Foreign Minister Stubb to attend the Nordic–African Foreign Ministers Meeting in Senegal

Press Release 151/2010
11 May 2010

Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Stubb will attend the Nordic–African Foreign Ministers Meeting to take place in Dakar, Senegal on 12–13 May.

This informal forum of dialogue has been convened since 2001, the site alternating between Nordic and African countries. At the meeting, Nordic foreign ministers and foreign ministers of ten African countries exchange ideas on topical issues. The forum was founded in 2001 by then Foreign Minister Anna Lindh of Sweden. The African countries that will be represented at the meeting are Benin, Botswana, Ghana, Lesotho, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania.

Foreign Minister Madické Niang of Senegal will serve as the chairman of this meeting. Other Nordic foreign ministers who will participate in this meeting are Carl Bildt of Sweden and Lene Espersen of Denmark.

The agenda for this meeting includes climate change and sustainable development, democracy and good governance, dialogue between cultures, and peace and security in Africa. At the meeting, Foreign Minister Stubb will chair the session on peace and security. The issues expected to arise during the discussion are, among others, the situations in Sudan and Somalia.

The forum gives Finland the opportunity to promote the country’s candidacy for a seat on the UN Security Council for the period 2013–2014.

Additional information: Sanni Grahn-Laasonen, Press Attaché to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, mobile tel. +358 40 732 8340