Foreign Ministry's press releases

Finland is the first country to contribute to a FAO programme to support climate change mitigation in agriculture in developing countries. FAO announced the news today in the context of the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen, together with a buisness delegation, will visit Poland on 8–9 December. The purpose of the export promotion trip is to expand Finnish businesses’ export possibilities on continually growing Polish markets.

The EU General Affairs Council (GAC) will meet in Brussels on Monday 7 December. Main themes of the meeting include preparations for the European Council, and EU enlargement. Minister of Migration and European Affairs Astrid Thors and Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb will represent Finland at the meeting.

The Foreign Affairs Council of the EU will meet in Brussels on 8 December. The main topic on the agenda is the situation in the Middle East. On Monday, 7 December the Foreign Ministers will have a dinner meeting with Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb will represent Finland at the meeting. After the Council meeting, Stubb will also attend the first Ministerial Meeting of the EU Eastern Partnership.

Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb will meet with Baroness Catherine Ashton, the new High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, in Brussels on Friday, 4 December.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Stubb will take part in the meeting for countries contributing to the ISAF operation in Afghanistan, to be held on 4 December in conjunction with the NATO Foreign Ministerial Meeting. All 44 countries contributing to the ISAF operation have been invited to attend the meeting, where the situation in Afghanistan and ISAF support to Afghanistan will be discussed.

Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb will take part in the OSCE Ministerial Council to be held in Athens on 1–2 December.

Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb will visit Warsaw on Monday, 30 November, where he will meet with Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski.

Karen AbuZayd, Commissioner General of the UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees, will visit Finland on 25 November. She will meet with Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb and Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen. UNRWA marks its 60th anniversary this year and AbuZayd, an American, has been head of the agency since 2005.

Finland and SADC, the Southern African Development Community, have signed an agreement on the initiation of regional meteorological cooperation. The SADC is a community of fifteen Southern African countries with the aim of economic integration and development. The agreement came into force on 21 November.