Press releases of Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

The EU Foreign Affairs Council will hold its first meeting of the year in Brussels on Monday 25 January. Finland will be represented by Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto. Climate and energy diplomacy of the EU and discussions with the Foreign Minister of Japan will be the main topics of the meeting. At lunch, the ministers will discuss cooperation between the EU and the United Kingdom in foreign and security policy. The arrest of the Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny will also be raised.

Finland must pay stronger and more consistent attention to biodiversity in its development policy and international advocacy work. In addition, developing countries should be supported in their efforts to implement biodiversity agreements. The view is expressed by the Development Policy Committee’s expert group, whose analysis on safeguarding biodiversity was published on Friday 22 January.

Finland will grant EUR 5 million to the International Trade Centre (ITC) in 2021–2022 to support women’s and young people’s business activities in developing countries. The agreement was signed on 18 January 2021 in Geneva.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has today issued two decisions concerning Finland by which it has removed these matters from its list of cases.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will meet Slovenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar in Helsinki on Thursday 14 January.

Today, on Sunday 20 December 2020, Finland repatriated six Finnish children and two adult mothers from north-east Syria. The persons are now in the care of competent Finnish authorities.

Finland provided a historic total of EUR 115 million in humanitarian aid in 2020. Humanitarian aid is one of the most concrete ways of responding to crises and disasters. More than 200 million people across the globe need humanitarian aid due to conflicts, natural disasters and the coronavirus pandemic.

Minister for Nordic Cooperation Thomas Blomqvist will attend an informal online meeting of Ministers for Nordic Cooperation on 23 November 2020.

At their videoconference on 27 October, the Nordic Prime Ministers and the Presidium of the Nordic Council discussed the state of Nordic cooperation when it comes to public safety. At the meeting, Prime Minister Sanna Marin presented Finland’s programme for next year’s Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers. Prime Minister Marin stated that the Nordic countries are leading the way in the fight against climate change.

The Freedom Online Coalition (FOC) is an important intergovernmental organisation that promotes free, open and safe internet. Finland will serve as the Coalition Chair in 2021.

The EU Foreign Affairs Council will meet in Brussels on Monday 7 December. Finland’s representative at the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto. The main themes of the meeting will be transatlantic relations and the EU’s strategic autonomy.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend the Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on 3–4 December 2020. The Foreign Ministers of the OSCE participating States will participate in the meeting via video teleconferencing (VTC) under the leadership of Albania, which holds the current OSCE Chairmanship. The meeting aims to decide on appointments of senior OSCE officials and to confirm the Chairmanships for 2023 and 2024.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend a meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs on 2 December 2020.

International community renews its long-term commitment to the people of Afghanistan with significant pledges at the conference. Afghanistan and international partners commit to shared development objectives for 2021–2024, and adopt a communique calling for an end to the war and a durable peace, stability and prosperity.

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Mariano Grossi will visit Finland on 24–26 November at the invitation of Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto and Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä. While in Helsinki, Director General Grossi will also discuss with Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari and President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö.

Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto and Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will travel Geneva to lead the 2020 Afghanistan Conference to be held on 23–24 November. Finland has co-organised the conference together with the Afghan Government and the United Nations. Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, the international ministerial conference will be held virtually from Geneva.

EU development ministers will gather to discuss debt sustainability and debt relief in partner countries on 23 November 2020. Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will represent Finland in the informal video conference.

Finland allocates EUR 3.1 million to Finnish civil society organisations’ projects that are implemented in response to the humanitarian needs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has exacerbated ongoing humanitarian crises and forced new regions and population groups to seek emergency relief.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend EU foreign ministers’ informal video conference on Thursday 19 November 2020. The items on the agenda will include multilateral cooperation and an exchange of views with Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Al-Malki.

Minister Skinnari will visit Oslo on 17–19 November 2020. Finland and Norway have strong and versatile bilateral relations. Both countries have a common will to further deepen their mutual cooperation. During his visit to Oslo, Minister Skinnari will particularly focus on the commercial and economic relations between the countries and topical regional and international issues.