Minister Haavisto to attend the Foreign Ministerial meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS in Washington D.C.

On 14 November, Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto will attend an extraordinary meeting the Foreign Ministers of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, hosted by U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo.

Ministers will discuss the next steps in the fight against ISIS.

“The work of the International Coalition in the fight against ISIS has been successful. Although ISIS has lost all of its territory, the organisation and its ideology still have supporters. The organisation is capable of carrying out terrorist attacks both in Iraq and Syria and also internationally. It is important to continue the efforts to prevent the new rise of ISIS,” Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto emphasises.

Finland joined the International Coalition against ISIS in 2014. In Iraq, Finland participates in the training and advisory activities of the Coalition's Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) with 80 soldiers and in the NATO training operation with one soldier. In addition, Finland participates in the EU civilian crisis management operation and police training in Iraq in the framework of the Coalition.

Finland also supports the reconstruction of Iraq through the UNDP Stability Fund and provides humanitarian assistance to Iraq and Syria. Since 2014, Finland has supported Iraq by EUR 30 million. Support for the prevention of the conflict in Syria has been more than EUR 200 million.

"The support for the stabilisation and social development of Iraq and the reintegration of communities will continue to be important so that we can create prospects especially for young generations. Humanitarian needs are already extensive in Syria and, in light of recent developments in North-East Syria, it is ever more important to ensure that ISIS does not regain foothold in the region,” says Foreign Minister Haavisto.

In Washington D.C., Minister Haavisto will have bilateral meetings with foreign ministers of other member states of the Coalition and representatives of the U.S. administration, including U.S.Special Representative to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad.

Inquiries: Tanja Jääskeläinen, Deputy Director General, Political Department, tel. +358 295 350 303, and Joel Linnainmäki, Special Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 50 478 2587.

The Foreign Ministry’s email addresses are in the format [email protected]