Foreign Ministry's press releases

Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja takes part in the Second Conference on Mediation being held in Istanbul on 11–12 April, 2013, at the invitation of Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu.

The Minister responsible for family, social and gender equality policy in Turkey Fatma Şahin visits Finland on 11–13 April invited by the Finnish Minister responsible for gender equality affairs Paavo Arhinmäki.

Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja will participate in the Theme Session of the Nordic Council in Stockholm on 11 April.

Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Monday, 15 April. The ministers will discuss bilateral relations and regional cooperation, including Arctic issues. The agenda also includes EU–Russia relations and current international issues, including the situation in North Korea and in Syria.

At the beginning of May, a Finn, Miranda Vuolasranta, will become a National Expert in Anti-discrimination Work at European Commission.

Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy has appointed Pirkka Tapiola Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova. Tapiola will assume his new position at the beginning of September 2013.

Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade Alexander Stubb will take a Team Finland trip, with an aim to promote exports and internationalisation of Finnish companies, to China on 10-12 April.

YK:n yleiskokous hyväksyi tänään 2.4. historiallisen asekauppasopimuksen äänin 154-3-23. Suomi oli sopimustekstin yksi 108:sta kanssasuosittajasta ja äänesti sopimuksen puolesta.

Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja and Minister for International Development Heidi Hautala are visiting the region of the Horn of Africa. Pekka Haavisto, the Foreign Minister's Special Representative, is also a participant on the trip.

Ethiopia has long been one of Finland’s development cooperation partner countries. The ministers met with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa on 1 April. The views of Ethiopia, which current chairs the African Union, were heard and bilateral relations and cooperation were discussed during the meeting. Minister Hautala also met with representatives of civil society in Ethiopia.