Foreign Ministry's press releases

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has invited 20 newly graduated or graduating journalism students to attend a four-week media training programme in Finland. The average age of the students on the Foreign Correspondents’ Programme (FCP) is 24 and they come from Armenia, Brazil, China, Denmark, Egypt, France, India, Japan, Germany, Poland, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, the UK, Ukraine, and the United States.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has appointed Marko Ruonala as Press Attaché at the Finnish Embassy in Paris for a three-year term.

President Tarja Halonen decided on Friday 22 July to grant Finnish recognition of the world’s newest independent state, the Republic of South Sudan. At the same time she approved the establishment of diplomatic relations between Finland and South Sudan. South Sudan gained independence from Sudan on 9 July following a referendum on secession in January. The country’s independence was the outcome of a peace treaty concluded in 2005, which ended the longest running civil war in Africa.

On July 20, Finland’s embassy in Moscow revoked the Schengen visa of Russian citizen Mikhail Golovatov. The visa had been issued in 2009. The action was taken immediately after Finnish authorities were informed of a so-called SIS warrant issued by Lithuania for the man holding the visa.

Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja will visit Estonia in late July. He is scheduled to meet his Estonian counterpart Urmas Paet on Saturday, 23 July. The ministers will exchange views on current issues of international politics and discuss bilateral relations. This is Mr Tuomioja’s first working visit to Estonia in his capacity as Foreign Minister of the new Finnish Government.

The EU General Affairs Council (GAC) will meet in Brussels on Monday, 18 July. Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade Alexander Stubb will represent Finland at the meeting.

The EU Foreign Affairs Council will convene in Brussels on 18 July. The main topics of the meeting will be the situation of the European Union Southern Neighbourhood and the Middle East peace process. Finland’s representative in the Council meeting will be Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja.

Minister for International Development Heidi Hautala will participate in the informal EU meeting of ministers for development in Sopot, Poland, on 14–15 July.

The President of the Republic and the Cabinet Committee on Foreign and Security Policy considered the independence process of South Sudan by written procedure. The African Union, the UN and the international community widely support the independence of South Sudan. Finland intends to recognise South Sudan.

Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade Alexander Stubb has chosen Antti Timonen to be his new press attaché. He will take up the post on 11 July.