Foreign Ministry's press releases

In 2021–2022, Finland allocates EUR two million for the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF), which works to strengthen the creation of trading opportunities for least-developed countries (LDCs). The agreement on the support was signed on 23 March 2021 in Geneva.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on Monday 22 March. The agenda highlights are the EU’s Southern Neighbourhood, Turkey and discussion with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet. In Brussels Minister Haavisto will also attend the meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs on 24 March.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has appointed Pasi Rajala to the post of Press Counsellor at the Embassy of Finland in Washington DC. The three-year term will start on 1 June 2021.

The Finnish Government has approved Finland's Africa strategy today. It will be used to diversify and deepen Finland’s relations with African countries, the African Union (AU) and regional organisations, with focus on political and economic relations.

Together with the European Union, Finland has firmly condemned the military coup in Myanmar against its civilian government and urged restoration of the civilian government. The military authorities are demanded respect for human rights, the rule of law, freedom of assembly, and freedom of expression, including peaceful protests. The armed forces’ violence against protesters is strongly condemnable.

In its recent report, the Parliamentary Committee on Crisis Management proposes that the level of ambition in Finnish crisis management should be raised. This requires commitment to more active and diverse participation, enhanced effectiveness and deeper cooperation between those involved in crisis management.

The home affairs ministers and foreign affairs ministers of EU member states will meet at an informal video conference on 15 March 2021. Finland will be represented by Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto and State Secretary Olli-Poika Parviainen. The announced theme of the meeting is the external dimension of the EU’s migration and asylum reform. The debate will focus on mutually beneficial migration partnerships between the EU and non-EU countries, and enhanced coordination between the different parties.

Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari has been appointed a global champion for school feeding by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). In this role, Minister Skinnari will promote global awareness of school meals and will seek funding sources for school feeding programmes. The task will continue until the end of 2021.

The European Union will continue the duration of its export authorisation requirement for vaccines against SARS-related viruses (SARS-CoV-2) and vaccine components until 30 June 2021. At the same time, clarifications will be made to the export authorisation scheme’s scope of application, and re-export will become subject to pre-authorisation. In Finland, applications for export authorisation are submitted to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Finland forms its preliminary position on an application based on a statement issued by the Finnish Medicines Agency, and the decision to grant an export authorisation is made in line with the opinion of the European Commission.

Finland and Estonia have launched a study of the future relations between the two countries and new opportunities for cooperation. The study will be led by former ministers Anne-Mari Virolainen from Finland and Jaak Aaviksoo from Estonia, supported by the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) and the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute (EFPI). Prime Ministers Sanna Marin and Kaja Kallas informed about the decision to start the study at their meeting in Helsinki on 19 February 2021.