Foreign Ministry's press releases

Finland, as other Schengen countries, will begin to collect the fingerprints of customers applying for a visa in North Africa as from Tuesday, 11 October. Fingerprints are thereafter collected from visa applicants at the Embassy of Finland in Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt.

The 13th Ministerial Session of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council will take place in Kiruna, Sweden on 12 October. The themes of the meeting are economic development of the Barents region, human wellbeing and the responsible use of natural resources. The meeting in Kiruna will adopt a Joint Communiqué guiding Barents cooperation for the next few years.

On Friday, 7 October, the President of the Republic and the Cabinet Committee on Foreign and Security Policy decided to initiate the preparatory work on a new report on Finnish security and defence policy. The report is intended to be submitted to Parliament before the end of 2012.

The EU Foreign Affairs Council will convene in Luxembourg on 10 October. The main topics of the meeting are the Middle East peace process, the situation in the EU’s Southern Neighbourhood, Iran and Belarus. Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja will represent Finland at the meeting.

Minister for International Development Heidi Hautala will attend the International MDG-6 Forum on infectious diseases in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, to take place in Moscow on 10–11 October.

Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, will pay a visit to Finland on 9–11 October. She will have meetings with President of the Republic Tarja Halonen, Minister of Finance Jutta Urpilainen, Minister for Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja and Minister for International Development Heidi Hautala. According to Bachelet, UN Women’s vision is a world where women are guaranteed equal rights to development, human rights and security.

A total of 196.5 million euros is proposed for the Foreign Ministry’s operating expenses. Assessment and development of the diplomatic mission network is continued in line with the policies laid down in the Government Programme policies and taking into account the resources of this administrative branch.

Ahtisaari Day, which will be celebrated for the first time this year, has received its own official logo. The logo combines two different images: a dove in flight, commonly known as a symbol of peace, and a handshake. The motivation underpinning the logo was the wish to highlight the two themes of Ahtisaari Day in a suitable way. The dove in flight symbolises peace and the handshake refers to the reconciliation process.

Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja took part in the Security Policy Academy organised by KATU, the Civil Society Conflict Prevention Network, in Helsinki on 1 October. He stressed in his speech that areas of conflict must in future be examined more closely through a state-building lens.

Finland has decided to raise the status of the Palestine General Delegation located in Finland. Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja informed his Palestinian colleague Riyad al-Malki of the decision in a letter dated 30 September 2011.