EU Special Representative in Afghanistan visits Finland

Press release 54/2005
16 February, 2005

Ambassador Francesc Vendrell, EU Special Representative in Afghanistan, will visit Finland on 23 February at the invitation of Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja. He will also meet members of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee and Defence Committee.

Vendrell was appointed EU Special Representative in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2002. In 2000-2001 he was UN Special Envoy to Afghanistan and has thus monitored closely the development of the country since the final years of the Taliban rule.

A road map towards democracy was adopted in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban regime in December 2001. The first presidential elections were organised in late 2004 and parliamentary elections are scheduled for this year. The economic and security situation in Afghanistan has improved during the past three years but contribution from the international community is still needed.

Vendrell will arrive in Helsinki in the evening of 22 February.

Further information: Finland's Ambassador to Afghanistan Tarja Laitiainen, tel. 09 160 56050 or gsm 040 7255844.