Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto to visit The Hague

On 2 December, Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will visit The Hague, where he will meet Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Stef Blok and representatives of international organisations based in The Hague.

Minister Haavisto will have meetings with President of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Chile Eboe-Osuji, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, President of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers Ekaterina Trendafilova, and Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Fernando Arias. 

The Foreign Ministers' meeting will focus on the bilateral relations between Finland and the Netherlands, the future, enlargement and multiannual financial framework (MFF) of the European Union, the rule of law, international climate cooperation, and matters related to Russia. Relations between Finland and the Netherlands are excellent, and collaboration at various levels is active. The relations are characterised by likemindedness on many questions concerning the EU and other areas of international cooperation. The Netherlands' Minister of Foreign Affairs last visited Finland in 2018.

Foreign Minister Haavisto will deliver the EU’s statement at the Assembly of the States Parties to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and hold the welcoming speech at a Women's Initiatives for Gender Justice (WIGJ) event. Finland has been one of the active supporters of the ICC since its establishment. Finland considers it important that those guilty of the most serious international crimes should be subject to criminal liability and that the rights of victims should be promoted.  The Minister's programme at the ICC includes a meeting with Pieter de Baan, Executive Director of the Secretariat of the Trust Fund for Victims, and Felipe Michelini, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Trust Fund for Victims.

Inquiries: Katja Kalamäki, Diplomatic Adviser to the Minister, tel. +358 295 351 518 and Nicola Lindertz, Director of the Unit for Central, Western and Southern Europe of the Department for Europe, tel. +358 29 535 0316.

The email addresses of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs are in the format [email protected].