Foreign Ministry's press releases

Minister for Nordic Cooperation Jan Vapaavuori will attend the Meeting of Cooperation Ministers organised by the Nordic Council of Ministers in Vilnius, Lithuania on 17–18 February.

Foreign Minister Maris Riekstins of Latvia will visit Finland on Wednesday, 17 February at the invitation of Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen will attend the Informal Meeting of EU Development Ministers in Segovia, Spain on 17–18 February.

The Baltic Sea Action Summit that was held in Helsinki on Wednesday, 10 February was a success in the opinion of the arrangers. The summit attracted a large and high-level group of participants to Finlandia Hall to tell about their commitments to protect the Baltic Sea. The summit was hosted by President of the Republic Tarja Halonen, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen and Mr Ilkka Herlin, the Chairman of the Baltic Sea Action Group, who together convened the summit.

Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb will visit Canada on 10-16 February. The visit will include scheduled meetings with Minister of Foreign Affairs Lawrence Cannon and Minister of National Defence Peter MacKay.

The Baltic Sea Action Summit (BSAS) to be held in Helsinki at Finlandia Hall on 10 February will present more than 130 Baltic Sea commitments made so far. Concrete commitments have been made by private sector companies of various size, and actors representing the public and third sectors. The heads of state or government participating in the Summit will also make their own commitments contributing to the recovery of the Baltic Sea.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen underlined the importance of different Russian territories in enhancing Finnish-Russian trade and economic relations after having met the Prime Minister or the Republic of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnihanov in Kazan on 3 February. In Väyrynen's opinion Finnish companies should actively seek opportunities for cooperation outside Moscow and St.Petersburg.

The Baltic Sea Action Summit to be held on 10 February 2010 at Finlandia Hall will bring high-level representatives of ten Baltic Sea states to Helsinki. Seven heads of state or government have confirmed their participation in the Summit which will also gather representatives of NGOs and the business sector.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen will visit Kazan, the capital of the Tatarstan Republic in the Russian Federation, on 2–4 February. Minister Väyrynen will be accompanied by a 30-person business delegation.

Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb will visit Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia and Croatia on 1-4 February.