Foreign Ministry's press releases

The EU Foreign Ministers will gather for a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on 23 July. The agenda includes the Union's common security and defence policy, the situation in the southern neighbourhood, Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and South Sudan, the EU Eastern Partnership and China. The Foreign Ministers will also discuss energy policy from the foreign policy point of view. Finland will be represented at the meeting by Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja.

The Government has today announced the appointment of Jouni Mölsä as Director of Communications at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Mr. Mölsä will assume his position on 15 September for a term of five years. He is currently serving as Press Counsellor at the Finnish Embassy in London.

Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja will visit Ethiopia on 12-13 July to attend the Foreign Ministers meeting of the African Union in Addis Abeba.

The international conference on long-term support for the economy and the development in Afghanistan emphasized participation of women in the peace process and social development. On Finland's initiative Afghanistan committed to enhancing women's rights more vigorously in the outcome document. The support is conditional.

Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja will attend the third meeting of the Friends of the Syrian People in Paris on Friday, 6 July. The first meeting was held in Tunisia in February and the second in Turkey in April.

Minister for International Development Heidi Hautala will attend the international conference on long-term support for the economy and the development of Afghanistan to take place in Tokyo on 8 July. The conference is expected to agree on a development strategy for Afghanistan in the coming years. The goals of the Tokyo Conference are also pivotal from the Finnish point of view, since Finland is committed to long-term support of Afghanistan.

By decision of Minister for International Development Heidi Hautala, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs is directing EUR 1.5 million in emergency assistance to Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Chad, which suffer from the crisis in the Sahel region.

Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja will visit New York on 2-3 July. During his visit Minister Tuomioja will speak on behalf of Finland at the High-Level Segment of the Conference on the international Arms Trade Treaty. He will also attend the UN Economic and Social Council's (ECOSOC) High-Level Segment Ministerial Roundtable that focuses on

The co-authors of the UN General Assembly Resolution on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) call for a universal, robust, legally binding and verifiable treaty that will help to put an end to the illicit and irresponsible transfer of arms around the world.

The Ottawa Treaty banning anti-personnel mines will take effect in Finland on 1 July. The treaty prohibits the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines and defines their destruction. Finland has a plan for destroying the anti-personnel mines currently in possession of the defence forces. Finland has supported humanitarian mine action since 1991.