Foreign Ministry's press releases

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen and Minister for Housing, Energy and the Environment Kimmo Tiilikainen will participate in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), organized on 1–3 June 2017. The Forum brings together business and economic policy leaders from different countries. Among the speakers are the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini will visit Estonia on Friday 2 June and hold bilateral discussions with Estonia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sven Mikser in Tallinn.

Foreign Minister Timo Soini will participate in a joint meeting of the NB8 and the V4 Group, bringing together Nordic and Baltic foreign ministers as well as the foreign ministers of the Visegrád Group in Sopote, Poland, on 30 May.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has granted EUR 20,000 to the Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania, to fund the Rudolf Holsti Professorship in the Faculty of Political Science and Diplomacy. It is a one-off grant.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs will host a Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) conference on Soft security and Migration in the Baltic Sea Region in Helsinki on 30–31 May 2017.

Finland has decided to support the drafting of guidelines for support of persons with disabilities in humanitarian crises. EUR 178,000 will be channelled through the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF).

Developing countries’ own economies and their private sector and tax base are at the heart of the current Government’s development policy. The Development Policy Committee appreciates the new emphasis. At the same time, however, it is important to make sure that the poorest people, especially women and girls, will be able to enjoy the benefits of economic growth more than today.

The Finnish authorities are continuing enquiries concerning the kidnapping of a Finn in Afghanistan under the leadership of the MFA. At the moment, the authorities are doing their utmost to ensure the release of the Finn and to guarantee security and the person’s safety.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini will attend a Nordic foreign ministerial meeting in Oslo on 23–24 May 2017.

Finland will host the NATO Conference on Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), Arms Control, Disarmament and Non-proliferation in Helsinki on 29–30 May 2017. The conference, organised annually in one of the NATO member countries or partner countries, will be attended by a large number of experts.