Foreign Ministry's press releases

On Thursday, 4 December, the Government announced Finland's representation at the Brussels European Council that will take place on 11 and 12 December. Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, assisted by Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb and Minister of Migration and European Affairs Astrid Thors, will represent Finland at the European Council. The President of the Republic, Tarja Halonen, will attend the meeting when it deals with matters within her remit.

Some 50 foreign ministers will be at the 4-5 December OSCE Ministerial Council in Helsinki, underscoring the importance of talks on European security and the region’s protracted conflicts that will take place here, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb said on Wednesday.

The UN International Conference on Financing for Development underscored the importance of comprehensiveness of financing for development. In addition to the developing countries using their own resources, development can be promoted by supporting trade and enhancing investment, and by means of public development aid funding and debt resolution.

Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb will meet with his American colleague, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, tonight in Brussels. The ministers will have talks about issues to be discussed at the OSCE Ministerial Council to take place at the end of the week in Helsinki.

Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb will attend the trans-Atlantic meeting convened by Belgium, to be held in Brussels on 2 December.

Socially sustainable development is grounded, first and foremost, in rule of law, good governance, democracy and human rights, Paavo Väyrynen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, stressed in Finland’s statement that he delivered at the UN Conference on Financing for Development held in Doha, Qatar. “It must be asked whether some of the South’s donors are short-sighted when they emphasise that they do not interfere in their partner countries’ internal affairs,” Minister Väyrynen said.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen will participate in a high-level conference on financing for development organised by the UN and the government of Qatar in Doha from 29 November to 2 December.

Ambassador Irma Ertman, the Permanent Representative of Finland to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, signed the Additional Protocol to the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine, concerning Genetic Testing for Health Purposes on behalf of Finland on 27 November. This is the fourth Protocol to the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine.

The main event of the Finnish Chairmanship of the OSCE, the OSCE Ministerial Council, will be organised at the Helsinki Fair Centre on 4-5 December. The preparatory meetings at the civil servant level will begin already on 2 December. Measured in the number of delegations, the meeting is going to be the largest international conference organised in Finland. Some 50 Ministers are expected to attend the meeting, which is more than in the OSCE Ministerial Councils in recent years.

Intensification of the OSCE’s Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) efforts is one priority of the Finnish OSCE Chairmanship. In connection with this, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs has published a publicly accessible tetris-type computer game on the Internet, where everyone can try their hand at destroying small arms.