EU Special Representative in Afghanistan visits Finland

Press release 97/2005
23 March, 2005


Ambassador Francesc Vendrell, EU Special Representative in Afghanistan, will visit Finland on 30 March at the invitation of Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja. He will also meet Defence Minister Seppo Kääriäinen and members of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee and Defence Committee. The Parliament´s Human Rights Group will organise a seminar in the Parliament House on 30 March at 16.30 with Ambassador Vendrell as a guest speaker.

Vendrell was appointed EU Special Representative in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2002. In 2000-2001 he was UN Special Envoy to Afghanistan and has thus monitored closely the development of the country since the final years of the Taliban rule.

A road map towards democracy was adopted in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban regime in December 2001. The first presidential elections were organised in late 2004 and parliamentary elections are scheduled for this year. The economic and security situation in Afghanistan has improved during the past three years but contribution from the international community is still needed.

Further information: Finland's Ambassador to Afghanistan Tarja Laitiainen, gsm 040 725 5844, Counsellor Mikko Pyhälä, tel. 09 1605 5523, and regarding the seminar Paula Moisander, Parliament´s Human Rights Group, Secretary for International Affairs, tel. 09 432 3503.