of Ambassador at the Finnish diplomatic mission in Madrid, replacing her predecessor in office, Tiina Jortikka-Laitinen, who in February 2018 officially visited the Bilbao City Council.
During her official visit to Bilbao, the Finnish Ambassador had the opportunity to talk with Mayor Aburto about matters of presentreinforcing the bases to advance in fields of interest for both parties, such as cooperation in cultural, tourist and economic matters.
In this sense, it should be remembered that last February Bilbao Biscay attended the Connect fair for the first timeone of the great international connectivity events that took place in the Finnish city of Tampere, where it met with several international airlines, including Finn Air, which operates in one of the markets considered strategic for Bilbao Bizkaia, the Nordic market.