Foreign Ministry's press releases

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.

In 2024–2026, the higher education cooperation of Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs will prioritise teacher education, climate change and the circular economy, and food security. The Foreign Ministry grants just over EUR 6 million to the seven projects approved for the partnership programme.

Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will host North Macedonia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Bujar Osmani in Finland on 27 October.

Border States met in Vilnius to discuss EU sanctions circumvention, especially trade routes and patters, and agreed on concrete common measures to further strengthen implementation of sanctions and prevention of sanctions circumvention.

Finland’s Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio will attend a Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on 24–26 October.

The EU foreign ministers will convene in Luxembourg on 23 October. Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will represent Finland at the meeting. After the Council meeting, the EU foreign ministers will meet with the foreign ministers of the Central Asian countries.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio will attend an informal meeting of EU trade ministers in Valencia, Spain, on 19–20 October. The ministers will discuss economic security and trade relations between the EU and India. The ministers will also discuss the EU’s ongoing bilateral trade negotiations.

Finland’s Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio will attend the School Meals Coalition Global Summit in Paris on Wednesday 18 October. Finland and France are co-chairs of the School Meals Coalition, and Minister Tavio is the Global Champion for School Meals. The French President Emmanuel Macron will open the summit.

State Secretary Lauri Tierala will represent Finland at the Nordic–African Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (NAFM) in Algeria on 16–18 October.

A recent survey commissioned by the Embassy of Finland in Moscow reveals that more than one in three Russians feel positive about Finland, compared to one in two a year ago. Researchers ascribe the decline in Finland’s reputation among Russians mainly to the negative media coverage of Finland’s membership in NATO. Young people hold the most positive attitudes towards Finland.