Angola’s Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technologies José Carvalho da Rocha will visit Finland on 25–27 June.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will meet Austria’s Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs Alexander Schallenberg in Helsinki on 24 June.

Minister for Nordic Cooperation and Equality Thomas Blomqvist will attend a meeting of Ministers for Nordic Cooperation in Hella, Iceland, on 18–19 June.

Minister Pekka Haavisto will make his first visit to Estonia as Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs on Tuesday 18 June. He will have a meeting with Estonia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Reinsalu.

The EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) will meet in Luxembourg on 17 June. This will be the first time that Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto represent Finland at the meeting. The Council will discuss the EU Global Strategy, the effectiveness of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), and the situation in Sudan.

In the course of the summer, ministers of Prime Minister Antti Rinne’s Government will visit Finnish libraries to present the Government Programme and to discuss it with citizens.

Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Paula Parviainen has worked as Acting Director General of Communications at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs since 1 June, following Director General of Communications Jouni Mölsä‘s transfer to serve as Finland’s national expert at the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union in Brussels.

Minister Pekka Haavisto will make his first visit to Sweden as Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs on Tuesday 11 June. He will have a meeting with Sweden's Minister for Foreign Affairs Margot Wallström.

On 5 June 2019, the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) published the second report concerning its evaluation of the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings in Finland. The evaluation report focuses on new trends in trafficking in human beings (THB) and on the vulnerability of children to trafficking.

The fourth Conference on National Dialogues will bring together peace work stakeholders and experts in peace processes in Helsinki on 11 and 12 June. The two-day conference will discuss ways of using technology in peacebuilding and examine potential risks for peace processes arising from technology.

On 4 June 2019, the Council of the European Union appointed Antti Hartikainen, Colonel (ret.) at the Finnish Border Guard, to serve as Head of Mission for the European Union Advisory Mission for Civilian Security Sector Reform in Ukraine (EUAM Ukraine).

Like many languages, Finnish is full of loanwords – words that were, at some point, borrowed from other languages and incorporated into Finnish. Finland would now like to give the rest of the world a word, to encourage international discussion about equality and inclusivity, and to support everyone who is working to promote them. The word is: hän.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini will attend a foreign ministerial meeting of the Council of the Baltic Sea States in Jurmala, Latvia, on 3 June.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs will attend the World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF) 2019, organised by the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra. At a discussion session organised by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the African Development Bank on Monday 3 June, speakers will include Vincent Biruta, Minister of the Environment of Rwanda, and Anthony Nyong, Head of Climate Change and Green Growth at the African Development Bank.

Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Natalia Kanem will visit Finland on 28 May 2019.

The EU Foreign Affairs Council will meet to discuss trade issues on 27 May in Brussels. Finland’s representative at the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Anne-Mari Virolainen.

In this year’s elections to the European Parliament, 16,325 persons voted in Finland’s missions and offices abroad, while 228 Finnish crew members cast their advance votes on board ships.

Charlotte Petri Gornitzka, Deputy Executive Director for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), will visit Finland on 23–24 May.

The OECD will hold its Ministerial Council Meeting (MCM) in Paris on 22–23 May 2019. Finland’s representative at the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Anne-Mari Virolainen.

Permanent State Secretary Matti Anttonen, accompanied by a business delegation, will visit Japan on 22–24 May 2019, where he will also participate in the events to celebrate the 100th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Finland and Japan.

The Session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe ended successfully. The member States unanimously adopted a Declaration, which emphasises the far-reaching significance of the Council of Europe for human rights, the rule of law and democracy.

The Unit for Latin America and the Caribbean of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs has invited the honorary consuls representing Finland in Latin America for a visit to Helsinki on 20-22 May 2019.

EU development ministers will have a meeting at the Foreign Affairs Council on 16 May in Brussels. Finland's representative at the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Anne-Mari Virolainen.

The Session of the Committee of Ministers, to be held at Finlandia Hall on 17 May 2019, will mark the end of Finland’s Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. At the meeting, Finland will hand over the Presidency to France. More than 30 ministers from the member States of the Council of Europe will attend the meeting. The meeting will be chaired by Foreign Minister Timo Soini.

The EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) will meet in Brussels on 13 and 14 May. Finland's representative at the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini. The Council will discuss Libya and the situation in the Sahel.

In the upcoming government formation talks, a more determined approach must be adopted towards global challenges such as climate change and poverty. The Development Policy Committee's response to the challenge is a global responsibility model, which would form a foundation for the conduct of development policy for several parliamentary terms and across administrative boundaries.

The 10th Finnish Internet Forum (FIF) will discuss topical matters related to the future of the internet, including 5G networks, open and decentralised web, and the role of the EU in the development of the internet.

As a NATO partner country, Finland will participate in the Crisis Management Exercise 2019 (CMX19) between 9 and 15 May.

The 11th Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting will be held in Rovaniemi, Finland, on Tuesday 7 May 2019. The meeting will be hosted by Finland and chaired by Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Soini will have a meeting with New Zealand's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters in Helsinki on 26 April.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini will visit New York on 22–25 April 2019 to attend meetings of the General Assembly and the Security Council of the UN. His programme will include events that concentrate on the strengthening of multilateralism, the prevention of conflicts, and mediation, for example.

Minister Anne Berner will attend a meeting of Ministers for Nordic Cooperation in Copenhagen on 24 April.

In this year’s parliamentary elections, a total of 41,127 eligible voters used their right to vote abroad. Of these, 40,914 persons voted in Finnish missions abroad during the advance voting period, while 213 Finnish crew members cast their advance votes on board ships.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is planning and creating communication that will promote peace and reconciliation in Iraq and Afghanistan. Communication will focus on young people and the faith that young people hold in their own ability to contribute to society.

In 2018, the amount of expenditure used for development cooperation fell in real terms by 14.6% in relation to the previous year. With a contribution of EUR 833 million to development cooperation, Finland was the ninth largest donor among the EU Member States.

The EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) will meet in Luxembourg on 8 April. Finland's representative at the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini. Items on the agenda include Afghanistan, Eastern Partnership and Venezuela.

In 2019, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, together with other Team Finland organizations and the U.S. Embassy in Helsinki, will organize Road Show in Finland. The aim is to strengthen bilateral commercial and economic relations between Finland and the United States by advancing trade, investments and innovation cooperation.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini will host a joint session of the Presidential Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) and the Committee of Ministers Bureau of the Council of Europe in Helsinki on 3 April 2019.

Finland will support Mozambique’s recovery from the cyclone that hit the country in mid-March through the Finnish Red Cross and the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and by providing technical assistance.

Today, UN Secretary-General António Guterres' High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation and the Global Tech Panel convened by EU High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini will hold a landmark joint meeting in Espoo, Finland at the invitation of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and in cooperation with Nokia.

Consultancy company Ramboll has completed its study of the prevention, handling and follow-up of cases of harassment in the Foreign Service. The results were presented to the Ministry's personnel on Tuesday 26 March.

Finland was particularly widely featured in the world’s media due to the meeting between Trump and Putin in Helsinki. According to the results of the annual ‘Finland in the World Media’ survey, based on Finnish embassies’ and consulates’ reviews of their host countries’ media, other key topics of international interest included education expertise; equality; and the basic income experiment.

The tour of Finnish schools which Foreign Minister Soini began in autumn 2017 will continue this spring in Kitee, Oulu ja Muhos. Minister Soini will visit the general upper secondary school in Kitee on Friday 22 March, and the general upper secondary school in Muhos and a teaching practice school in Oulu on Monday 25 March.

The Finland Promotion Board has revised its Finland Toolbox. The presentation toolkit offers information about Finland and themes that are important for the Finns, and it is available for anyone who wants to tell about these matters to international audiences.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs together with WWF Finland have compiled guidelines for eco-friendly meetings. In future, all meetings to be organised by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs will be eco-friendly. The missions abroad may apply the guidelines as applicable, considering the local circumstances.

The EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) will meet in Brussels on 18 March. Finland's representative at the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini.

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Finland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini, Sweden's Minister for Foreign Affairs Margot Wallström, Germany's Minister of Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas, and State Secretary for Foreign Policy of Denmark Jonas Bering Liisberg will have a meeting in Helsinki on Tuesday 19 March.

Permanent State Secretary Matti Anttonen will represent Finland at the international conference on Syria in Brussels on 14 March. The objective of the ”Supporting the future of Syria and the region” conference, organised by the EU and the United Nations, is to support the UN-led political process and to agree about further measures to help those affected by the crisis.

A number of ambassadorial appointments to be made during the regular annual round of appointments are under preparation in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. On Monday 11 March, the Ministry consulted Chancellor of Justice Tuomas Pöysti to clarify the situation. According to the Chancellor of Justice, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs can continue processing of the pending appointments during the caretaker government's term of office.