The Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) of the European Union will meet on Monday 15 July in Brussels. Finland will be represented by Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto. The FAC will discuss the situation in Iraq, Iran and the Central African Republic. The external dimension of migration will also be on the agenda. There will also be an informal lunch with the new Moldovan Foreign Minister.

Johanna Sumuvuori, State Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, is leading the Finnish delegation to a high-level conference for media freedom held in London on 10–11 July. The conference was convened by Jeremy Hunt, the UK Foreign Secretary.

Like before, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs will be present at SuomiAreena, the most important open-air forum for public discussion organised every summer in Pori. This year, SuomiAreena will be held from 15 to 19 July 2019.

Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland Pekka Haavisto will visit Sudan and several countries of the Red Sea and broader region over the course of the next weeks to discuss the situation in Sudan. He has received a mandate from High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini to reach out, on behalf of the European Union, on both the situation in the country and on how the international community can accompany Sudan on its transition path.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend the Ukraine Reform Conference, to be held in Toronto on 1–2 July. The conference will take stock of the implementation of the existing reforms and reinforce international support for Ukraine.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend an informal ministerial gathering of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which will be held in Slovakia’s High Tatras on 9 July. The main theme of the meeting will be conflict prevention. Ministers will discuss opportunities to promote stability and security in the OSCE region.

On 4 July 2019, Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend the Western Balkans Summit to be held in Poznań, Poland. The main topics will be regional cooperation in the Western Balkans and strengthening the EU perspective.

“With several trade disputes going on, it is even more important than before to defend the multilateral rules-based trading system. Poor developing countries are the biggest losers in the face of growing protectionism,” stressed Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari in his statement at a World Trade Organization meeting in Geneva on Wednesday on 3 July.

Finland will celebrate the opening of its Presidency of the Council of the European Union with a free summer party in Töölönlahti Park on 8 July. Europe Information of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Prime Minister’s Office, the European Commission and the European Parliament invite all comers to enjoy a summer day of informal EU-themed events in Kansalaistori (Citizen’s Square).

The EU–Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was signed in Hanoi on 30 June 2019. The agreement is expected to enter into force in early 2020. It is the most ambitious and comprehensive agreement ever concluded by the EU with a developing country. The FTA opens up new market access and business opportunities also for Finnish companies.

Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will attend a high-level Climate Meeting in Abu Dhabi on 31 June–1 July 2019.

The EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) will meet in Luxembourg on 17 June. This will be the first time that Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto represent Finland at the meeting. The Council will discuss the EU Global Strategy, the effectiveness of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), and the situation in Sudan.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will meet Austria’s Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs Alexander Schallenberg in Helsinki on 24 June.

The Finns consider that the key themes during Finland’s upcoming Presidency of the Council of the European Union should be the position of women and girls, and climate action. Education is considered the area where Finland can contribute the most in its own development cooperation activities. The results are based on a survey carried out for the Foreign Ministry by Taloustutkimus.

Angola’s Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technologies José Carvalho da Rocha will visit Finland on 25–27 June.

In the course of the summer, ministers of Prime Minister Antti Rinne’s Government will visit Finnish libraries to present the Government Programme and to discuss it with citizens.

Minister for Nordic Cooperation and Equality Thomas Blomqvist will attend a meeting of Ministers for Nordic Cooperation in Hella, Iceland, on 18–19 June.

Minister Pekka Haavisto will make his first visit to Estonia as Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs on Tuesday 18 June. He will have a meeting with Estonia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Reinsalu.

Development cooperation is considered very important or rather important by 84 per cent of Finns. As many as 80 per cent think that development cooperation can play a role in preventing refugee crises and reducing the need to leave one’s home country.

Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Paula Parviainen has worked as Acting Director General of Communications at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs since 1 June, following Director General of Communications Jouni Mölsä‘s transfer to serve as Finland’s national expert at the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union in Brussels.