Current affairs

All Finnish missions abroad and organisations issuing visas, including the Border Guard, Finnish Customs and the Police, started to use the new EU visa sticker on 11 November 2019

From 1 October 2019, Schengen visas will be issued by the following seven embassies of Finland in Europe: Berlin, Dublin, London, Madrid, Nicosia, Sofia and Stockholm.

ThisisFINLAND’s first Foreign Correspondents Programme (FCP) for alumni will bring to Finland ten journalists and media professionals who have participated in the programme in earlier years. The alumni programme will take place from 10 to 15 June. We aim to offer the participants an updated picture of Finland.

The President of the Republic appointed new Ambassadors on 6 April. Most of them will assume their functions on 1 September 2018.

The President of the National Security Authority of Belgium Claudia De Maesschalck and the Director of the Finnish Security Authority NSA Tarja Laitiainen signed today in Helsinki the Agreement on Mutual Protection of Classified Information (GSA) between the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Belgium.

The Foreign Ministry has not been reported of Finns among the injured. Finnish citizens are requested to register at www.matkustusilmoitus.fi.

At the presidential session on Friday 10 April, the President of the Republic decided to appoint new heads of mission to Brussels, Kathmandu and Singapore and a side-accreditation to Jordan.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is making changes to Finland’s network of diplomatic missions as part of the central government’s savings. The changes arise from decisions to cut the Ministry’s appropriations for operating expenses. The embassies of Finland in Luxembourg, Bratislava (Slovakia) and Ljubljana (Slovenia) will be closed by the end of 2015.

This week, Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja will participate in the NATO/ISAF meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on 4 December and the OSCE Ministerial Council in Kyiv, Ukraine, on 5–6 December. On 6 December, the Minister will meet Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Radosław Sikorski in Warsaw and attend the Independence Day receptions held by Finnish Embassies in both Kiev and Warsaw.