Foreign Ministry's press releases

The EU General Affairs Council (GAC) will meet in Brussels on Tuesday 14 December to prepare the European Council meeting that will take place on 16-17 December.

Development Ministers discussed the future of the EU development policy in an External Relations Council meeting on 9 December. In the meeting, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen proposed that updating of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS), originally adopted in 2006, should be started in the coming year.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen believes Finland should soon launch an extensive international programme for promoting wood construction.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen will attend the EU Foreign Affairs Council Meeting of Development Ministers to be held in Brussels on 9 December. The main topics on the agenda are the Green Paper on the future of the EU’s development policy and the situation in Haiti.

On Friday, 3 December, the President of the Republic and the Cabinet Committee on Foreign and Security Policy discussed Finland's accession to the Ottawa Convention on the prohibition of anti-personnel mines in 2012.

The European Commission and Russian authorities have reached a decision on Russia's export duties on timber in the negotiations over last weekend. The decision was confirmed in a meeting in Brussels yesterday.Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen finds the solution a satisfactory compromise.

In 2030, Finland will be the world’s problem-solver, the report of the Country Brand Delegation states in its final report. Our practical and forthright approach to dealing with challenges offers Finland an excellent opportunity to earn distinction, for instance, in resolving problems associated with international conflicts, water shortage and education.

Key cooperation opportunities between Finland and South Korea have emerged in Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen's export promotion trip to Seoul, South Korea, in particular with regard to the EU-South Korean Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and cleantech. In a meeting with Minister for Trade of South Korea Kim Jong-hoon both Ministers stressed the benefits of the FTA to future cooperation.

Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Samuel Santos will visit Finland on 23-24 November.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen has today granted the sum of 800,000 euros in humanitarian aid owing to the cholera epidemic in Haiti. Half of the sum will be channelled through WHO and half through Finnchurch Aid.