Finland | Independence Day
The Ambassador of Finland Mrs Paivi Luostarinen toasts the start of Centenary celebrations
The German Ambassador Dr Peter Ammon and the Ambassador of Luxembourg Mr Patrick Engelberg
Hungarian Ambassador Mr Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky congratulates Ambassador Luostarinen
The Slovak Ambassador Dr L’ubomír Rehák, Ambassador Luostarinen and Chair of the Lords EU Select Committee Lord Boswell
The Lord Mayor of Westminster Councillor Steve Summers, the Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Councillor Elizabeth Rutherford and Ambassador Luostarinen
Ms Karen Lawrence and the Ambassador of Italy Mr Pasquale Terracciano
Swiss Ambassador Dominik Furgler, Latvian Ambassador Ms Baiba Braže and Estonian Ambassador Mr Lauri Bambus
The Ambassadors of Ukraine Mrs Natalia Galibarenko, the Lithuanian Ambassador Mrs Asta Skaisgirytė Liauškienė, the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps Mr Khaled Al Duwaisan and Swiss Ambassador Mr Dominik Furgler
Ambassador Luostarinen with the High Commissioner for Cyprus Mr Euripides Evriviades
The Deputies: Cosmin Onisi (Romania), Leena Gardemeister (Finland) and Mr Jan Brunner (Czech Republic)
The new Ambassador of Greece Dimitris Caramitzos-Tziras and the Ambassador of Bulgaria Mr Konstantin Dimitrov
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Festive Finland
There is always a jovial mood at the Finnish Independence Day celebrations coming as it does at the start of the Festive Season, but this year it was extra special. In her toast, Ambassador Paivi Luostarinen told the many guests that this year’s festivities were launching a year of events leading up to the big centenary celebrations this time next year.
The fine fare was a reinvention of classic Finnish party favourites, such as smoked reindeer, Karelian pasties and berry dessert.
PHOTOS: PIERRE DE VILLIERS