Finland was particularly widely featured in the world’s media due to the meeting between Trump and Putin in Helsinki. According to the results of the annual ‘Finland in the World Media’ survey, based on Finnish embassies’ and consulates’ reviews of their host countries’ media, other key topics of international interest included education expertise; equality; and the basic income experiment.

The tour of Finnish schools which Foreign Minister Soini began in autumn 2017 will continue this spring in Kitee, Oulu ja Muhos. Minister Soini will visit the general upper secondary school in Kitee on Friday 22 March, and the general upper secondary school in Muhos and a teaching practice school in Oulu on Monday 25 March.

The Finland Promotion Board has revised its Finland Toolbox. The presentation toolkit offers information about Finland and themes that are important for the Finns, and it is available for anyone who wants to tell about these matters to international audiences.

Finland will assist areas suffering from conflicts and drought in Yemen, Northeast Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia.

On Tuesday 19 December, the President of the Republic and the Ministerial Committee on Foreign and Security Policy discussed the situation in North Korea. Finland has repeatedly condemned North Korea’s actions, which constitute an acute threat to international peace and security.

In its session on 19 December 2017, the Government appointed Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Matti Anttonen to serve as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs starting on 1 March 2018.

The European Union has awarded EUR 20 million to a water resources management project implemented by Finland in Nepal. This is the first time the EU has granted support to a Finnish development cooperation project. The water resources management project based in Far-Western Nepal is expected to enhance the management of water resources, improve the health and access to sanitation of local people and ensure better livelihoods and food security in rural areas.

The renovated Petrozavodsk wastewater treatment plant reduces the eutrophying emissions from the city to Lake Onega and improves the quality of drinking water. The plant will be opened on 19 December. Petrozavodsk wastewater treatment plant has been identified as an environmental Hot Spot by the Barents Euro-Arctic Council because insufficient wastewater treatment has led to significant environmental contamination.

Finland will allocate EUR 15 million to the new Energy and Environment Partnership Trust Fund (EEP Trust Fund) in Southern and East Africa in the period from 2018 to 2022.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini will visit the European Parliament and the Council of Europe in Strasbourg from 12 to 13 December.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has appointed Anna Laine to serve as Press Officer at Finland’s Consulate General in St Petersburg starting on 29 January 2018. The post will be a fixed-term appointment ending on 7 January 2021.

Nena Stoiljkovic, Vice President of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which belongs to the World Bank Group, will visit Helsinki and Vaasa from 14 to 15 December in order to present the Climate Fund (Finland-IFC Blended Finance for Climate Program), which was set up by Finland and IFC in October.

The EU and Japan finalised their negotiations on a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement on 8 December 2017.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen will participate in the WTO Ministerial Conference that will take place on 10–13 December 2017 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) will meet in Brussels on 11 December. Finland's representative at the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini.

The Nordic Council of Ministers has established a fixed-term council of ministers, MR-Digital, to coordinate cooperation on digitalisation. The Baltic states also participate in the cooperation. Minister Anne Berner will attend the first MR-Digital meeting on 8 December 2017 in Oslo.

Foreign Minister Soini will take part in the Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna on 7 and 8 December. The meeting will be hosted by Austria, which holds the Chairmanship of the OSCE in 2017.

Finland conveyed its grave concern about the situation in the Korean peninsula and strong condemnation of the latest ballistic missile test conducted by North Korea on 29 November. Director General Kimmo Lähdevirta of the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs delivered the message to Ambassador Kang Yong Dok in Helsinki on 6th December, 2017.

The Meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs will be organised at NATO Headquarters in Brussels from 5 to 6 December 2017. Finland has been invited to attend the discussion relating to the cooperation between the EU and NATO. Finland's representative at the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini.

The President and the Ministerial Committee on Foreign and Security Policy discussed Finland’s participation in international training and exercises, participation in certain crisis management operations, as well as the situation in the Middle East