EU Special Representative in Afghanistan Francesc Vendrell visits Finland

Press release 188/2006
16 June, 2006

EU Special Representative in Afghanistan Fransesc Vendrell will visit Finland on 20-22 June. Vendrell will meet with top foreign ministry officials to discuss the situation in Afghanistan and related issues on the Finnish EU presidency agenda, such as civilian crisis management, human rights and development issues. Vendrell will also meet with Defence Minister Seppo Kääriäinen and Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee Chairperson Liisa Jaakonsaari.

Vendrell was appointed EU Special Representative in Afghanistan in Kabul in 2002. He is widely experienced as a special representative to UN Secretary General in various conflicts in Afghanistan, East Timor, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, Myanmar and Central America. Previously, he was Director at the Department of Political Affairs at the UN in New York. He has been Visiting Professor of International Law at Yale and Rutgers. Vendrell is Spanish.

Further information: Ambassador Antti Koistinen, tel. +358 9 1605 6050