Foreign Ministry's press releases

By a decision made by Minister for International Development Heidi Hautala, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs will target EUR 500,000 of emergency aid to those suffering from the consequences of the earthquake in Turkey.

Nordic Council convenes in Copenhagen

Kimmo Kiljunen, Ph.D. (Pol.Sc.), docent, was appointed to the Foreign Minister’s new Special Representative to regional peace-mediation tasks.

Foreign Minister of Luxembourg Jean Asselborn will visit Helsinki on 27 October. During his visit, Asselborn will meet Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja.

Due to the security situation in Kenya, Minister for International Development Heidi Hautala, currently travelling in Africa, will have to change her itinerary. In Ethiopia, the Minister has been engaged in discussions about Finnish development aid for three days, and she was supposed to continue her journey to Kenya tomorrow.

Kosovo Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj will visit Finland on 27 October and will meet with Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja and Speaker of Parliament Eero Heinäluoma.

The Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs will allocate EUR 23.6 million of emergency aid by the end of this year. The new decisions made by Minister for International Development Heidi Hautala will raise Finland’s total humanitarian contribution to more than EUR 90 million in 2011. Alongside the alleviation of acute distress situations, Finland lays emphasis on finding long-term solutions. Finland directs humanitarian assistance to Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.

Russia’s membership of WTO, the World Trade Organization, is a good thing for Finland, says Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade Alexander Stubb. Russia's WTO membership negotiations have progressed favourably, and the EU–Russian negotiations have reached consensus on questions involving investment activities in the motor vehicle sector as well as issues linked with the implementation of the agreement on export duties on roundwood reached last year.

Foreign Minister of Hungary János Martonyi will visit Finland on 25 October and have talks with Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja. In addition to bilateral relations and topical international issues, such as the situation in Northern Africa and Afghanistan, the Ministers will discuss EU issues of current interest.

Sign language rap artist Signmark aka Marko Vuoriheimo has joined forces with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs to continue the work he started with the previous Finnish Government to promote the rights of disabled people. Signmark’s work has brought a breath of fresh air to Finnish foreign policy efforts to promote human rights. Signmark will be performing at Helsinki Railway Station (Asema-aukio Square) at around 3.30 pm on UN Day, 24 October.