Foreign Ministry's press releases

Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Paula Parviainen has worked as Acting Director General of Communications at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs since 1 June, following Director General of Communications Jouni Mölsä‘s transfer to serve as Finland’s national expert at the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union in Brussels.

Minister Pekka Haavisto will make his first visit to Sweden as Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs on Tuesday 11 June. He will have a meeting with Sweden's Minister for Foreign Affairs Margot Wallström.

On 5 June 2019, the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) published the second report concerning its evaluation of the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings in Finland. The evaluation report focuses on new trends in trafficking in human beings (THB) and on the vulnerability of children to trafficking.

The fourth Conference on National Dialogues will bring together peace work stakeholders and experts in peace processes in Helsinki on 11 and 12 June. The two-day conference will discuss ways of using technology in peacebuilding and examine potential risks for peace processes arising from technology.

On 4 June 2019, the Council of the European Union appointed Antti Hartikainen, Colonel (ret.) at the Finnish Border Guard, to serve as Head of Mission for the European Union Advisory Mission for Civilian Security Sector Reform in Ukraine (EUAM Ukraine).

Like many languages, Finnish is full of loanwords – words that were, at some point, borrowed from other languages and incorporated into Finnish. Finland would now like to give the rest of the world a word, to encourage international discussion about equality and inclusivity, and to support everyone who is working to promote them. The word is: hän.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs will attend the World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF) 2019, organised by the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra. At a discussion session organised by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the African Development Bank on Monday 3 June, speakers will include Vincent Biruta, Minister of the Environment of Rwanda, and Anthony Nyong, Head of Climate Change and Green Growth at the African Development Bank.

Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Natalia Kanem will visit Finland on 28 May 2019.

The EU Foreign Affairs Council will meet to discuss trade issues on 27 May in Brussels. Finland’s representative at the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Anne-Mari Virolainen.

In this year’s elections to the European Parliament, 16,325 persons voted in Finland’s missions and offices abroad, while 228 Finnish crew members cast their advance votes on board ships.