Press releases

Core funding to international humanitarian organisations is a rapid and effective way to respond to sudden-onset natural disasters and protracted crises. Finland’s 27.5-million-euro funding will help UN agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross ICRC to operate in areas where people need help, and to plan their operations flexibly.

EU foreign ministers will convene in Brussels on 24 January. The main items on the agenda are the security situation in Eastern Europe and the latest developments in Libya and Syria. The ministers will also discuss the EU Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and the situation in Mali, Sudan and Kazakhstan. Later the same day, Foreign Minister Haavisto and Sweden’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Ann Linde will meet NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

In Finland’s first county elections, a total of 2,923 persons voted in advance at Finland’s missions abroad. The number of advance voters abroad was approximately eight per cent higher than in the 2021 municipal elections.

EU foreign affairs ministers will meet at an Informal Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs (Gymnich) on 13–14 January in Brest, France. Finland’s representative at the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto.

Finland’s support will be targeted at providing assistance to victims of sexual and gender-based violence in Uganda, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and at implementing reparations awarded to former child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as ordered by the International Criminal Court.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has prepared a draft government proposal for amending the Aliens Act, which has now been sent out for comments. The comments are to be submitted by 18 January 2022.

Finland will strengthen its role in the fight against climate change through an investment in a new partnership launched by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The funding will be targeted at climate action in North Africa.

In 2021, Finland chaired the Nordic (N5) cooperation on foreign and security policy and the Nordic-Baltic (NB8) cooperation. Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will host the last meetings of the two presidencies as virtual meetings on 20 December (N5) and 21 December (NB8).

Finland will donate the second batch of COVID-19 vaccine doses through Team Europe. These vaccines were purchased in advance and they would remain unused in Finland. The vaccine donations will not slow down the rollout of vaccinations in Finland. Finland’s donation of COVID-19 doses and support for vaccine alliance Gavi will increase global vaccine coverage and prevent the rise of new variants.

In 2021, Finland’s funding to UN Women core resources will be EUR 19 million. Last year, Finland was the largest of UN Women’s core resource partners.

Finland will contribute EUR 125 million to the replenishment of the International Development Association (IDA), which is part of the World Bank Group. The replenishment process was brought forward to help the world’s poorest countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Finland’s bilateral development cooperation with Afghanistan will remain suspended, but funds will be channelled to humanitarian activities and to responding to people’s basic needs. Finland’s support is delivered through the UN and civil society organisations and it will not fall in the hands of or support the Taliban. A new temporary policy line has been adopted by Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari.

On Friday 10 December 2021, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs repatriated a Finnish mother and her four children from Syria. All five had previously been in the al-Hol camp. They are now in the care of competent Finnish authorities.

The EU Foreign Ministers will meet in Brussels on Monday 13 December. State Secretary Johanna Sumuvuori will represent Finland at the meeting. The Foreign Affairs Council will focus on EU-Africa relations, Central Asia and Venezuela. During a working lunch, ministers will have an informal exchange with Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar. Under current affairs, the Council will discuss topics including Belarus, Varosha, Ethiopia and Ukraine.

The Government’s human rights policy report stresses action to strengthen equality and gender equality. Finland rejects attempts to undermine the universality of human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

The terms and conditions of Business Partnership Support for Finnish companies aiming for developing markets to change on 1 January 2022. Services offered to companies and the effectiveness of the programme will be developed during the new three-year programming period.

Minister for Nordic Cooperation Thomas Blomqvist will participate virtually in a conference on strong democratic systems typical of the Nordic countries. The conference, which will be held in Copenhagen on 8 December aims to show how sustainable democracy in the Nordic region is strengthened by the participation of the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland in Nordic cooperation alongside with the Nordic states.

The Government will organise a festive illumination at Merikasarmi on Finland’s 104th Independence Day. The refurbished and modernised Merikasarmi premises were taken back into use in September.

Today, the President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö approved an amendment to the Decree of the President of the Republic on the Foreign Service. The amendment concerning the locations of Finland’s diplomatic missions and the provision of consular services in the Diplomatic Service will enter into force on 10 December 2021. With the amendment, embassies of Finland will be established in Dakar, Senegal, and in Doha, Qatar, as of 10 December 2021.

The UN estimates that 274 million people will need humanitarian assistance in 2022. The needs are increasing, for example due to the escalation of conflicts in Afghanistan and Ethiopia. Finland will increase its support for the alleviation of human suffering in crisis areas, which is why Finland will raise its funding for humanitarian assistance to EUR 113 million this year.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has published a website on where, how and when Finland’s development cooperation funds are used. Launching this public site increases the openness and transparency of development cooperation.

The 10th anniversary of the Freedom Online Coalition (FOC) will be celebrated at the end of Finland’s Chairship. On 3 December, Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will host a virtual Conference of foreign ministers representing 34 FOC member governments. The Freedom Online Coalition 10th Anniversary Helsinki Declaration for open and accessible internet and human rights-based digitalisation will be launched at the Conference.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend the Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which will be held in Stockholm on 1–2 December. Sweden holds the Chairmanship of the OSCE in 2021. The meeting will discuss, among others, conflicts in the OSCE region as well as the situation in Afghanistan and its wider security impacts.

Sima Sami Bahous, appointed as Executive Director of the United Nations gender equality organisation UN Women in September, will visit Finland on 8–9 December.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has granted EUR 17.82 million to international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) for 2022–2024. Support was granted to 11 international human rights organisations operating in developing countries, whose work focuses on four themes: ending impunity; supporting human rights defenders; strengthening the implementation of economic, social and cultural rights and addressing discriminatory practices; and business and human rights.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation will host a delegation from Kosovo on 1 to 3 December 2021 in Helsinki, Finland. The delegation consists of political decision-makers. During their three-day stay in Helsinki, the delegation has meetings with Finnish and international experts.

On 30 November 2021, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) decided that Finland is to chair the organisation in 2025. The year 2025 will mark the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act, which was adopted at the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe in 1975.

NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs will meet from 30 November to 1 December 2021 in Riga. Finland and Sweden as NATO partner countries and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy are invited to participate in the discussion concerning the Western Balkans region, which will be held on 1 December. Finland’s representative at the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto.

Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will meet Dr Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), on Friday 3 December.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend the Regional Forum of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) in Barcelona on Monday 29 November. A foreign ministerial meeting of the European Union and Southern Neighbourhood will be held on the same day.

Programme-based support for Finnish civil society organisations (CSOs) is allocated for the implementation of Finland’s development policy objectives to eradicate extreme poverty, reduce inequality and promote human rights. The work is carried out in close cooperation with developing countries’ own CSOs. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has granted approximately EUR 276 million for Finnish CSO’s multiannual development cooperation in 2022–2025.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has issued a Decree on the Amendment of Fees for Services Produced by the Foreign Service for 2020–2022. The amendment will enter into force on 1 January 2022 and will remain in force until 31 December 2022.

In its session on 25 November 2021, the Government appointed Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Jukka Salovaara to serve as Permanent State Secretary at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs starting on 1 May 2022.

The social security agreement between Finland and Japan will enter into force on 1 February 2022. Ville Skinnari, Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, and Takashi Murata, Japan’s Ambassador to Finland, exchanged notes on 25 November to bring the bilateral agreement into force. When the agreement enters into force, workers posted to a Contracting State will avoid double pension and unemployment insurance contributions.

The United Nations has designated November 25 as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The day begins an annual international campaign called 16 Days of Activism, which draws attention to this important human rights violation. During the day, well-known buildings around the world will be illuminated in orange – the colour chosen to symbolise the day. This year, the Government will observe the day by illuminating the Merikasarmi building of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

On 25 November, Minister for Nordic Cooperation Thomas Blomqvist will attend a conference in Torshavn on the Faeroe Islands. The conference will discuss the experiences gained from crisis management in the Nordic countries during the COVID-19 pandemic and future Nordic cooperation in crisis preparedness. This is one of the key priorities for Finland’s Presidency in the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2021.

Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will visit Oslo on 22–23 November. Minister Skinnari will meet ministers of Norway’s new Government and visit a waste treatment plant that makes use of carbon capture technologies. The Minister will also attend a seminar organised by the Finnish and Norwegian Shipowners Associations and the Embassy of Finland in Oslo.

Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will represent Finland at the Foreign Affairs Council meeting of EU development ministers on 19 November in Brussels.

Minister for Nordic Cooperation Thomas Blomqvist will speak in a forum on the state and future of cross-border regional cooperation (Gränsregionalt Forum) in Oulu on 18 November. He will also meet local actors, including representatives of the Bothnian Arc collaboration and the City of Oulu, BusinessOulu and the University of Oulu.

Tim Walz, Governor of Minnesota, will visit Finland on 17–19 November. This is the Governor’s first visit abroad since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will present the priorities of Finland’s Presidency in connection with the Rovaniemi Arctic Spirit conference on 16 November. In Rovaniemi, the Minister will also meet representatives of the Sámi Parliament and speak at the University of Lapland.

Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will discuss citizens’ opportunities to exert influence in the EU at Lahti main library on 16 November. The aim is to hear people’s thoughts and wishes about the future of Europe. The event is part of Finnish Ministers’ “We are Europe” tour.

EU foreign ministers will meet in Brussels on Monday 15 November. The main topics on the meeting agenda will be the Sahel, the Western Balkans and the Strategic Compass for security and defence cooperation in the EU. Topical issues on the agenda will include Belarus, the geopolitical dimensions of energy prices, Ethiopia, Sudan and the outcome of the COP26 summit. The meeting of foreign ministers on the Eastern Partnership (EaP) will discuss the future priorities of the cooperation and prepare for the Eastern Partnership summit, on 15 December.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Haavisto will meet Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See Paul Gallagher in Helsinki on 12 November.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend the EU Arctic Forum in Brussels on 10 November.

Finland and Belgium will co-chair the Good Humanitarian Donorship (GHD) initiative for the next two years. As co-chair, Finland will have a stronger role in improving good humanitarian donorship practices at a time when the need for humanitarian assistance is higher than ever.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will discuss the EU’s global role in the Think Corner in Helsinki on 9 November. The aim is to hear people’s thoughts and wishes about the future of Europe. The event is part of Finnish ministers’ “We are Europe” tour.

The Government of Prime Minister Sanna Marin has made a good start in implementing the development policy entries in the Government Programme. However, there continues to be room for improvement. At present, the main focus should be on preparing a clear roadmap, extending beyond the current government term, in order to raise development finance to the UN’s recommendation of 0.7% of gross national income (GNI). The recommendation should be achieved by 2030.

Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will visit Brazil from 8 to 12 November 2021. The Minister will have bilateral meetings with, among others, Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos França, and Minister of the Institutional Security Cabinet of the Presidency of the Republic Augusto Heleno, with whom bilateral discussions have already taken place virtually in December 2020. Minister Skinnari will also meet with representatives of Brazilian industry and will be accompanied by about ten Team Finland representatives aiming to promote Finnish export and internationalisation.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Haavisto will meet the Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs Edgars Rinkēvičs in Helsinki on 9 November.