Foreign Ministry's press releases

Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade Alexander Stubb will travel to London and Oxford on 15-16 September.

Foreign and European Integration Minister of Moldova, Iurie Leanca, will visit Finland on 11-12 September and meet Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja on 12 September.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja and Minister for International Development Heidi Hautala met representatives of NGOs in a hearing event concerning the 66th session of the UN General Assembly, held on 7 September. The purpose of the annually organised event is to hear the opinions of the civil society on Finland’s and EU’s goals for the UN General Assembly. A wide range of civil society representatives attended the meeting.

The EU General Affairs Council (GAC) will meet in Brussels on Monday, 12 September. Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade Alexander Stubb will represent Finland at the meeting. The meeting will focus on the proposal for the EU financial framework and on preparatory work for the October European Council.

Mozambique’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Oldemiro Balói will visit Finland on 7-9 September and meet Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja and Minister for International Development Heidi Hautala.

Ministers for Nordic Cooperation will convene in Vaasa on 7-8 September under the leadership of the new Minister for Nordic Cooperation Alexander Stubb.

Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade Alexander Stubb will meet Swedish Minister for EU Affairs Birgitta Ohlsson on Tuesday 6 September in Helsinki.

In the Government Programme, the Government made a commitment to reform the Finnish development policy to meet the future needs. The Government policies will be further specified in the Development Policy Action Plan, the preparation of which has been launched in the Foreign Ministry. “We are aiming at a so-called 'devoted development policy’, which means that Finland will listen to various views and engage in real dialogue about the direction of development,” Minister Hautala states.

Jorge Sampaio, Former President of Portugal and UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, is visiting Finland on 4–7 September, at the invitation of President of the Republic Tarja Halonen.

Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja will meet on Tuesday, 6 September with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle in Berlin.