Foreign Ministry's press releases

Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh of India will visit Finland on 9–11 April at the invitation of Minister for International Development Heidi Hautala.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is reforming the electronic processing of visa applications. Based on the findings of an analysis, the Ministry has decided to set up a visa service centre in Kouvola. The project is part of the Ministry’s overall effectiveness and productivity programme.

Master of Political Science Nina Suomalainen has been appointed as Deputy Head of Mission in OSCE Field Operations Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina as of 8 May.

Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja will visit Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia on 2-4 April.

Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja will attend the second meeting of the Friends of the Syrian People on Sunday, 1 April. The first meeting was held in Tunis on 24 February.

On Thursday 29 March, the President of the Republic and the Cabinet Committee on Foreign and Security Policy discussed the grounds of the Defence Forces Reform for the part of the situation of the Nyland Brigade. The meeting also discussed the preparatory work on the Government Report on Security and Defence Policy.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia Urmas Paet will visit Finland on Friday 30 March at the invitation of Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja. He will also meet President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö and Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade Alexander Stubb.

Minister for International Development Heidi Hautala will visit Kenya from 24 to 28 March

On 26-27 March, Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja will participate in Strasbourg in a Council of Europe conference against discrimination of sexual or gender minorities (LGBT people), “Combating discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity across Europe: Sharing knowledge and moving forward”.

On 22 March the Government decided to appoint Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Kirsti Kauppi as Director General of the Political Department for a temporary period of time from 1 April 2012 to 31 August 2016.