Foreign Ministry's press releases

EU ministers of development will hold an informal video conference to exchange views on Afghanistan on Monday evening, 11 October. Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will represent Finland at the meeting.

President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development Gilbert F. Houngbo will visit Finland on 12 October, on the invitation of Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Haavisto will meet Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vincent Biruta in Helsinki on 6 October.

Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will visit France and Germany on 4–8 October 2021. In Paris, Minister Skinnari will attend the annual OECD Ministerial Council Meeting and meet key French ministers and business representatives. In Stuttgart, Skinnari will participate in the business forum on the future of the automotive industry. The programme includes meetings with key German companies, and decision-makers from the state of Baden-Württemberg.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will visit Warsaw, Poland on 4–5 October. In Warsaw, Minister Haavisto will participate in an annual panel discussion on security and the strategic situation in Eastern Europe organised by the Warsaw Security Forum.

The Government proposes EUR 1.3 billion in appropriations for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The promotion of human rights, the rule of law, democracy, peace, freedom, tolerance and equality in all international activities forms the central element of the value base on which Finland’s foreign and security policy rests. The budget proposal lays special emphasis on measures that strengthen the network of Finland’s missions abroad and support the availability of labour, participation in international crisis management, conflict prevention and mediation, and development cooperation.

Finland is hosting a meeting of the Syrian Women’s Advisory Board (WAB) from 26 September to 1 October 2021.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will visit Washington DC on 24 September. The aim of the visit is to strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries and to discuss topical foreign policy themes, focusing on questions relating to Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa.

At its 65th General Conference, the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA elected Finland to the IAEA Board of Governors for a two-year term from September 2021 to September 2023 with a possible extension for a third year.

The UN Food Systems Summit will be held virtually on 23 September during the UN General Assembly in New York. Finland’s representative at the meeting will be President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö. Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari, in his role as the World Food Programme’s School Meals Champion, will speak at the event on school meals.