Foreign Minister Stubb to visit Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey

Press release 124/2009
4 May, 2009

Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb will travel to Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey on 4–8 May in order to meet with heads of state and his fellow foreign ministers. On the visit to Lebanon and Syria, Foreign Minister Stubb will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Urmas Paet of Estonia.

At the start of his trip, Stubb will meet on Cyprus with, among others, the president and the foreign minister. On Tuesday he will continue to Lebanon, where the agenda in Beirut contains, for instance, meetings with the president, the speaker of parliament and the foreign minister. Stubb will have talks with the leaders of Syria in Damascus on Thursday. On the final leg of his trip, Stubb will visit Turkey, where the agenda in Ankara includes meetings with government leaders as well as a speech on Europe at the university. Foreign Minister Stubb will return to Finland Friday evening.

In addition to bilateral issues, the talks held during the visits will deal with, among others, the question of Cyprus, the situation pertaining to Turkey’s EU membership negotiations, the peace process in the Middle East, and other regional matters.

Additional information: Juha Kirstilä, Press Attaché to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, mobile tel. +358 40 552 8200, Jori Arvonen, Senior Political Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, mobile tel. + 358 50 553 6117, and Tanja Jääskeläinen, Senior Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, mobile tel. +358 40 511 3786