Current affairs

On Thursday 20 August, Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb will attend the dinner of the foreign minister meeting of Nordic Countries and Baltic States – the so-called NB8 Group – to be organised in Reykjavik, Iceland. The topics of discussion will include the ongoing Swedish EU Presidency, Iceland’s EU membership application, the economic crisis and its impacts in the participating countries, and the situation in Afghanistan.

Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb will make a visit to Latvia on Wednesday 4 February. The visit will be hosted by Latvian Foreign Minister Maris Riekstins. In addition to Foreign Minister Riekstins, Stubb will also meet President Valdis Zatlers in Riga.

The Finnish Government is satisfied that the Foreign Ministers of Latvia and Russia have exchanged ratification documents of the border treaty between the countries in Riga today, on 18 December. Latvia’s accession to the Schengen area on 21 December further emphasises the importance of the ratification of this treaty, which is also related to external borders of the EU.