Foreign Ministry's press releases

EU foreign affairs ministers will meet at the Informal Meeting of Foreign Affairs Ministers (Gymnich) in Toledo in Spain on 30–31 August. State Secretary Lauri Tierala will represent Finland at the meeting.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs proposes an increase to some of the prices of services provided by Finland’s missions abroad and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The new prices would enter into force on 1 September 2023.

In a decision published on 25 August 2023, the European Committee of Social Rights concluded that the right of persons with disabilities to protection of health, social integration and participa-tion in the life of the community as laid down in the revised European Social Charter, as well as the prohibition of discrimination, were not violated in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020.

In honour of Ukrainian Independence Day on Thursday 24 August, the Government will fly the Ukrainian flag at Senate Square and at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs’ main building Merikasarmi, which will also be illuminated in blue and yellow in the evening.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will attend a virtual Nordic foreign ministers’ meeting in N5 format on 23 August.

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.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will visit Oslo in Norway and Copenhagen in Denmark on 11 August. The Minister visits the two countries for the first time.

The European Union has imposed new sanctions on Belarus in response to the deteriorating internal situation in Belarus and to the country’s involvement in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The EU Member States approved further sanctions against Belarus on 3 August 2023.

On 6 July 2023, Russia announced the closure of Finland’s Consulate General in St Petersburg as of 1 October 2023. Consequently, the customer service at the Consulate General will close as of 1 September 2023.

On 28 July Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio assigned the task of drawing up a plan concerning Finland’s participation in the reconstruction of Ukraine.