On 14 February 2019, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) gave its judgment in a case concerning Finland. The Court held that there had been no violation of Article 6 (right to a fair hearing) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) will meet in Brussels on 18 February. Finland's representative at the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini. The topics on the meeting agenda include Ukraine, Syria and the Horn of Africa. At lunch, foreign ministers will discuss the situation in Venezuela. Minister Soini will also attend an EU-Ukraine breakfast meeting, hosted by Denmark and Ukraine. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin will be present, too.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Anne-Mari Virolainen will make a Team Finland visit to Mexico on 14–15 February. The Minister will be accompanied by a Team Finland delegation.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has granted EUR 470,000 in discretionary government transfers to civil society organisations’ (CSOs) Europe information. In addition, EUR 100,000 was granted to the provision of information relating to the European elections.

A working group consisting of development and education specialists proposes that Finland should adopt education as one of its development cooperation and development policy priorities and significantly increase its funding for the cause. Ministers Anne-Mari Virolainen and Sanni Grahn-Laasonen support the proposal. They have decided to set up a broad-based steering group to promote the working group's recommendations and to foster closer cooperation between operators in the field in Finland.

Special Representative of UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction Mami Mizutori, who is head of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), and Kirsi Madi, Director at UNISDR, will visit Finland on 11–12 February 2019.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Anne-Mari Virolainen will visit Washington DC on 11–12 February.

On Tuesday 12 February, Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini will visit Moscow and have a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Minister Anne Berner will attend a meeting of Ministers for Nordic Cooperation in Reykjavik on 6–7 February 2019.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has appointed Elna Nykänen Andersson to serve as Press Officer at Finland's Embassy in Stockholm. The three-year term will start on 4 March 2019. She will transfer to the post from content agency OTW.

On 1 February 2019, the United Nations’ Human Rights Committee published two Views concerning complaints about the definition of who is entitled to enter the electoral roll to the elections to the Sámi Parliament in Finland.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini will visit Washington DC on 5–8 February and attend a Meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, hosted by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. In addition, Minister Soini will have meetings with representatives of the administration and participate in the annual National Prayer Breakfast, hosted by members of the US Congress.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has completed its internal investigation into the tax-free purchases made by the staff of the Finnish Embassy in Stockholm.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini will participate in an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers (Gymnich) in Bucharest on 31 January–1 February. The topics on the agenda of the two-day meeting will be the EU's Eastern Partnership, China, Venezuela, and Syria.

The EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement will enter into force on 1 February 2019. Together the European Union and Japan form a trading zone of 635 million consumers and the agreement will cover nearly one third of the world’s total GDP.

SIn 2018, Finland processed a total of 768,978 applications for a Schengen visa. The number of applications dropped by seven per cent compared to the previous year. Of visa applications for entry to Finland, 87 per cent came from Russia. India overtook Ukraine in the number of visa applications, being now the third biggest in the list of visa national countries. In June 2018, Ukrainian citizens in possession of a biometric passport were exempted from the visa requirement, which means that a visa is needed only by those who have a non-biometric passport.

On Tuesday 29 January, Finland’s Minister for Nordic Cooperation Anne Berner had a meeting with Ann Linde, Sweden's Minister for Nordic affairs.

The second HAnalys seminar, an annual event launched by Finland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini and Sweden's Minister for Foreign Affairs Margot Wallström, will be held at the Swedish-Finnish Cultural Centre Hanaholmen.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini will meet Minister Margot Wallström, who continues as Minister for Foreign Affairs in Sweden's new Government, on 29 January 2019 at the Swedish-Finnish Cultural Centre Hanaholmen. This is Minister Wallström's first official visit abroad as Minister in Prime Minister Stefan Löfven's II Government.