Foreign Ministry's press releases

The EU General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) will meet in Brussels on 18 and 19 May. Main themes of the meeting include preparations for the June European Council meeting and the EU-Russia summit, military crisis management operations in Somalia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, provision of support to developing countries during the economic crisis, and transatlantic cooperation in the field of development.

The Internet portal giving a comprehensive overview of Finland has a new name, thisisFINLAND. The portal replaces the Virtual Finland site created by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1995.

In cooperation with NATO, Finland is organising an expert seminar on NATO Trust Funds that is being held in Helsinki on 13–15 May.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen has granted EUR 500,000 of humanitarian assistance to civilians suffering from the conflicts in Sri Lanka. The assistance will be channelled for the operations of the International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC, via the Finnish Red Cross.

Vice President of Nigeria Goodluck Jonathan will visit Finland on 14-15 May. Vice President Jonathan will be accompanied by ministers and governors representing various states of Nigeria, and an extensive business delegation.

On Friday 8 May, the President of the Republic and the Cabinet Committee on Foreign and Security Policy discussed the upcoming meeting between the governments of Finland and Sweden to be organised in Hämeenlinna on 14 May.

Ambassador Reza Nazarahari, the Iranian ambassador to Finland, was summoned today, 8 May, to the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs owing to the human rights violations in Iran. Delara Darabi, who had been sentenced to death for crimes committed as a minor, was executed in Iran on 1 May, and implementation of the death sentence threatens two other people sentenced for crimes committed as a minor.

Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb will meet with the American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington, D.C. on Monday, 11 May. The topics to be discussed at the meeting include bilateral relations, trans-Atlantic issues, the situation in the Middle East, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey and Russia as well as climate change.

Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb will travel to Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey on 4–8 May in order to meet with heads of state and his fellow foreign ministers. On the visit to Lebanon and Syria, Foreign Minister Stubb will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Urmas Paet of Estonia.

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Secretary General of NATO, will visit Finland on Monday, 4 May. During his visit he will meet with President of the Republic Tarja Halonen, Minister of Defence Jyri Häkämies and Member of Parliament Pertti Salolainen, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Finnish Parliament.