Foreign Ministry's press releases

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe is re-energizing its work on conflict resolution and crisis management, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, told the UN Security Council today. Stubb emphasized to the Security Council that he believed there was no such thing as a ‘frozen conflict’, adding: “It is time to banish this term from the political lexicon and act quickly to settle outstanding conflicts in our region.”

The annual human rights conference of the OSCE, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, will start in Warsaw on Monday, 29 September. The two-week event is organised by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). This is the largest human rights and democracy conference held in Europe. The delegation of Finland, the country holding the OSCE Chairmanship, will be led by State Secretary Teija Tiilikainen.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen will participate in the informal meeting of EU development ministers to be held in Bordeaux, France, on 29-30 September.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen participated in the High-Level Event on the Millennium Development Goals, held on 25 September in conjunction with the UN General Assembly. The minister spoke at the Roundtable Discussion on Poverty and Hunger, where he highlighted the effectiveness of development cooperation.

On 28 September 2008, Paavo Väyrynen, the Finnish Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, has served as a minister for 5,000 days.

The Final Report of the Helsinki Process on Globalisation and Democracy, an initiative launched jointly by Finland and Tanzania in 2003, was launched in New York during the Ministerial Week of the 63rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly when the Presidents of Finland and Tanzania presented the Final Report to Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon in their meetings with him.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland presents its services and activities related to international security and travel safety at the Security and Defence 2008 event in Lahti on 26-28 September. The Strategy for Securing the Functions Vital to Society, adopted by the Government in 2006 (www.yett.fi), will be showcased to the public at large for the first time at Lahti Fair Centre.

Foreign Ministers from the five countries holding the 2007-2011 OSCE Chairmanships met today at the invitation of this year's OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Finnish Foreign Minister Stubb, to discuss Georgia and ways to strengthen OSCE action. They agreed the OSCE should continue to play an active role in the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and in seeking a lasting settlement to the conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, coordinating efforts with the United Nations and the European Union.

Minister for Trade and Foreign Development Paavo Väyrynen will attend the opening week of the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly in New York on 24–25 September. Väyrynen serves as vice-chairman of the Finnish delegation to the General Assembly, which is led by President of the Republic Tarja Halonen.

Last spring, Finland joined for the first time an extensive international survey, where people’s country images of 50 different nations were studied. Among them, the country image of Finland ranked 18th. All other Nordic Countries were placed higher than Finland. Finland received the highest evaluations from the Swedes and the Russians, and the lowest from Latin America and Africa.