Foreign Ministry's press releases

Ministers from the Nordic and Baltic countries (Nordic-Baltic Eight, NB8) will convene at a meeting of the Governors to the World Bank Group (WPG) in Stockholm on 6 March. The main topics on the agenda are the World Bank’s support to Ukraine, international development financing, job creation and clean transition. Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio will represent Finland at the meeting.

Helsinki Roundtable on AI and International Security, an event to be held at Aalto University on 13 March 2025, will bring together international experts, decision-makers and business leaders to discuss the impacts of artificial intelligence on global security.

At the presidential session on 28 February, the President of the Republic appointed a non-resident Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will visit Dublin, Belfast and London from 3 to 4 March. In Dublin, the Foreign Minister will meet Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Trade and Minister for Defence Simon Harris. In Belfast, Minister Valtonen will deliver the Annual Harri Holkeri Lecture on mediation at Queen’s University. In London, she will speak about European security at an event hosted by Chatham House.

The ministers met in Helsinki on 26 February. They discussed the bilateral relations between Finland and Türkiye and EU–Türkiye trade and economic relations.

Finnish Minister for Nordic Cooperation Anders Adlercreutz will attend the meeting of Ministers for Nordic Cooperation in Copenhagen on 26 February. Finland and Åland are holding the Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2025.

Permanent State Secretary Jukka Salovaara will visit Geneva, Switzerland, from 25 to 26 February. He will deliver Finland’s address to a High-Level Segment of the 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council and to a High-Level Segment of the Conference on Disarmament.

The 16th sanctions package adopted by the European Union on 24 February bans imports of primary aluminium and extends export prohibitions. The package also imposes new sanctions on shadow vessels and those who support the operations of the shadow fleet.

Pasi Rajala, State Secretary to Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen and Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen, will attend meetings on Ukraine at the UN on 24 February. Rajala will travel from New York to Washington DC on 25–26 February.

Finland supports the second phase (2025–2027) of the Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine (PFRU) with a total of EUR 4.5 million. There are nine countries channelling their support to Ukraine through the Partnership Fund.