Paavo Lipponen represents Finland in memorial ceremony commemorating former Federal Chancellor Schmidt

A memorial ceremony commemorating former Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, who died on 10 November, will be held in Hamburg on Monday 23 November. Former Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen and Finland's Ambassador to Germany Ritva Koukku-Ronde will represent Finland in the ceremony. Helmut Schmidt served as the Federal Chancellor of Germany in 1974-1982.

"Federal Chancellor Schmidt was one the most important politicians of his era and he was widely respected both nationally and internationally. He participated actively in societal discussion until the recent months. I met Schmidt in the main offices of the Die Zeit magazine while serving as Speaker of Parliament. He had just recovered from a serious heart attack. We had some coffee, a schnapps and talked. Schmidt smoked a few cigarettes. A memorable encounter," said Lipponen.

English translation of the press release published on 23 November 2015