Press releases

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs participates in the Helsinki Book Fair with a varied, fact-based programme. Also present at the fair will be Minister of Nordic Cooperation Thomas Blomqvist and Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto. A new, updated version of Europe Information’s book on basic facts about the EU (EU-perusteos / EU basfakte) will be published at the fair.

During the autumn of 2019, the Migration Institute of Finland and the Finnish Immigration Service will organise a public lecture series under the AUDA project (Voluntary Return to Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia). The AUDA project is implemented in cooperation between the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Finnish Immigration Service and the Crisis Management Centre (CMC).

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will visit Berlin on Thursday 17 October 2019 to attend the 20th anniversary of the Nordic Embassies complex. The event will be attended by the Foreign Ministers of the five Nordic countries and Germany’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas.

Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will attend the 2019 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington DC on 17–19 October.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Jordan Ayman Safadi will visit Finland on Friday 18 October and meet President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö and Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto.

The EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) will meet in Luxembourg on 14 October. Finland will be represented by Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto. The main theme of the discussions will be the latest developments in the situation in Syria. The meeting will be followed by an informal lunch with Ukraine’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Vadym Prystaiko.

Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will visit Brussels on 9 October. The Minister will speak at a seminar entitled Europe and Africa: Neighbours with a shared future – Investing in people, which is organised by Finland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union together with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The Finnish Government will grant Finnfund a loan of EUR 210 million for further investment in climate projects in developing countries and for strengthening the position of women and girls. Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari made the decision about the loan, which is part of the Ministry’s development policy investments.

The Council reaffirmed its commitment to EU accession to the European Convention on Human Rights by adopting, on October 7, supplementary negotiating directives aiming at thee swift resumption of negotiations with the Council of Europe.

In the Government’s budget proposal, EUR 1.256 billion is proposed for the Foreign Ministry’s main title of expenditure. This is EUR 120 million more than was allocated in the Budget for 2019. The growth is mainly due to appropriation increases in line with the Government Programme.

The XVII Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC) Foreign Ministers' session will be held on 3 October in Umeå, Sweden. At the meeting, the two-year chairmanship of BEAC will be handed over from Sweden to Norway.

On 3 October, Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will visit Umeå, Sweden, to attend the EU Arctic Forum. The forum is co-organised by the European Commission and Sweden.

Minister Ville Skinnari will chair an informal lunch meeting of EU trade ministers in Brussels on 1 October and attend the Trade for Her conference on 30 September.

On 26 September, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) gave its judgment concerning Finland in the case of the return of an asylum seeker to Iraq.

Prime Minister Antti Rinne has appointed a Management Group for Finland Promotion Board for a term from 1 September 2019 to 31 December 2023.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will visit Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, North Macedonia and Albania on 30 September–2 October. During the visit, Minister Haavisto will meet his counterparts and other political leaders and representatives of CSOs.

The Foreign Ministry’s country branding campaign, entitled Capital of Metal, won a Campaign of the Year prize at the global Digital Communication Awards competition in Berlin on 20 September 2019. The Campaign of the Year prize was awarded in the associations and institutions category. The Ministry’s Finland emoji collection won a prize at the competition in 2016.

Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will attend the high-level week of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York from 23 to 27 September. During the week, the UN Secretary-General will convene a Climate Summit on 23 September and the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development will hold a meeting from 24 to 25 September.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 74) in New York.

External Affairs Minister of the Republic of India Subrahmanyam Jaishankar will visit Finland from 19 to 21 September.

Achim Steiner, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme UNDP, will visit Finland on 16 September 2019.

Sweden’s new Minister for Foreign Affairs Ann Linde will visit Finland on Friday 13 September and meet Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto.

In summer 2019, the Finnish Embassy in Moscow and the Finnish Consulate General in St Petersburg commissioned a survey examining what kind of perceptions Russian people have of Finland. The survey was conducted by Levada Market Research, and it was responded by a total of 1,600 people from different parts of Russia. This was the second time that the survey was carried out – the first one was conducted in summer 2017. This year, residents of St Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast responded to a separate survey. 

Finland will continue its support for a UN Women project in Jordan. The objective of the project is to improve the economic livelihood of women in a vulnerable position. Finland's support for the third phase of the project, for 2019–2022, amounts to EUR 2 million.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend the Nordic foreign ministers' meeting in Borgarnes, Iceland, on 11 September.

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) published its fifth report on Finland today 10 September. ECRI acknowledges the many measures that have already been made or are in progress. At the same time, it presents 20 recommendations for Finland to combat racism and intolerance.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will visit London on 10 September and have a meeting with Britain’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab. Haavisto will also meet Tom Tugendhat, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will visit Oslo on 4 September and hold discussions with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway Ine Eriksen Søreide.

Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will speak at a meeting of the European Parliament Committee on International Trade (INTA) in Brussels on 3 September.

Minister for Nordic Cooperation Thomas Blomqvist will attend a meeting of Ministers for Nordic Cooperation in Edinburgh on 3 September 2019.

The Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) published its first evaluation report on Finland on 2 September 2019. The report analyses the implementation of the provisions of the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence in Finland.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will visit Slovenia and attend the 2019 Bled Strategic Forum on 3 September. The Forum will gather heads of state, foreign ministers, representatives of international organisations, and leaders representing business life and academia.

The topics of discussion at the Informal Meeting of Ministers for Foreign Affairs (Gymnich) included the wider Middle East, the Arctic region, hybrid threats and regional cooperation with the Western Balkan partners. After the meeting, Finland arranged a separate informal lunch, which was also attended by a number of invited human rights defenders from around the world.

On 2 September, Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will visit the European Parliament in Brussels to present the priorities of Finland’s Presidency of the Council of the EU and exchange views on current EU external relations matters with members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will visit Stockholm on 30 August to meet Sweden’s Minister for International Development Cooperation Peter Eriksson and Minister for Foreign Trade Ann Linde.

The 14th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification will convene in New Delhi, India, on 2 to 13 September 2019. Finland represents the European Union and its member states as part of Finland's Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

On 29–31 August 2019, Europe Forum Turku will gather Finnish opinion-makers and citizens to discuss Finland's role in Europe and in the European Union. The Foreign Ministry’s Europe Information will organise a discussion event in Turku on Thursday 29 August.

On 26 August 2019, at 17.00–18.30, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs will organise a free discussion event open to the public. It will give insight into the themes of the informal meetings of the EU’s defence and foreign affairs ministers (Gymnich), to take place in Finland next week.

The foreign ministers of the EU member states will hold an informal meeting (Gymnich) in Helsinki on 29 and 30 August. The topics to be discussed include the wider Middle East, the Arctic region and hybrid threats. In addition, regional cooperation will be discussed with the foreign ministers of the Western Balkan partners.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will visit New York on 23 August 2019.

EU Special Representative (EUSR) to the Horn of Africa Alexander Rondos will visit Finland on 28–29 August.

On World Humanitarian Day, 19 August, the UN focuses on the special needs of women and girls in humanitarian aid work. During its presidency of the Council of the European Union, Finland also stresses how important it is to prevent sexual and gender-based violence and to support its victims in crises.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs proposes altogether EUR 1,260 million for its administrative branch in 2020.

The Heads of Finnish Missions abroad will convene for their annual meeting in Helsinki on 19‒22 August. The meeting will be arranged at the Korjaamo Culture Factory in Töölö in Helsinki. Permanent State Secretary Matti Anttonen will chair and open the meeting.

Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohammed Javad Zarif will visit Finland on 19 August.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will visit Denmark on 16 August 2019. Minister Haavisto will meet the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark Jeppe Kofod and visit the Danish Parliament.

The Social Impact Investing Initiative is an innovative way of channelling finance towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Finland is planning to provide about EUR 20 million in support for the Initiative.

Safety considerations have become a significant constraint on humanitarian action and relief in recent years. The Red Cross and UN emblems are no longer respected in conflicts. This hampers the work of humanitarian organisations and the distribution of humanitarian aid.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will participate in an international conference dealing with the situation in Venezuela on 6 August in Lima, Peru. The meeting will be attended by foreign ministers from around the world, particularly from the Latin American countries, the Caribbean and North America. During his visit, Haavisto will also meet for bilateral talks with the foreign ministers of several Latin American countries.