Current Affairs

Finland will end its crisis management participation at Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) in Iraq by the end of this year. For ten years OIR has been the military mission of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. As agreed by the United States and Iraq in September, a transition phase towards the conclusion of the mission has begun. Finland joined the operation in 2015. Finland continues to support the security sector of Iraq through NATO Mission Iraq (NMI) and the EU’s civilian crisis management mission.

On 15 October 2024, the Nordic-Baltic countries’ foreign ministers will travel to Moldova. The visit comes ahead of the concurrent presidential elections and referendum on Moldova’s future relations with the European Union on 20 October. The Nordic-Baltic ministers are showing support for Moldova’s reforms and resilience in the face of intensifying hybrid attacks, and will share their experiences of membership and close relations with the European Union. Finland is represented by Political State Secretary Pasi Rajala.

The EU foreign ministers will convene in Luxembourg on 14 October. Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will represent Finland at the meeting.

At its session on 10 October 2024, the Government appointed a new Strategy Director to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

On 10 October 2024, the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) and the Committee on the Rights of the Child published three views concerning Finland in response to individual complaints. Two of the communications concerned the granting of a mineral exploration permit and one the granting of an area reservation on Sami people’s traditional territory.

Dr. Natalia Kanem, the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), will visit Finland on 10–12 October. She will meet Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen and members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament. Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio met the Executive Director during the High Level Week of the UN General Assembly in New York in September.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs will update the National Action Plan on Youth, Peace and Security in cooperation with the Finnish National Youth Council Allianssi and the Finnish Youth, Peace and Security Network. For this purpose, young people’s views on peace and security will be canvassed using group consultations and a survey questionnaire, which is now open.

The Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers, Karen Ellemann, will visit Helsinki from 10 to 11 October and meet Finnish Minister for Nordic Cooperation Anders Adlercreutz.

On 8 October 2024, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) gave its judgment in a case concerning Finland. The Court held that there had been no violation of Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The Tanzanian Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Mahmoud Thabit Kombo, will visit Helsinki on 8–11 October and meet Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen.

The Namibian Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Peya Mushelenga, will visit Helsinki on 2–5 October and meet Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen.

Finnish Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio will visit Copenhagen on 3 October. The aim of the visit is to promote the commercial and economic relations between Finland and Denmark and foreign investments in Finland. During his visit, Minister Tavio will meet Denmark’s public officials and key business representatives.

On Wednesday 2 October, Finland’s Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio will meet France’s new Delegate Minister for Foreign Trade and French Nationals Abroad Sophie Primas and the new Minister of State for Francophonie and International Partnerships, Thani Mohamed Soilihi, to discuss topical trade and development policy issues.

Finland will participate in a joint European Union table-top exercise the EU Integrated Resolve PACE 2024. The aim of the exercise is to improve the EU’s crisis response capacity.

Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will travel to Türkiye in the delegation of President of the Republic Alexander Stubb on 1–2 October.

Press release by Ministry of Transport and Communications and Ministry for Foreign Affairs: Finland has joined the US-led multilateral declaration on submarine cable security. The parties to the declaration agreed on common objectives and means for improving the security and resilience of submarine cables.

Since the seizure of power by the Taliban de facto authorities, the women and girls of Afghanistan have been subjected to the most severe systematic human rights violations.

Following Finland’s reform of the Act on Export Control of Dual-Use Items, the United States has added Finland to the list of IEC eligible destinations from 17 September 2024.

The September issue of Kauppapolitiikka explores the current state of the Finnish export sector and the challenges it is facing in the international market. Finland’s share of world trade is diminishing, which affects people’s standard of living and creates challenges for general government finances. Turning this trend around will require perseverance and wide-ranging measures.

The Finnish Government proposes a total of EUR 1.2 billion in appropriations for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs for 2025. As part of general government adjustment measures, additional savings totalling EUR 115 million have been allocated to the administrative branch.

Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland Elina Valtonen delivered the Nordic-Baltic speech at the 57th Session of the UN Human Rights Council on 23 September 2024.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will visit Berlin on 24 September to discuss topical foreign policy questions.

On September 17, the European Union countries (Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland) sharing the border with Russia, had their 3rd meeting on sanctions co-operation. In the meeting in Tallinn, the representatives of the Ministries for Foreign Affairs and Customs Agencies discussed effective implementation of sanctions and prevention of sanctions circumvention.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is consulting exporters on the draft decision on a national general export authorisation until 14 October 2024.

This is the last time during its membership period 2022–2024 that Finland will participate as a Member in the regular session of the UN Human Rights Council. In accordance with established practice, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs invited the representatives of the civil society to exchange views on Finland’s objectives and priorities for the upcoming session. The Human Rights Council (HRC) is the UN’s most important intergovernmental body promoting and protecting human rights. The HRC’s 57th session started on 9 September and ends on 11 October.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, will visit Finland on 19 September and discuss the current humanitarian and refugee situation with Finland’s political leadership.

Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will visit Vienna on 19 September. She will outline the preliminary priorities of the incoming Finnish OSCE Chairpersonship to the organisation’s Permanent Council, which has representatives from the 57 participating States and 11 Partners of Cooperation.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has sent out for comments a proposal for a new Decree of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs on Fees for Services Produced by the Foreign Service in 2025. It is proposed that several of the Foreign Ministry's services which are currently provided free of charge should be made chargeable.

The high-level meetings of the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 79) will start in New York on 24 September. Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen and Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio will attend ministerial events in New York and have bilateral meetings with their counterparts and with representatives of the UN.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio will visit Stockholm on 17–18 September to meet his Nordic colleagues and business representatives.

The new Act on the Export Control of Dual-Use Items entered into force on 15 September 2024. The Decree on the Advisory Board on Export Control issued under the Act entered into force at the same time. The reform includes a national control list of items that need an authorisation for export outside the European Union.

At the presidential session on 13 September, the President of the Republic appointed four new non-resident Ambassadors.

Finland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen met Sweden´s Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard in Helsinki on 13 September. The press conference was broadcast live on Friday 13.9 at 14.45.

Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard will visit Finland on 13 September at the invitation of Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is preparing a call for proposals for programme-based support, which will be open to Finnish civil society organisations (CSOs) in January 2025. In this application round, Finnish CSOs can apply for discretionary government grants for development cooperation programmes and, where applicable, for humanitarian assistance included in the programmes for the period 2026–2029. The grant is awarded from the development cooperation appropriations for Finnish CSOs’ development cooperation and humanitarian assistance.

Minister Anders Adlercreutz, who is responsible for Nordic cooperation, will attend a virtual meeting of the ministers for Nordic cooperation on Wednesday 11 September.

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) will hold its 57th session from 9 September to 11 October in Geneva, Switzerland.

Finland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen met Estonia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna in Helsinki on 6 September.

Nuclear weapons have been at the core of international relations ever since they were developed. Nuclear-weapons states and their allies regard nuclear weapons as the cornerstone of security and means to stabilise international relations. At the same time, nuclear weapons pose a threat to the existence of humankind.

Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna will visit Helsinki on 6 September and meet Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will visit Albania, Serbia and Kosovo on 4–5 September. The aim of the visit is to strengthen political and commercial relations with Finland’s partners in the Western Balkans. Finland supports the aspirations of the region’s countries for EU membership.

Matilda af Hällström will serve as Special Adviser to Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen starting from 2 September 2024. She was the acting Special Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Affairs from 4 December 2023 to 12 January 2024.

At the presidential session on 30 August, the President of the Republic appointed a new non-resident Ambassador to Albania.

The Government issued a decree on an advisory board on export control on 29 August. The decree was issued under the Act on the Control of Exports of Dual-Use Goods. The new act on the export of dual-use items enters into force on 15 September 2024.