Foreign Ministry's press releases

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has appointed Jukka Matilainen to the post of Press Counsellor at the Embassy of Finland in Moscow. The three-year term will start at the beginning of August.

The NATO member countries, represented by their Permanent Representatives to NATO, are preparing to sign the Accession Protocol for Finland on Tuesday 5 July. Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend the signing ceremony. The Accession Protocol for Sweden will be signed in the same ceremony. Once the Accession Protocol is signed, Finland will become an invitee of NATO.

On 23 June, the EU adopted a regulation on the reciprocity of public procurement. The regulation aims to give EU companies better access to public procurement markets outside the EU in the so-called third countries.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will meet Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Zbigniew Rau in Helsinki on 1 July.

Through the Foreign Ministry’s funding for development cooperation Finnish CSOs and their partners promote poverty eradication, reduction of inequality and the fulfilment of human rights. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has awarded approximately EUR 21 million in discretionary government grants for Finnish CSOs’ development cooperation projects in 2023–2026.

Minister for Nordic Cooperation and Equality, Thomas Blomqvist, will attend a meeting of the Ministers for Nordic Cooperation in Halden, Norway, on 27–28 June. One of the main topics of the meeting will be Nordic cooperation in times of crisis with a particular focus on the role of the ministers for Nordic cooperation in ensuring the exchange of information between the countries. At the meeting, ministers will adopt a joint declaration on cooperation during crises.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend Nordic foreign ministers’ meeting in N5 format in Norway on 27 June.

The international community supports the sustainability and operational capacity of Ukraine’s public sector in the midst of the war through the World Bank’s FREE Ukraine Multi-Donor Trust Fund. Following Russia’s aggression in February 2022, Finland has granted EUR 21 million in additional funding for development cooperation and humanitarian assistance in Ukraine.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will participate in a high-level panel discussion to be held in connection with the summer session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg. Minister Haavisto will have also bilateral meetings.

EU foreign ministers will convene in Luxembourg on Monday 20 June. Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will represent Finland at the meeting. The main themes on the agenda of the Foreign Affairs Council will be the Horn of Africa, EU relations with Egypt and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Ministers will also have a discussion on the Persian Gulf.