Foreign Ministry's press releases

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen attended a lunch meeting addressing the question of transatlantic cooperation in development policy, organised in connection with the OECD ministerial meeting concentrating on development issues held in Paris. The meeting was hosted by Mr. Alonzo Fulgham, Acting Administrator of USAID, agency in charge of US development policy, and it was attended by the representatives of EU Member States and the Commission.

On Friday 29 May, the President of the Republic and the Cabinet Committee on Foreign and Security Policy discussed an independent report by Thorvald Stoltenberg, former Norwegian Foreign Minister, on the strengthening of foreign and security policy cooperation between the Nordic countries. The report was released in February this year, and the proposals outlined in it will be discussed at the Nordic Foreign Ministers’ meeting taking place on 9 June.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen will attend the meeting between the EU and the United States to be held in Paris on Thursday, 28 May, where deepening of trans-Atlantic cooperation on development policy will be discussed. The meeting is taking place at the initiative of the United States.

The Donor Support Group of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, will convene in Helsinki on 1-2 June. In the meeting, it will focus on the crises where humanitarian assistance is needed, with Sri Lanka and Pakistan being the most topical targets. Another topic on the agenda is the role of OCHA and its development, as well as the cooperation between donors and OCHA.

Ambassador Tom Vraalsen of Norway, Chair of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research (ITF), and ITF Executive Secretary Kathrin Meyer will visit Finland on Tuesday 26 May. The visit is hosted by Under-Secretary of State Markus Lyra of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb will travel next week to Vietnam and Cambodia. He will attend the ASEM Foreign Ministers Meeting to be held in Hanoi, Vietnam on 25–26 May. In Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Foreign Minister Stubb will take part in the EU-ASEAN Ministerial Meeting scheduled for 27–28 May.

The chaotic situation in Sri Lanka rose to the forefront of discussion at the EU Foreign Ministers Meeting in Brussels. According to Foreign Minister Stubb, “the EU has had to jump onto a moving train,” since news from the crisis area was arriving throughout the day. The foreign minister considers the humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka to be catastrophic and, along with the rest of the EU, demands that the Government of Sri Lanka moves quickly towards a peaceful political solution.

Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan will visit Finland on Wednesday 20 May. The Minister’s itinerary will include meetings with, for instance, President of the Republic Tarja Halonen and Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen will make an export promotion visit to St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region on 20-22 May. He will be accompanied by a business delegation with almost 60 delegates.

By decision of Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs has granted humanitarian aid appropriations for the first part of the year, totalling 47 million euros, to people suffering from the world’s crises. Finland’s entire humanitarian aid budget for the present year totals 73 million euros.