Press releases of Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

EU Foreign ministers to meet in Brussels on Monday 12 December. Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto to represent Finland at the meeting.

Finland will grant EUR 4.5 million in additional support to help Ukraine’s energy sector. The support will be used to address acute energy needs in schools, early education centres and hospitals and to develop the country’s energy efficiency in the longer term.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will visit the United States from 7 to 9 December.

Finland’s additional support will help the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) provide mobile health services, safe births and family planning for women who have been forced from their homes by the drought and food crisis in Somalia.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto visited Kyiv, Ukraine, on 28 November together with Nordic and Baltic foreign ministers. In Kyiv, the foreign ministers met the President and the Foreign Minister of Ukraine, among others, and reaffirmed their countries’ firm support to Ukraine.

The Finnish Government submitted a proposal on Finland’s accession to NATO to Parliament on 5 December. The consultation on the draft proposal generated about 1,600 responses. The Government reviewed the proposal based on the responses and supplemented the rationale with specifications concerning cooperation between the Government and the President of the Republic, Parliament’s role in the handling of NATO matters and in making decisions on them, and the status of Åland Islands under international law.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has concluded the cooperation negotiations it initiated at the Service Centre for Entry Permits in Kouvola in October 2022. As a result, 17 public-service employment relationships will be terminated on a voluntary basis.

Almost half of the respondents to an international country image survey indicated that their perception of Finland improved during the last year. Finland’s NATO membership process has greatly contributed to increasing Finland’s visibility abroad and to improving perceptions of Finland.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend the Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which will be held in Łódź, Poland, on 30 November–1 December. Poland holds the OSCE Chairpersonship in 2022.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend a meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Bucharest from 29 to 30 November.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs requests opinions on the draft Decree of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs on Fees for Services Produced by the Foreign Service in 2023. The consultation round will be open until 7 December 2022. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs proposes an increase of EUR 20 to the fee for the EU Emergency Travel Document (ETD) issued to EU citizens.

Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will visit London on 24 November. Minister Skinnari will meet the United Kingdom’s Minister of State at the Department for International Trade Greg Hands and Minister of State in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Andrew Mitchell.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Haavisto will visit Paris on 23 November. He will meet Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France Catherine Colonna and President of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the French National Assembly Jean-Louis Bourlanges.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs together with its partners will organise a Crisis Management NOW event focusing on crisis management and peacebuilding. The event will take place in the Wanha Satama conference centre in Katajanokka on Tuesday 29 November. It will be open to all and free of charge.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend the Manama Dialogue organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in Bahrain from 18 to 19 November. He will have a number of bilateral meetings during the visit.

More than half of Russians still have a positive attitude towards Finland, according to a country image survey carried out by the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. However, the proportion of Russians who are positive towards Finland has dropped compared to previous years. Finland and Finnishness are associated with nature, quality and a high standard of living. The best-known Finns in Russia are Ville Haapasalo, Mika Häkkinen and Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto has convened an international conference to discuss gender equality promotion and feminist foreign policy. The conference will take place at the House of the Estates in Helsinki on 16 November. The conference aims to share best practices on the content and means of foreign policy that promotes gender equality. Another aim is to encourage more discussion about feminist foreign policy in Finland. Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto commissioned a review on how Finland’s foreign policy has succeeded in promoting gender equality.

Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade of Finland Mr Ville Skinnari will lead a trade mission to South Africa and Namibia from 14 to 18 November. The programme of the visit includes meetings with representatives of South African and Namibian governments, central banks and businesses.

Most of the people who need humanitarian assistance are living amid crises that have gone on for years. Altogether 325 million people in 69 countries need assistance. Finland is granting EUR 13.6 million in humanitarian assistance to help especially the most vulnerable people.

EU foreign ministers will convene in Brussels on 14 November. Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will represent Finland at the meeting.