Foreign Minister Stubb to participate in the International Conference on Afghanistan in The Hague

Press Release 94/2009
27 March, 2009

Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb will attend the International Conference on Afghanistan: a Comprehensive Strategy in a Regional Context, to take place in The Hague on Tuesday, 31 March. This conference is a continuation in the series of conferences, held in Bonn, London and Paris since 2002, where the international community has reaffirmed its comprehensive and long-term commitment to Afghanistan.

The conference in The Hague will focus, in particular, on the importance of regional considerations to development in Afghanistan. The conference chairs will be UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Foreign Minister Maxine Verhagen of the Netherlands. The foreign ministers of about 80 countries are expected to attend, as are the leaders of international organisations.

Finland, as part of the international community, is committed to the provision of long-term assistance and reconstruction for Afghanistan. This year Finland is channelling about 10 million euros in development assistance to Afghanistan. In addition, Finland is participating in the ISAF crisis management operation with a little over 100 soldiers and in civilian crisis management tasks, especially as part of EUPOL, the European police mission. Moreover, Finland is supporting the arrangement of elections in Afghanistan, both financially and by means of a temporary detachment of 100 soldiers.

Additional information: Juha Kirstilä, Press Attaché to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, mobile tel. + 358 40 552 8200, Mikko Hautala, Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, mobile tel. +358 40 834 6758, and Rauli Suikkanen, Counsellor, Unit for Asia and Oceania, mobile tel. +358 40 831 0408