Foreign Ministry's press releases

Early in the morning of 7 December, the member states of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) reached an agreement on the “Bali mini-package” in the Ministerial Conference held in Bali, Indonesia. “The agreement is an important step for the multilateral trading system. Without this resolution WTO’s credibility would have been at stake,

By decision of Minister for International Development Pekka Haavisto, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs has granted one million euros in humanitarian assistance to help the victims of the crisis in the Central African Republic. The assistance is provided through UNICEF. “In this situation, children are particularly vulnerable. There is a real need for the work done by UNICEF,” Minister Haavisto says.

This week, Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja will participate in the NATO/ISAF meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on 4 December and the OSCE Ministerial Council in Kyiv, Ukraine, on 5–6 December. On 6 December, the Minister will meet Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Radosław Sikorski in Warsaw and attend the Independence Day receptions held by Finnish Embassies in both Kiev and Warsaw.

By decision of Minister for International Development Pekka Haavisto, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs has granted 4.9 million euros in humanitarian assistance to relieve suffering in the Syrian crisis. With Finland’s support, food can be supplied to Syria and refugees in neighbouring countries can be helped to prepare for the winter. The assistance will be delivered through the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

The World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Ninth Ministerial Conference began on Bali, Indonesia, today. Finland’s representative at the negotiations is Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade Alexander Stubb. Finland's objective at the conference is that the negotiations would lead to results.

By decision of Minister for International Development Pekka Haavisto on 28 November, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs granted 2.7 million euros in humanitarian assistance to the Philippines, to help the victims of Typhoon Haiyan. The aid will be delivered to the Philippines via the Finnish Red Cross and Finn Church Aid and through the World Food Programme (WFP).

The third EU Eastern Partnership Summit will be held in Vilnius on 28–29 November 2013. The Finnish delegation at the Summit will be chaired by Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja.

Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade Alexander Stubb will make a Team Finland trip to New Zealand and Australia between 28 November and 3 December. He will be accompanied by a business delegation, consisting of representatives of the mining industry, the machine and construction industry, information technology, the forwarding business, health and well-being services, and the food industry. The delegation was assembled by Finpro.

Finland is recovering 80,000 euros of development cooperation funds from Tanzania. The reason for the recovery is the irregularities detected in the financial management of the programme for supporting Tanzania’s local government reform.

Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja participates in the session of the Assembly of States Parties of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on 21 November and will attend the meeting of the European Council on Foreign Relations in Paris on 21–22 November.