Foreign Ministry's press releases

Finland’s Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio will visit Morocco with a business delegation on 28–30 April 2025.

A large group of international experts attended a conference held in Helsinki on 23 April 2025 focusing on the protection of critical underwater infrastructure and the threats posed to it by international maritime transport. Co-operation between different authorities is needed to address these wide-ranging threats.

On 25 April 2025, President Alexander Stubb approved an amendment to the Decree of the President of the Republic on the Locations of Finland’s Diplomatic Missions. The amendment will establish Finland’s Consulate General in Houston, Texas, in the United States as of 1 July 2025.

At the presidential session on 25 April, the President of the Republic appointed the following persons to serve as heads of missions: Okko-Pekka Salmimies, Bern; Pekka Voutilainen, Hanoi; Jukka Siukosaari, Copenhagen; Riina-Riikka Heikka, Nairobi; Olli Kantanen, Stockholm; Eevamari Laaksonen, Pristina; Minna Laajava, Los Angeles.

Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will attend the NB8 meeting bringing together Nordic and Baltic foreign ministers in Bornholm, Denmark, on 28–29 April. Ministers from Poland, France and Germany will also participate in the meeting.

On Thursday 24 April, the Government appointed Niina Pesonen to serve as Director General for Human Resources of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

The Algerian Minister of State, Minister of Foreign Affairs, National Community Abroad and African Affairs, Ahmed Attaf, will visit Helsinki on 24 April and meet Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen.

Withdrawal from of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, known as the Ottawa Convention, requires a government proposal. Comments on the draft proposal may be given until 16 May 2025.

The official development assistance (ODA) declined in 2024 both in Finland and globally. Ukraine, which is heavily affected by Russia’s war of aggression, is the largest recipient of Finland’s ODA for the third consecutive year.

EU foreign ministers will convene in Luxembourg on 14 April. Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will represent Finland at the meeting.