Foreign Ministry's press releases

“If we are to achieve sustainable results in crisis management we need a comprehensive approach and more local ownership,” said Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini in his speech at an event at the Tampere Paasikivi Society on 19 October.

Forced marriages, child labour, female genital mutilation and other practices harmful to girls’ health and girls’ rights undermine achievement of the world’s goals set out in the United Nations 2030 Agenda, warns the UN Population Fund, UNFPA.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak spoke on the phone on 19 October 2016. Ministers discussed trade and the business environment between Finland and Russia and the work of the Finnish-Russian Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation. The Finnish-Russian Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation will meet in Moscow in November 2016.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen will participate in an extraordinary meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC Trade) in Luxembourg on 18 October.

The EU Foreign Affairs Council will meet in Luxembourg on 17 October. Finland's representative at the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini.

Under-Secretary of State for External Economic Relations Matti Anttonen will lead a Team Finland trade mission to South Africa on 17-21 October.

The UN General Assembly has appointed Portuguese António Guterres as the organisation’s next Secretary-General for the term 2017–2021. Guterres will assume his new position on 1 January 2017.

Kai Mykkänen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, will participate in the Nordic African Business Summit in Oslo on 13 October. The event promotes business opportunities in Africa and offers Nordic and African enterprises a venue for networking.

The biennial foreign ministerial meeting between the EU and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, will be organised in Bangkok on 14 October. Finland's representative at the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi will visit Finland on Friday, 14 October 2016.