Foreign Ministry's press releases

Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja expressed his concern on the alarming situation in Syria at a seminar organised by the UN Association of Finland on 24 August. The violence still continues in spite of appeals by the international community. Tuomioja stressed that all violence and war crimes targeted to civilians is condemnable regardless of the perpetrator.

“Foreign policy will be made in a new kind of global environment, where multilateralism is even more essential than before,” said Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja in his speech at the Annual Meeting of Finnish Heads of Mission on 20 August. According to the Minister, the current era is shaped by the dynamics of increasing interdependency, which has influence over nearly all the dimensions of human activity, both good and bad.

Minister for International Development Heidi Hautala warns against downplaying Finland’s international commitment to raising the level of development cooperation appropriations to 0.7 of GDI. The delay manifests itself, for example, as slow progress in international negotiations, said Hautala, who was one of the speakers at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs’ Annual Meeting of Heads of Missions.

Stubb at the Annual Meeting of Heads of Missions: “No, no and no is not a valid response to the euro crisis”

In his opening speech delivered at the 2012 Annual Meeting of Finnish Heads of Mission on 20 August, Secretary of State Pertti Torstila focused on operation of Finnish diplomatic missions, cooperation related to the concepts of Team Finland/House of Finland, the External Action Service of the European Union and the Foreign Ministry's resources and pressure for budget cuts.

What are you going to do for others in your community today? With this question the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is encouraging people to get involved in World Humanitarian Day on Sunday 19 August. The I Was Here campaign aims at sending the biggest social media message in history while encouraging people to think about humanitarian work through small everyday actions.

By decision of Minister for International Development Heidi Hautala, Finland grants 1.5 million euros of humanitarian assistance to those suffering from the crisis in Syria. The support will be targeted for persons in need of assistance, both those within Syria as well those who have fled to neighbouring countries. It will be channelled through the Finnish Red Cross, the World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund.

The budget for 2013 proposes a total of 1,304 million euros for the administrative branch of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Prime Minister's Office has appointed a steering group for Finland's external economic relations. Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen will chair the 'Team Finland' steering group and Matti Alahuhta, President and CEO of Kone Corporation, will serve as its vice-chair.

The Council of Ministers appointed Stavros Lambrinidis of Greece as the first EU Special Representative for Human Rights. According to Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, the appointment will strengthen the Union's human rights activities and give a face to the work.