Current affairs

In its plenary session on 14 December 2023, the Finnish Government decided to propose that the President of the Republic authorise Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen, or if he is prevented from doing so, Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen, to sign a Defence Cooperation Agreement with the United States.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has issued a Decree on Fees for Services Produced by the Foreign Service for 2024.

Some of the prices of services provided by the Finnish missions and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs will rise. The new prices will enter into force on 1 September 2023.

Heads of Finland’s missions abroad and foreign policy leaders will meet again at the Annual Meeting of Heads of Mission in Helsinki on 21–23 August.

As of 15 May, the email addresses of the staff members at Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs and missions abroad will be, as a rule, in the format [email protected]. The change is part of the overall harmonisation of the Government’s email addresses.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs completes Finland’s relief effort in Sudan on Thursday 27 April.

On 4 April, Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will deposit Finland's instrument of accession to the North Atlantic Treaty. Minister Haavisto will deposit the instrument of accession in Brussels with the Government of the United States. Finland will become a NATO member country at the moment of the deposit. Minister Haavisto will also represent Finland at the meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs starting on the same day.

A total of 42,198 eligible voters cast their vote in advance at Finland’s missions and offices abroad in this year’s parliamentary elections.

On 23 March 2023, President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö decided that Finland would commit itself to the North Atlantic Treaty and the Ottawa Agreement, which were accepted by Parliament on 1 March 2023. The presenting minister was Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto. The President of the Republic also confirmed the acts bringing into force the Treaty and the Agreement.

The Finnish missions and embassies report that following the application for NATO membership and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Finland’s political leaders featured prominently in the international media. In 2021, it was Finnish athletes who received most mentions in the international news media, but last year President Sauli Niinistö, Prime Minister Sanna Marin, and Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto rose to the top of the list alongside athletes.