Foreign Ministry's press releases

Almost half of the respondents to an international country image survey indicated that their perception of Finland improved during the last year. Finland’s NATO membership process has greatly contributed to increasing Finland’s visibility abroad and to improving perceptions of Finland.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend the Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which will be held in Łódź, Poland, on 30 November–1 December. Poland holds the OSCE Chairpersonship in 2022.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto visited Kyiv, Ukraine, on 28 November together with Nordic and Baltic foreign ministers. In Kyiv, the foreign ministers met the President and the Foreign Minister of Ukraine, among others, and reaffirmed their countries’ firm support to Ukraine.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend a meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Bucharest from 29 to 30 November.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs requests opinions on the draft Decree of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs on Fees for Services Produced by the Foreign Service in 2023. The consultation round will be open until 7 December 2022. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs proposes an increase of EUR 20 to the fee for the EU Emergency Travel Document (ETD) issued to EU citizens.

Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari will visit London on 24 November. Minister Skinnari will meet the United Kingdom’s Minister of State at the Department for International Trade Greg Hands and Minister of State in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Andrew Mitchell.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Haavisto will visit Paris on 23 November. He will meet Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France Catherine Colonna and President of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the French National Assembly Jean-Louis Bourlanges.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend the Manama Dialogue organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in Bahrain from 18 to 19 November. He will have a number of bilateral meetings during the visit.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs together with its partners will organise a Crisis Management NOW event focusing on crisis management and peacebuilding. The event will take place in the Wanha Satama conference centre in Katajanokka on Tuesday 29 November. It will be open to all and free of charge.

More than half of Russians still have a positive attitude towards Finland, according to a country image survey carried out by the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. However, the proportion of Russians who are positive towards Finland has dropped compared to previous years. Finland and Finnishness are associated with nature, quality and a high standard of living. The best-known Finns in Russia are Ville Haapasalo, Mika Häkkinen and Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim.