Foreign Ministry's press releases

EU foreign ministers will convene in Brussels on Tuesday 20 May. Political Secretary of State Pasi Rajala will represent Finland at the meeting.

Minister of Economic Affairs Wille Rydman and Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio appointed a new Team Finland Executive Group on 16 May 2025.

The Baltic Sea NATO allies and the European Union have agreed on a Memorandum of Understanding to protect critical undersea infrastructure.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has adopted a development policy investment strategy for 2025–2027. The strategy guides the use of the appropriation allocated to development policy loans and investments in accordance with the Government Report on International Economic Relations and Development Cooperation. The general terms and conditions for development policy loans and investments are published concurrently with the strategy.

Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will attend the foreign ministers’ meeting of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) in Vihula, Estonia, on 15–16 May.

Finland’s Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio will attend a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in its trade configuration in Brussels on 15 May 2025. The Council will exchange views on the EU’s trade relations with the United States and economic security. The ministers will also discuss the EU’s ongoing trade negotiations.

In the Foreign Ministry's Sanctions e-Service at palvelu.um.fi you can ask about sanctions, submit an application for an authorization, report on the implementation of sanctions and report on the circumvention of sanctions. The service makes it easier for companies, authorities and citizens to approach the Sanctions Unit with sanctions matters. The European Commission has also launched a Sanctions Helpdesk for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will attend an informal meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Antalya in Türkiye on 14–15 May.

New legislation that enters into force on 20 May 2025 will implement the Sanctions Criminalisation Directive of the European Union in Finland. The purpose of the Directive is to ensure that offences against sanctions are punishable in all EU Member States and that the related national penal provisions meet a common minimum level.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio will make an export promotion visit to Singapore and Malaysia on 19–23 May. The Minister will be accompanied by a delegation of some 30 companies.