Foreign Ministry's press releases

The United Nation’s independent Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education Farida Shaheed will visit Finland on 20–29 November. This is the first country visit to the Nordic countries under the mandate of the Special Rapporteur established in 1998. The aim of the visit is to assess how educational rights are observed in Finland.

Director-General Fernando Arias of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is visiting Finland from 15 to 16 November at the invitation of Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen.

The Legal Service of Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs has completed a legal analysis of the special status of Åland under international law and of legal questions associated with Åland. The analysis is now available in Finnish and Swedish on the Foreign Ministry’s website.

EU foreign ministers will convene in Brussels on 13 November. Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will represent Finland at the meeting.

On 9 November 2023, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered a judgment on a case concerning the right to a fair hearing. The Court ruled that there had been no violation of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (right to a fair hearing).

Finland will award a discretionary government grant amounting to EUR 1 million to support the work of the Israeli Red Cross Society, Magen David Adom, in the aftermath of the Hamas attack in October. In addition, Finland will allocate EUR 4 million in support of the humanitarian efforts of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the occupied Palestinian territory (the Gaza Strip and the West Bank) and in Israel.

While continuing to suffer from the consequences of Russia’s invasion, Ukraine is busy preparing for reconstruction. Around forty Finnish companies, led by Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio, will participate in Rebuild Ukraine, the exhibition and conference to be held in Warsaw on 14–15 November 2023.

Finland will hold its presidential elections on Sunday 28 January 2024. Advance voting will be possible abroad from 17 to 20 January 2024. The election day for a possible second election (second round) will be 11 February 2024, and advance voting abroad will be possible from 31 January to 3 February 2024.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will visit Berlin on 9 November 2023 to meet with Germany’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock and to attend the NATO Annual Cyber Defence Conference.

Sweden’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Tobias Billström and Minister for Defence Pål Jonson will visit Helsinki on 8 November to meet Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen and Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen.