Current affairs

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs urges to avoid all travel to the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa in accordance with the recommendation of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. For all other countries, the Foreign Ministry’s general travel advice due to the COVID-19 pandemic is to avoid all but essential travel.

Brussels, 29/12/2020 - 14:01, UNIQUE ID: 201229_3 Statements by the Spokesperson Ten out of the twelve individuals from Hong Kong, detained at sea by the Chinese authorities in August, went on trial in Shenzhen on 28 December.

Brussels, 29/12/2020 - 10:23, UNIQUE ID: 201229_1 Statements by the Spokesperson The restrictions on freedom of expression, on access to information, and intimidation and surveillance of journalists, as well as detentions, trials and sentencing of human rights defenders, lawyers, and intellectuals in China, are growing and continue to be a source of great concern.

All Finnish missions abroad responsible for entry matters accept visa applications submitted by representatives of defined special groups. Representatives of such special groups include, for example, persons applying for a visa on the basis of family ties or an established relationship. The conditions for issuing a visa under the Schengen Visa Code must also be met.

Brussels, 12/12/2020 Ms. Fan Haze, a Chinese journalist who works for Bloomberg News, was detained on 7 December by the Beijing National Security Bureau, allegedly on suspicion of endangering national security.

Created 75 years ago, the United Nations today remains true to its founding principles of human rights and fundamental freedoms. In the last decades, the European Union and the UN have been working hand in hand to promote human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction of any kind.

The year 2020 has been like no other year in recent memory. Anytime humanity faces difficult challenges, children have even more questions and concerns than usual about what is happening in the world. The coronavirus has affected the lives of just about everyone on the planet, regardless of age.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to influence the entry permit services of the Finnish diplomatic missions abroad. All missions are not able to provide these services in the same way and to the same extent as in normal circumstances before the pandemic. The missions have been able to serve customers in questions related to entry matters in the countries where this has been possible taking into account health security and local official regulations. In this fall, the missions have been reopening their services as far as possible, and currently entry services are provided in most countries at least to a limited extent.