Foreign Ministry's press releases

Finns’ conception of the world’s poverty is much gloomier than reality, a survey commissioned by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs reveals. Nearly eight out of ten Finns (76%) believe that poverty has increased in the world since the year 1990.

At the Travel Fair, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs campaigns on behalf of travel safety with the help of the three Ts: the Travel bulletin, the Travel notification and Travel insurance. Stand 6d131 at the Fair presents the travel safety-related services offered by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, including the new map service, “The world surprises.” In addition, the stand has a passport exhibition as well as interviews of daily changing experts.

Last year, Finnish missions abroad and the Kouvola Visa Service Centre processed a total of 1 204 948 visa applications, which is 23 per cent less than in 2013 and comparable to the number of visas processed in 2011.

The European Commission has published its report about the online consultation on investment protection on its website. EU Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström will hold a press conference on the report in Strasbourg later today.

Mbarka Bouaida, Minister Delegate to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Morocco, is visiting Finland on 13–15 January. Minister Delegate Bouaida will have bilateral talks with Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja on, among other topics, international issues as well as the development of the Moroccan society.

On Tuesday 13 January 2015, the President of the Republic and the Cabinet Committee on Foreign and Security Policy discussed the Ukraine situation and Russia.

Turkish news agency Cihan told today that

Minister for International Development Sirpa Paatero will visit Ethiopia on 7 to 10 January. The purpose of the visit is to learn about the results achieved in the bilateral development cooperation projects and to discuss about developments in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa.

The British Foreign Secretary, Rt Hon Philip Hammond, will visit Finland on Thursday 8 January 2015. Foreign Secretary Hammond will meet with Prime Minister Alexander Stubb, Minister for Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja and Minister of Economic Affairs Jan Vapaavuori. The visit to Helsinki is a part of his tour of the EU countries' capitals. His next stop after Finland will be Lithuania.

Finland placed third on the Commitment to Development Index (CDI), an international comparison rating the policies of countries that support developing countries. Finland’s rank rose by two places on the previous year.