Foreign Ministry's press releases

The Legal Service of Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs has completed a legal analysis of the special status of Åland under international law and of legal questions associated with Åland. The analysis is now available in Finnish and Swedish on the Foreign Ministry’s website.

EU foreign ministers will convene in Brussels on 13 November. Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will represent Finland at the meeting.

On 9 November 2023, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered a judgment on a case concerning the right to a fair hearing. The Court ruled that there had been no violation of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (right to a fair hearing).

Finland will award a discretionary government grant amounting to EUR 1 million to support the work of the Israeli Red Cross Society, Magen David Adom, in the aftermath of the Hamas attack in October. In addition, Finland will allocate EUR 4 million in support of the humanitarian efforts of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the occupied Palestinian territory (the Gaza Strip and the West Bank) and in Israel.

While continuing to suffer from the consequences of Russia’s invasion, Ukraine is busy preparing for reconstruction. Around forty Finnish companies, led by Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio, will participate in Rebuild Ukraine, the exhibition and conference to be held in Warsaw on 14–15 November 2023.

Finland will hold its presidential elections on Sunday 28 January 2024. Advance voting will be possible abroad from 17 to 20 January 2024. The election day for a possible second election (second round) will be 11 February 2024, and advance voting abroad will be possible from 31 January to 3 February 2024.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will visit Berlin on 9 November 2023 to meet with Germany’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock and to attend the NATO Annual Cyber Defence Conference.

Sweden’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Tobias Billström and Minister for Defence Pål Jonson will visit Helsinki on 8 November to meet Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen and Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen.

Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will visit Berlin on 2 November 2023 to attend a high-level meeting on EU enlargement and to discuss ways to develop energy cooperation.

Latest round of negotiations for a new Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) between Finland and the United States were held in Helsinki from 30 to 31 October.