The Netherlands
Embassy of Finland, The Hague
The Finnish Government proposes EUR 1.3 billion in appropriations for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The Foreign Ministry will continue to support Ukraine in 2024, as outlined in the Government programme.
The Finnish Chef Association has published Finnish food recipes (‘Suomiruoka-reseptiikka’) to promote Finland’s country branding and food exports. The recipes will serve Finnish embassies and missions around the world and those organising international meetings and events in Finland. When ready, the material will be freely available to everyone. The material was produced under an agreement with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
Finland will implement the European Commission’s guidance (FAQ) on prohibiting the import of vehicles registered in Russia.
The high-level meetings of the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 78) will start in New York on Monday 18 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. Minister Tavio’s programme will also include meetings to promote Finland’s commercial and economic interests in the New York metropolitan area.
Minister of Education Anna-Maja Henriksson will attend a virtual meeting of Ministers for Nordic Cooperation on 13 September. Henriksson is the minister responsible for Nordic cooperation in the current Finnish Government.
The main topics on the meeting agenda will be the World Bank reform process and support to Ukraine. Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio will represent Finland at the meeting.
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) will hold its 54th session from 11 September to 13 October in Geneva, Switzerland.
Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will host Bulgaria’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mariya Gabriel in Finland.
The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) will close its office in Helsinki by the end of 2023. The Social Impact Investing Initiative, managed by UNOPS, was discontinued already at the start of the year due to a corruption case.
Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will attend a meeting of Nordic and Baltic foreign ministers (NB8), to be held in Latvia 6–7 September.