UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Cyprus, Alexander Downer to visit Finland

Press Release 175/2010
4 June 2010

UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Cyprus, Alexander Downer will visit Finland on 7-8 June. He will meet with Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb. Their agenda will include the Cyprus reunification talks.

During his visit, Special Adviser Downer will also meet with President Martti Ahtisaari and Chair of the Parliamentary Grand Committee Erkki Tuomioja at the Parliament. The schedule also includes joint Nordic discussion on the Cyprus issue, and a seminar organised by the Finnish Institute on International Affairs and the Foreign Ministry: "Cyprus: Is this the Last Chance?", where Downer is the keynote speaker.

United Nations Secretary-General appointed Alexander Downer of Australia as his Special Adviser on Cyprus in July 2008. Negotiations for reunification of Cyprus were restarted in September 2008. The UN acts as a facilitator in the negotiation process. Alexander Downer held the position of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Australia in 1996–2007.

Further information: Päivi Pohjanheimo, Advisor to the Foreign Minister, tel. +358 40 511 3786, Sanni Grahn-Laasonen, Press Attaché to the Minister, tel. +358 40 732 8340, and Tanja Grén, Counsellor, Unit for Central, Western and Southern Europe, tel. +358 9 1605 5278