Press releases of Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

Core funding to international humanitarian organisations is a rapid and effective way to respond to sudden-onset natural disasters and protracted crises. Finland’s 27.5-million-euro funding will help UN agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross ICRC to operate in areas where people need help, and to plan their operations flexibly.

EU foreign ministers will convene in Brussels on 24 January. The main items on the agenda are the security situation in Eastern Europe and the latest developments in Libya and Syria. The ministers will also discuss the EU Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and the situation in Mali, Sudan and Kazakhstan. Later the same day, Foreign Minister Haavisto and Sweden’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Ann Linde will meet NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

In Finland’s first county elections, a total of 2,923 persons voted in advance at Finland’s missions abroad. The number of advance voters abroad was approximately eight per cent higher than in the 2021 municipal elections.

EU foreign affairs ministers will meet at an Informal Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs (Gymnich) on 13–14 January in Brest, France. Finland’s representative at the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has prepared a draft government proposal for amending the Aliens Act, which has now been sent out for comments. The comments are to be submitted by 18 January 2022.

Finland’s support will be targeted at providing assistance to victims of sexual and gender-based violence in Uganda, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and at implementing reparations awarded to former child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as ordered by the International Criminal Court.

Finland will strengthen its role in the fight against climate change through an investment in a new partnership launched by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The funding will be targeted at climate action in North Africa.

In 2021, Finland chaired the Nordic (N5) cooperation on foreign and security policy and the Nordic-Baltic (NB8) cooperation. Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will host the last meetings of the two presidencies as virtual meetings on 20 December (N5) and 21 December (NB8).

Finland will donate the second batch of COVID-19 vaccine doses through Team Europe. These vaccines were purchased in advance and they would remain unused in Finland. The vaccine donations will not slow down the rollout of vaccinations in Finland. Finland’s donation of COVID-19 doses and support for vaccine alliance Gavi will increase global vaccine coverage and prevent the rise of new variants.

In 2021, Finland’s funding to UN Women core resources will be EUR 19 million. Last year, Finland was the largest of UN Women’s core resource partners.

Finland will contribute EUR 125 million to the replenishment of the International Development Association (IDA), which is part of the World Bank Group. The replenishment process was brought forward to help the world’s poorest countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Finland’s bilateral development cooperation with Afghanistan will remain suspended, but funds will be channelled to humanitarian activities and to responding to people’s basic needs. Finland’s support is delivered through the UN and civil society organisations and it will not fall in the hands of or support the Taliban. A new temporary policy line has been adopted by Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari.

On Friday 10 December 2021, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs repatriated a Finnish mother and her four children from Syria. All five had previously been in the al-Hol camp. They are now in the care of competent Finnish authorities.

The EU Foreign Ministers will meet in Brussels on Monday 13 December. State Secretary Johanna Sumuvuori will represent Finland at the meeting. The Foreign Affairs Council will focus on EU-Africa relations, Central Asia and Venezuela. During a working lunch, ministers will have an informal exchange with Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar. Under current affairs, the Council will discuss topics including Belarus, Varosha, Ethiopia and Ukraine.

The Government’s human rights policy report stresses action to strengthen equality and gender equality. Finland rejects attempts to undermine the universality of human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

The terms and conditions of Business Partnership Support for Finnish companies aiming for developing markets to change on 1 January 2022. Services offered to companies and the effectiveness of the programme will be developed during the new three-year programming period.

Minister for Nordic Cooperation Thomas Blomqvist will participate virtually in a conference on strong democratic systems typical of the Nordic countries. The conference, which will be held in Copenhagen on 8 December aims to show how sustainable democracy in the Nordic region is strengthened by the participation of the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland in Nordic cooperation alongside with the Nordic states.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has published a website on where, how and when Finland’s development cooperation funds are used. Launching this public site increases the openness and transparency of development cooperation.

The Government will organise a festive illumination at Merikasarmi on Finland’s 104th Independence Day. The refurbished and modernised Merikasarmi premises were taken back into use in September.

Sima Sami Bahous, appointed as Executive Director of the United Nations gender equality organisation UN Women in September, will visit Finland on 8–9 December.