Press releases of Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has granted EUR 17 million to international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) for 2021–2024. The support was granted to five organisations for their work on promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHRs) worldwide, and especially in Afghanistan, and for strengthening tax transparency in sub-Saharan Africa.

Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi today in Chengdu, Southwest China, and held discussions with him on bilateral issues, EU-China relations and some key international questions.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will visit China on 24–25 July. Meeting will take place in the capital of Sichuan province, Chengdu.

On Friday 16 July 2021, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs repatriated two Finnish children and their mother from Roj camp in northeast Syria. All three persons are Finnish citizens. The children are under school age. They are now in the care of competent Finnish authorities.

On 13 July 2021, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued a decision, which annuls the Court’s previous judgment concerning Finland in the case of N.A. v. Finland relating to the return of an asylum-seeker to Iraq in its entirety.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on Monday 12 July. The main topics of discussion will be Ethiopia, the Strategic Compass, and the geopolitics of new digital technologies. In addition, the meeting will approve conclusions on a Globally Connected Europe. The foreign ministers will meet Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs at a working lunch and Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs at a working breakfast. Minister Haavisto will also attend a meeting of the Nordic and Baltic counties in NB6 format and a meeting of Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany in the N3+1 format.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will meet Turkey’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on 8 July in Helsinki.

This year, the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) will focus on sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Finnish delegation will be headed by Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has sent out for comments a proposal on amendments to the Decree of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs on Fees for Services Produced by the Foreign Service. The consultation round will be open until 6 August 2021. According to the proposal, the prices of identity cards and passports issued by missions abroad would be raised by 6 euros and 55 euros respectively.

Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will visit the United States on 28 June–2 July 2021.

On 28 June, Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend the Ministerial Meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS to be held in Rome.

The growing battle for economic and technological leadership between the US and China has adverse effects also on Finnish companies. In a recent report, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK recommend that both Finland and the EU prepare more carefully for possible harmful effects.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is making preparations to expand and strengthen the network of Finnish missions abroad. A new embassy will be opened in Doha, Qatar. The embassy would commence operations at some point later this year. The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs has informed that the country will establish an embassy in Finland, too.

The Council of the European Union has appointed Ambassador Terhi Hakala to serve as the EU Special Representative (EUSR) for Central Asia, starting on 1 July 2021.

On 17 June 2021, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued a decision declaring inadmissible an application against Finland, after considering that the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) were not applicable to the application and that the applicant had not exhausted all domestic remedies.

EU Foreign Ministers will convene in Luxembourg on Monday 21 June. Finland’s representative at the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto. The main topics on the agenda are Belarus, Iraq and Latin America. The Foreign Ministers will also exchange views with Minister Fuad Hussein, the Foreign Minister of Iraq, and the Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. The current affairs to be discussed include Russia, Yemen, the Middle East Peace Process and relations between the EU and Turkey.

Suomen tulee vaikuttaa ja ottaa nykyistä enemmän vastuuta globaalin ruokaturvan ja ruokajärjestelmän vahvistamisessa. Erityistä huomiota on kiinnitettävä kaikkein köyhimpien maiden ja haavoittuvimmissa tilanteissa elävien ihmisten ja ryhmien aseman parantamiseen. Tätä mieltä on Kehityspoliittisen toimikunnan KPT:n asiantuntijaryhmä, jonka analyysi ruokaturvan ja ruokajärjestelmien tulevaisuudesta julkaistiin perjantaina.

Ministers for Nordic cooperation will meet under the leadership of Minister Thomas Blomqvist in Porvoo on 21–22 June 2021. The Ministers will discuss cooperation in times of crisis and the implementation of the common Nordic vision. According to Our Vision 2030, the Nordic region will be the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030.

Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will visit South Korea on 15–19 June.

Finland will chair the session of the Conference of States Parties (COSP) to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 15–17 June 2021. Representatives from more than 180 countries are expected to attend the Conference, which will be held both virtually and at the UN headquarters in New York. A large number of representatives of civil society organisations and UN agencies, dedicated to promoting the rights of persons with disabilities, will also attend the Conference. Finland’s delegation will be led by Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto.