Foreign Ministry's press releases

Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini has appointed Member of Parliament Jutta Urpilainen to act as his Special Representative on Mediation. In her work as the Foreign Minister’s Special Representative on Mediation, Urpilainen will focus on the strengthening of the role of women and youth. The regional focus of the assignment will be Africa.

Finns remain strong supporters of development cooperation. Based on a survey commissioned by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, 85 per cent of the Finns consider development cooperation important. They support especially the promotion of the position of women and girls.

Finland’s readiness to provide and receive international assistance is being improved. The reform of the relevant legislation is a central objective of the Government Programme and aims to enhance Finland’s scope of action to strengthen national security.

Member of Parliament Hanna Mäntylä is to work at the Secretariat of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. Accepting the post requires that Mäntylä be granted release from her membership of the Finnish Parliament.

Lord Price, the British Minister of State at the Department for International Trade, will visit Finland and hold a meeting with Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen in Helsinki on 22 June 2017.

Minister for Nordic Cooperation Anne Berner will attend a meeting of Ministers for Nordic Cooperation in Tromsø, Norway, on 22 June 2017.

The EU Foreign Affairs Council will meet in Luxembourg on 19 June. Finland's representative at the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini. The topics on the Council’s agenda will include the implementation of the EU Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy, EU–NATO cooperation, migration, counter-terrorism, and the situation in Iraq and the Persian Gulf.

In spring 2016, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs run ThisisFINLAND YouTube channel changed its strategy and handed the channel over to ten young YouTubers. Now, ThisisFinland has selected ten new Youtubers for the coming year.

The event

Anyone anywhere can set up their own Finnish Your Dinner table on the weekend of 25–27 August and offer strangers an opportunity to celebrate Finland 100.