Foreign Ministry's press releases

Niklas Bruun, Professor at the University of Helsinki was re-elected to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, CEDAW.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is continuing the reorganisation of Finland’s network of diplomatic missions.

Ministry for Foreign affairs will organise a seminar on chances of mediation on 28 June - 1 July in Helsinki for the New York based UN Ambassadors of 23 countries.

The EU Foreign Ministers on 25 June adopted a Strategic Framework on Human Rights and Democracy that will guide the human rights policy of the European Union in the coming years.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of the United States will visit Finland on 27 June at the invitation of Minister for Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja.

The EU Foreign Ministers will gather for a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg on 25 June. Finland will be represented at the meeting by Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja. The agenda includes the EU Southern Neighbourhood, especially Syria and Egypt, Iran, Pakistan and Bosnia-Herzegovina and the EU human rights policy.

Agreement for the final outcome document of the Rio Conference was reached on 19 June. “Achieving results in a process of this kind is welcome, as this is not always the case in similar situations. The anticipated result, however, leaves the real meaning open, it is determined by how strongly and genuinely various parties are committed to the good intentions of the final outcome document,” said Minister Tuomioja.

The UN Conference on Sustainable Development Rio+20 is the most important UN conference of the year. Head of the Finnish delegation, Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja estimates that the humankind has a few decades, at the most, to turn the current trend into ecologically, socially and economically sustainable development.

Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja is visiting Geneva on 18–19 June. During his visit, Foreign Minister Tuomioja will participate in the plenary sessions of the UN Human Rights Council and the UN Conference on Disarmanent.

A meeting of the International Contact Group focusing on Afghanistan was held in Helsinki on 17 June under the direction of Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja. The Contact Group acts as a high-level forum for political coordination and other international efforts for promotion of peace and stability in Afghanistan and the neighbouring areas. This Contact Group meeting was the first ever held in a Nordic country.