Current affairs

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the missions abroad provided consular services to approximately 205,000 customers last year. Over the course of the year, the Ministry’s 24/7 service was contacted around 6,800 times in total.

Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will visit The Hague on 15 January and speak at a conference on sanctions compliance and enforcement hosted by the Netherlands. She will also have discussions with the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Caspar Veldkamp and representatives of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The new decree of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs on fees charged for services provided by the Finnish Foreign Service in 2025 enters into force on 1 January 2025. Several services that are now provided free of charge will become subject to a fee as of 1 January 2025.

The Team Finland reform proceeds. After the transitional period, the foreign operations of Business Finland will be incorporated into the Foreign Service. The appropriation of Business Finland’s foreign network will be transferred to the administrative branch of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs on 1 January 2025. The service agreement ensures that the export promotion services will continue without interruption.

Finland is the first country in the world to commission a composer to create an official national soundscape. Ääniä is an original musical work by Lauri Porra, one of the country’s most celebrated composers. It takes the listener on a journey through the impressions, seasons and serene beauty of the happiest country in the world.

Finland will second five new national experts to the International Criminal Court in The Hague as part of Finland’s contribution to civilian crisis management. The experts will take up their duties in November and January.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has sent out for comments a proposal for a new Decree of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs on Fees for Services Produced by the Foreign Service in 2025. It is proposed that several of the Foreign Ministry's services which are currently provided free of charge should be made chargeable.

The high-level meetings of the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 79) will start in New York on 24 September. Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen and Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio will attend ministerial events in New York and have bilateral meetings with their counterparts and with representatives of the UN.

Commodore Juhapekka Rautava began his work as Finland's new defense attaché in Germany and the Netherlands on August 1, 2024. Commodore Misa Kangaste handed over the duties to Rautava at the office in Berlin.