Current affairs

Following legislative amendments that entered into force on 17 February, wild-berry picking carried out by foreign nationals is treated as seasonal work. Companies must hire foreign berry pickers for a contractual employment relationship to enable them apply for an entry permit to Finland. In future, berry pickers will apply for a seasonal work visa for stays up to three months.

Finland’s county elections and municipal elections will be held simultaneously on Sunday 13 April 2025. The advance voting period abroad will be from 2 to 5 April 2025. In Denmark you can vote at the Embassy of Finland in Copenhagen 2.-4.4.

A Joint Readout by the United States, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Poland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom following recent engagements.

Finland is the first country in the world to commission a composer to create an official national soundscape. Ääniä is an original musical work by Lauri Porra, one of the country’s most celebrated composers. It takes the listener on a journey through the impressions, seasons and serene beauty of the happiest country in the world.

Finland, together with Åland, holds the Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2025. The programme for the Presidency “Nordic Region 2025: United and Strong” was presented at the Nordic Council plenary session in Reykjavik on 29 October.

The reform of the Foreign Service of Finland took a step forward on 1 August, when the reorganisation of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the updated rules of procedure took effect. The purpose of the organisational reform is to lay a suitable foundation for the Ministry’s work in the current international situation and in terms of Finland’s foreign policy change. At the same time, cooperation across organisational boundaries has become even more important.

Based on predetermined criteria, the contract was awarded to VF Worldwide Holdings Ltd, which is the current provider of the outsourced application services to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland.

The request for participation, instructions for responding and contact details regarding the competitive procedure are available for service providers in the HILMA official service for notices on public procurement in Finland. Service providers are requested to submit their responses by 2 May 2024.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs’ project on interoperability (the UMPIO project) coordinates the data related to internal security, border security and migration management in the EU information systems for security. The project is part of the development of entry systems funded by the EU.