Tarja Cronberg, a former leader of the Green Party and one-time Finnish labour minister, attended a controversial seminar in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad last month.
Swedish daily Expressen reported Cronberg's attendance at the event, noting that the seminar has come to be widely viewed as part of Russia's hybrid influencing campaign.
The four-day conference was ostensibly held to mark the 300th anniversary of the birth of philosopher Immanuel Kant — but a joint investigation by Nordic and Baltic media outlets has uncovered evidence that it was "part of a Russian government effort to justify its war in Ukraine and weaken pro-Nato sentiment in the Baltic region".
Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko opened the seminar by reading out a greeting from Russian President Vladimir Putin, which was followed by the playing of the Russian national anthem.
Expressen wrote that Cronberg attended the seminar with the permission of Dan Smith, her boss at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), but Smith told the newspaper that Cronberg herself made the decision to attend the event and was not there to represent Sipri.
Iltalehti: Seminar part of Russia's hybrid efforts
Finnish newspaper Iltalehti was one of the media outlets involved in the joint investigation, and reported on Monday that the Kant seminar was part of the Russian Baltic Platform project.
On the surface, the project appears to be concerned with tackling pollution in the Baltic Sea, but its true aim is to "advance Russia’s geopolitical interests", as revealed by internal Kremlin documents obtained as part of the investigation.
Sipri director Smith told Expressen that attending such a conference is beneficial in the interests of maintaining communication channels even in difficult times.
However, he also noted that he is aware of the origins of the Baltic Platform project and the concerns surrounding it.
Cronberg was one of a handful of Western representatives to attend the seminar.
Greens: "Russia is a terrorist state"
Both Expressen and Iltalehti reported that the seminar in Kaliningrad is not the only event Cronberg has attended in Russia since the Kremlin launched its war on Ukraine in February 2022.
She also attended a seminar in Moscow last November, the papers noted, which was also suspected to be part of Russia's hybrid influencing attempts. According to the reports, Cronberg spoke at the Moscow event about the need for a nuclear-free zone in the Nordic countries.
Yle had not been able to reach Cronberg for comment by Monday afternoon.
In response to the reports of Cronberg's attendance at the two events, current Green Party chair Sofia Virta wrote on X that the party was unaware of its former leader's activities.
"The position of the Green Party is clear: Russia is a terrorist state, Putin's message should not be given any space and no one should attend the events. Ukraine must be supported without compromise," Virta wrote.
Cronberg, now 80, served as a Green MP in 2003-07, as leader of the party in 2005-09, as Minister of Labour in 2007-09, and as a MEP in 2011-14. She has worked at Sipri since 2015.