Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja to Sri Lanka, India, Afghanistan and Kazakhstan
Press release 39/2005
2 February, 2005
Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja will visit Sri Lanka on 5-6 February, India on 6-10 February, Afghanistan on 10 February and Kazakhstan on 11 February.
In Sri Lanka Tuomioja will meet with Prime Minister Mahendra Rajapakse with whom he will discuss the outline for reconstruction in Sri Lanka. He will also convey the gratitude of the Finnish citizens for the support they received during the tsunami disaster. In Colombo Tuomioja will also meet with Wagn Winkel, acting head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, Finns working in humanitarian assistance and members of the Finnish colony.
The third meeting of the high-level Helsinki Group of the Helsinki Process will be held in New Delhi, India. Foreign Minister Tuomioja and his Tanzanian counterpart Jakaya Kikwete co-chair the group which consists of 22 international opinion leaders. The Helsinki Group will finalise the contents of its report and will begin to formulate the strategy for the implementation of its proposals. In connection with the meeting, Tuomioja will also meet with representatives of the Indian Government and the civil society.
Tuomioja will meet with the President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai, who is the first president in the history of the county elected in a free election, Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and representatives of the European Union and the United Nations. Tuomioja will also meet Finnish peacekeeping troops in their camp. The Finnish contribution to the reconstruction of Afghanistan is ten million euros annually. The most significant political challenge facing Afghanistan this year is the organisation of parliamentary and local elections. Foreign Minister Tuomioja will also meet representatives of democratic parties to hear their views on the political development. This is the first visit by a Finnish Foreign Minister to Afghanistan.
In Kazakhstan Foreign Minister Tuomioja will meet with President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Foreign Minister Kassymzhomart Tokayev. This is also the first visit by a Finnish Foreign Minister to Kazakhstan. Finland's former President Mauno Koivisto visited the country in 1992. The discussions will focus on the promotion of bilateral relations. Tuomioja will also meet with the Speaker of the lower chamber of Parliament, the Majilis, and members of political parties.
Further information: Ambassador Tarja Laitiainen, tel. 040 725 5844, on Afghanistan, Ambassador Mikko Pyhälä, tel. 040 776 3785, on Sri Lanka and India, Project Assistant Martti Antola, tel. 09 1605 5934, on the Helsinki Process, and Ambassador Marja-Liisa Kiljunen, tel. 040 5667307, on Kazakhstan