Current affairs

Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland, together with Åland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland are engaged in official Nordic cooperation within the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Nordic Council. The exceptional times we have been living in recent years have emphasised the importance of Nordic cooperation.

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.

Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will visit Oslo on 1 November and attend the 75th Session of the Nordic Council. Minister Valtonen will attend a hearing of foreign ministers at the Plenary of the Nordic Council and a meeting of Nordic foreign ministers in N5 format.

Finland’s Minister for Nordic Cooperation Anna-Maja Henriksson will attend the 75th Session of the Nordic Council in Oslo from 30 October to 2 November.

Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs is planning to launch a tendering process for outsourcing its entry permit application submission services in 2024. As a preparation for the upcoming tendering process, the Ministry will survey the market in autumn 2023.

Minister of Education Anna-Maja Henriksson will attend a virtual meeting of Ministers for Nordic Cooperation on 13 September. Henriksson is the minister responsible for Nordic cooperation in the current Finnish Government.

Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will attend a meeting of Nordic and Baltic foreign ministers (NB8), to be held in Latvia 6–7 September.

Some of the prices of services provided by the Finnish missions and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs will rise. The new prices will enter into force on 1 September 2023.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will attend a virtual Nordic foreign ministers’ meeting in N5 format on 23 August.

Heads of Finland’s missions abroad and foreign policy leaders will meet again at the Annual Meeting of Heads of Mission in Helsinki on 21–23 August.