Foreign Ministry's press releases

The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, welcomed today the decision by the OSCE Ministerial Council to appoint Janez Lenarčič of Slovenia as the head of the Organization’s human rights body.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen took part in the Ministerial meeting of the 16th Session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development on 14 May. In his address Minister Väyrynen stressed the need to return to the thinking of the UN Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, where the view of development and environment policy was holistic. In the minister’s opinion, global environment policy is currently too fragmented.

The death toll of the earthquake on 12 May in Sichuan province in China is growing. The Embassy of Finland in Beijing has reached the majority of those Finnish citizens in the earthquake area who had given their contact information to the embassy in advance (registering with the embassy is voluntary but desirable) or who had reported about themselves to the embassy in other ways. The embassy has reached slightly over 80 Finns.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen will take part in the Ministerial meeting of the 16th Session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development in New York on Wednesday, 14 May and will deliver the statement of Finland at the meeting. In connection with the meeting, Minister Väyrynen will meet with Gerda Verburg, Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality of the Netherlands, who will chair the Commission on Sustainable Development in 2009.

On Friday, 9 May, the Cabinet Committee on EU Affairs discussed Finland’s position on the implementation of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty.

The Finnish Embassy in Thailand confirmed on Friday 9 May that all the Finnish citizens that the embassy so far had knowledge of having been in Myanmar during the cyclone have now been reached. According to their own reports to the embassy, all the Finns are all right.

On Tuesday 13 May, Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb will travel to Prague where he will meet Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Karel Schwarzenberg. From Prague, Foreign Minister Stubb will continue his journey to Paris where, the same evening, he will attend a dinner French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner is hosting for his EU colleagues with the future EU Presidency of France as the main topic of discussion.

Finland’s Ambassador to Thailand Lars Backström has been granted a visa to Myanmar. The visa will enter into force on Sunday 11 May.

Foreign Minister Ali Babacan of Turkey will visit Finland on Monday, 12 May. Babacan will hold talks with Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb and he will also meet with President Tarja Halonen.

Finland responds to the urgent need of assistance caused by the Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar. Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen decided on 7 May about channelling emergency assistance amounting to EUR 300,000 to the area through the Finnish Red Cross.