Foreign Minister Tuomioja to attend foreign minister meeting of Nordic and African countries

Press release 3/2006
9 January, 2006


Minister for Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja will attend on 12-14 January the fifth foreign minister meeting between the Nordic Countries and ten African countries, to be organised in Benin. Last time the meeting was held in Helsinki in January 2005. The meeting will be opened by President of the Republic of Benin Mathieu Kérékou. The affairs to be handled in the meeting include the mechanisms of peace and security in Africa; questions related to democracy, human rights and good governance; conflict prevention in Africa; child soldier question in African conflicts; as well as the Peer Review Mechanism developed by Nepad, the New Partnership for Africa´s Development.

In addition to the Nordic Countries, the participants of the meeting include Benin, Botswana, South Africa, Ghana, Lesotho, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal and Tanzania. The meeting will give the foreign ministers an opportunity to openly exchange ideas about matters that interest the parties. Finland will take advantage of what these discussions have to offer during its EU presidency, on the second half of the year 2006, when, among other things, it will act as chairman of the EU’s Africa Working Group.

In connection with the meeting, Foreign Minister Tuomioja will also meet the new Foreign Minister of Tanzania Asharose Migiro. In their meeting, the ministers will discuss the current state of the Helsinki Process, established on the initiative of Finland and Tanzania to support equal and democratic globalisation.

Additional information: Folke Sundman, Special Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 9 1605 5016.