Foreign Ministry's press releases

Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini will visit Croatia on Monday 3 September. He will have meetings with Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Marija Pejčinović Burić and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.

In the government budget session, decisions were made on additional funding for the Foreign Ministry' network of missions, regional cooperation, and export promotion. The Ministry’s operating expenses total EUR 224.8 million.

An informal meeting of EU foreign ministers (Gymnich) will be held in Vienna on 30–31 August. Finland's representative at the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini.

The Europe Forum Turku will gather Finnish opinion-makers and citizens to discuss Finland's role in Europe and in the European Union. A discussion event, organised by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA), will take place on Friday 31 August.

According to an independent evaluation conducted for the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Finland’s development policy has been successful in promoting good practices to enhance the rights of women and girls. However, in addition to political commitment, a more clearly defined gender equality strategy would be required.

The Netherlands' Minister of Foreign Affairs Stephanus Blok will visit Finland and have bilateral discussions with Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini on Tuesday 28 August.

The Heads of Finnish Missions abroad will convene for their annual meeting in Helsinki on 27–31 August.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Thailand, Don Pramudwinai, will visit Helsinki on Thursday 23 August and meet Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini.

The World Humanitarian Day will be held next Sunday, 19 August. This year, special attention will be called to the difficult situation of civilians affected by acute conflicts in, for example Syria, Yemen, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Finland’s competence in the education sector is of the highest standard around the world. This should also be more strongly reflected in the priorities and funding of development cooperation, a new report suggests.