Current Affairs

On 23 June, the EU adopted a regulation on the reciprocity of public procurement. The regulation aims to give EU companies better access to public procurement markets outside the EU in the so-called third countries.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will meet Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Zbigniew Rau in Helsinki on 1 July. Follow the live webcast of the press conference at 13.40.

"Two years of the pandemic have underlined the importance of working together at the international and regional levels when faced with a serious health crisis. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine also serves as a reminder that war in our part of the world is no mere theoretical possibility. In the face of crises of various kinds, we see how important it is to work together with our closest partners to cope with challenges, within and along with the EU and NATO and in our close Nordic family."

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will meet Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Zbigniew Rau in Helsinki on 1 July.

The document is a political commitment, signed by the foreign ministers of Finland, Sweden and Türkiye. The memorandum confirms Türkiye’s support for Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership and enables progress in both countries’ NATO membership process.

The UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) will meet in New York between 5 and 15 July.

The Unit for Sustainable Trade was established at the Department for International Trade last autumn. The Unit promotes discussion about themes linked to sustainable development in trade agreements and multilateral organisations.

Through the Foreign Ministry’s funding for development cooperation Finnish CSOs and their partners promote poverty eradication, reduction of inequality and the fulfilment of human rights. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has awarded approximately EUR 21 million in discretionary government grants for Finnish CSOs’ development cooperation projects in 2023–2026.

Minister for Nordic Cooperation and Equality, Thomas Blomqvist, will attend a meeting of the Ministers for Nordic Cooperation in Halden, Norway, on 27–28 June. One of the main topics of the meeting will be Nordic cooperation in times of crisis with a particular focus on the role of the ministers for Nordic cooperation in ensuring the exchange of information between the countries. At the meeting, ministers will adopt a joint declaration on cooperation during crises.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend Nordic foreign ministers’ meeting in N5 format in Norway on 27 June.

The international community supports the sustainability and operational capacity of Ukraine’s public sector in the midst of the war through the World Bank’s FREE Ukraine Multi-Donor Trust Fund. Following Russia’s aggression in February 2022, Finland has granted EUR 21 million in additional funding for development cooperation and humanitarian assistance in Ukraine.

Restrictions on entry at Finland’s external borders imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic will be lifted on 1 July 2022. Third-country travellers arriving in Finland will no longer be required to hold vaccination or COVID-19 test certificates, and COVID-19 tests will not be carried out at border crossing points.

On Wednesday 22 June, the Government appointed a new Deputy Director General. At the presidential session on Wednesday 22 June, the President of the Republic decided to appoint two new Ambassadors.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will participate in a high-level panel discussion to be held in connection with the summer session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg. Minister Haavisto will have also bilateral meetings.

EU foreign ministers will convene in Luxembourg on Monday 20 June. Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will represent Finland at the meeting. The main themes on the agenda of the Foreign Affairs Council will be the Horn of Africa, EU relations with Egypt and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Ministers will also have a discussion on the Persian Gulf.

On 13 July, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs will organise a discussion where representatives of international trade and different companies will look into future prospects of export trade, which are overshadowed by the war in Ukraine and rivalry between the great powers.

Executive Secretary Robert Floyd of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) is visiting Finland from 15 to 17 June at the invitation of Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto. The will includes a tour of Finland’s CTBTO monitoring network.

On 14–16 June 2022, Finland will serve for the second time in succession as president of the session of the Conference of States Parties (COSP) to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Representatives from more than 180 countries are expected to attend the conference in New York. A large number of representatives of civil society organisations and UN agencies, dedicated to promoting the rights of persons with disabilities, will also attend the conference. The Finnish delegation will be led by Permanent State Secretary at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs Jukka Salovaara.

The Fifth National Dialogues Conference (NDC) will bring about 120 peace mediation experts from 30 different countries to Helsinki on 15–16 June. On the two days, the conference will focus on the significance and challenges of national dialogues in the changing world. Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto will open the conference and participate in the opening panel discussion.

On 13 June 2022, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) adopted an opinion on a matter concerning the right to be included in the electoral roll in Sámi parliamentary elections.