Foreign Ministry's press releases

The diplomatic relations between Finland and Vietnam were tied exactly 40 years ago 25 January. Minister for International Development Heidi Hautala celebrated the day in Hanoi. “An enormous change has happened in this country during these years to which Finland has been able to contribute. Economic development has been fast and it seems that, by 2015, the country will reach almost all of the Millennium Development goals agreed at the UN,” the Minister pointed out.

Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade Alexander Stubb and Minister of Culture and Sport Paavo Arhinmäki will attend Midem in Cannes to help develop Finnish music exports.

Margareta Wahlström, the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, will visit Finland on 24 and 25 January. During her visit, Wahlström will speak at the seminar “Preparation is for everyone”, organised by the Ministry of the Interior.

Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade Alexander Stubb will attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on 24–26 January.

Minister for International Development Heidi Hautala, who recently visited Myanmar, met President of the country U Thein Sein and the opposition leader and current parliamentarian Aung San Suu Kyi. Hautala is the first Finnish minister to visit Myanmar after the relations between our countries broke down in 1988.

Foreign Minister Tuomioja will travel to Peru on 22-24 January in celebration of the 50th anniversary year of the diplomatic relations between Finland and Peru. From Peru Foreign Minister Tuomioja will travel to Chile to attend the Meeting of Foreign Ministers between the EU, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Erkki Tuomioja, expresses his deep regrets for the tragic events that took place in the city of In Amenas in Algeria.

The Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations, Ambassador Jarmo Viinanen has been elected the President of the UNICEF Executive Board in New York on 18 January. This is the first Finnish Presidency in the history of UNICEF (1946-2013).

The Foreign Affairs Council of the EU convened for an extraordinary meeting in Brussels on 17 January, owing to the worrisome situation in Mali. Finland was represented at the meeting by Permanent Representative Jan Store.

Minister for International Development Heidi Hautala will visit Myanmar and Vietnam from 19 to 26 January. Minister Hautala’s visit to Myanmar is the first ministerial-level trip to the country since 1988.