Council of Europe
Finland's permanent representation, Strasbourg
Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will attend the Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), held in Skopje, North Macedonia, on 29–30 November. North Macedonia holds the OSCE Chairmanship in 2023.
Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will attend a meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Brussels on 28–29 November.
Finland’s Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio will attend a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in its trade configuration in Brussels on 27 November 2023. The trade ministers will discuss the preparations for the Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization, the EU’s trade agreement with Chile and the EU–US trade relations. The ministers will also discuss the EU’s ongoing bilateral trade negotiations.
Finland’s Ambassador to Moscow Antti Helanterä visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation at his own request on 24 November to inform on the Finnish Government's decision of 22 November 2023 to temporarily close the border crossing points of Kuusamo, Salla and Vartius.
Finland will grant EUR 3 million in additional support to improve food security in Ukraine. The funding will be used to support Ukrainian exports of grain to countries where food security is adversely affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Some of the funds will be used to help clear mines in rural Ukraine to restart agricultural production.
Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio will travel to New Delhi, India, with a Finnish business delegation on 22–23 November. During his visit, Minister Tavio will meet with Indian ministers and business representatives and attend the India Nordic-Baltic Business Conclave.
The United Nation’s independent Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education Farida Shaheed will visit Finland on 20–29 November. This is the first country visit to the Nordic countries under the mandate of the Special Rapporteur established in 1998. The aim of the visit is to assess how educational rights are observed in Finland.
Director-General Fernando Arias of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is visiting Finland from 15 to 16 November at the invitation of Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen.
The Legal Service of Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs has completed a legal analysis of the special status of Åland under international law and of legal questions associated with Åland. The analysis is now available in Finnish and Swedish on the Foreign Ministry’s website.
On 9 November 2023, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered a judgment on a case concerning the right to a fair hearing. The Court ruled that there had been no violation of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (right to a fair hearing).
EU foreign ministers will convene in Brussels on 13 November. Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will represent Finland at the meeting.
While continuing to suffer from the consequences of Russia’s invasion, Ukraine is busy preparing for reconstruction. Around forty Finnish companies, led by Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio, will participate in Rebuild Ukraine, the exhibition and conference to be held in Warsaw on 14–15 November 2023.
Finland will award a discretionary government grant amounting to EUR 1 million to support the work of the Israeli Red Cross Society, Magen David Adom, in the aftermath of the Hamas attack in October. In addition, Finland will allocate EUR 4 million in support of the humanitarian efforts of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the occupied Palestinian territory (the Gaza Strip and the West Bank) and in Israel.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will visit Berlin on 9 November 2023 to meet with Germany’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock and to attend the NATO Annual Cyber Defence Conference.
Finland will hold its presidential elections on Sunday 28 January 2024. Advance voting will be possible abroad from 17 to 20 January 2024. The election day for a possible second election (second round) will be 11 February 2024, and advance voting abroad will be possible from 31 January to 3 February 2024.
Sweden’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Tobias Billström and Minister for Defence Pål Jonson will visit Helsinki on 8 November to meet Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen and Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen.
Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will visit Berlin on 2 November 2023 to attend a high-level meeting on EU enlargement and to discuss ways to develop energy cooperation.
Latest round of negotiations for a new Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) between Finland and the United States were held in Helsinki from 30 to 31 October.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Kirsi Madi as Assistant Secretary-General, responsible for leading the Resource Management, Sustainability and Partnerships of UN Women.
Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will visit Oslo on 1 November and attend the 75th Session of the Nordic Council. Minister Valtonen will attend a hearing of foreign ministers at the Plenary of the Nordic Council and a meeting of Nordic foreign ministers in N5 format.
