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.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will visit Riga on Tuesday 30 July. Haavisto will meet Egils Levits, Latvia’s newly elected president, and hold discussions with Minister for Foreign Affairs Edgars Rinkēvičs.

Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will make a presentation before the Development Committee (DEVE) of European Parliament in Brussels on 24 July 2019. The Minister will present Finland’s priorities in the field of humanitarian aid during the country’s Presidency of the EU Council and exchange views on EU development policy with the EP committee within his remit.

The Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) of the European Union will meet on Monday 15 July in Brussels. Finland will be represented by Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto. The FAC will discuss the situation in Iraq, Iran and the Central African Republic. The external dimension of migration will also be on the agenda. There will also be an informal lunch with the new Moldovan Foreign Minister.

Johanna Sumuvuori, State Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, is leading the Finnish delegation to a high-level conference for media freedom held in London on 10–11 July. The conference was convened by Jeremy Hunt, the UK Foreign Secretary.

Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland Pekka Haavisto will visit Sudan and several countries of the Red Sea and broader region over the course of the next weeks to discuss the situation in Sudan. He has received a mandate from High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini to reach out, on behalf of the European Union, on both the situation in the country and on how the international community can accompany Sudan on its transition path.

Like before, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs will be present at SuomiAreena, the most important open-air forum for public discussion organised every summer in Pori. This year, SuomiAreena will be held from 15 to 19 July 2019.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend an informal ministerial gathering of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which will be held in Slovakia’s High Tatras on 9 July. The main theme of the meeting will be conflict prevention. Ministers will discuss opportunities to promote stability and security in the OSCE region.

On 4 July 2019, Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend the Western Balkans Summit to be held in Poznań, Poland. The main topics will be regional cooperation in the Western Balkans and strengthening the EU perspective.

“With several trade disputes going on, it is even more important than before to defend the multilateral rules-based trading system. Poor developing countries are the biggest losers in the face of growing protectionism,” stressed Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari in his statement at a World Trade Organization meeting in Geneva on Wednesday on 3 July.

Finland will celebrate the opening of its Presidency of the Council of the European Union with a free summer party in Töölönlahti Park on 8 July. Europe Information of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Prime Minister’s Office, the European Commission and the European Parliament invite all comers to enjoy a summer day of informal EU-themed events in Kansalaistori (Citizen’s Square).

The EU–Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was signed in Hanoi on 30 June 2019. The agreement is expected to enter into force in early 2020. It is the most ambitious and comprehensive agreement ever concluded by the EU with a developing country. The FTA opens up new market access and business opportunities also for Finnish companies.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend the Ukraine Reform Conference, to be held in Toronto on 1–2 July. The conference will take stock of the implementation of the existing reforms and reinforce international support for Ukraine.

Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will attend a high-level Climate Meeting in Abu Dhabi on 31 June–1 July 2019.

The Finns consider that the key themes during Finland’s upcoming Presidency of the Council of the European Union should be the position of women and girls, and climate action. Education is considered the area where Finland can contribute the most in its own development cooperation activities. The results are based on a survey carried out for the Foreign Ministry by Taloustutkimus.

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.

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.