Foreign Ministry's press releases

Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will meet Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs of Albania Igli Hasani in Helsinki on 12 June.

In line with the Government Programme, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio has decided to allocate more funds for improving opportunities for Finnish organisations to acquire international funding. Under the reform, the application round for communications and global education projects will not be opened during this government term. The application round for UN-based organisations opens in autumn 2024, and grants can be applied for the period 2025–2027.

The Sixth National Dialogues Conference will take place on 11–13 June. The Conference invites participants to consider the role of national dialogues and non-formal dialogue processes in enhancing resilience, preventing and resolving conflict, and maintaining peace in challenging conditions. Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen will open the Conference and participate in the opening panel discussion on Youth and Peacebuilding.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will host the Foreign Ministers’ meeting of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) in Porvoo on 13–14 June.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio will visit Ethiopia and Kenya on 10–14 June.

A total of 15,071 persons visited the Finnish diplomatic and consular missions abroad to vote in advance in the elections to the European Parliament. Altogether 150 crew members voted on board Finnish vessels. In the 2019 European elections, 16,547 persons voted abroad at the Finnish missions and on board vessels.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio will visit Oslo on 5 June and meet Cecilie Myrseth, Norway's Minister of Trade and Industry, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Director General of the Norwegian agency for development cooperation Norad, and business representatives.

A request for comments on the decree aimed at preparing a new government decree on an advisory board on export control has been published in the online consultation service Lausuntopalvelu.fi.

The revamped This is FINLAND Magazine has now been published in English. Its diverse range of content covers topics from Finnish fashion to the world of video games and from happiness to sauna architecture.

Finnish Government submitted to Parliament a proposal on the acceptance and bringing into force of the Defence Cooperation Agreement between Finland and the United States on 30 May. The proposal consists of the act bringing into force the agreement and ten related acts. According to the proposal, the acceptance of the agreement will require a two-thirds majority decision of Parliament.