Current affairs

Invented in Helsinki and celebrating its first anniversary on May 19, 2012, Restaurant Day allows anyone to set up their own café, resto or bar for one day. It has quickly spread to other cities and become a Finnish tradition, also gaining popularity abroad.

Slideshow: Restaurant Day lets anyone set up a pop-up resto. The Helsinki idea has quickly spread around Finland and abroad.

On 14 March, Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade Alexander Stubb rang the opening bell at the NASDAQ MarketSite in New Your City at 9:30 am local time. At the opening ceremony, he was accompanied by representatives from 27 Finnish start-up companies. Together with the minister, they are presenting competencies of Finnish start-ups to key customers and funding providers in the United States.

On 14 March, Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade Alexander Stubb rang the opening bell at the NASDAQ MarketSite in New Your City at 9:30 am local time.

Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade Alexander Stubb is scheduled to visit the United States on 11-16 March. The visit will take place in Washington, New York and Silicon Valley in California. The purpose of the trip is to provide increased exposure to Finnish start-up companies and to help them to establish contact with key clients and financial institutions. At the same time the trip will increase awareness of Finland as a European hub of start-up companies.

Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja met with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington on 16 February. During the meeting held at the U.S. Department of State, the Foreign Minister and the Secretary of State discussed a number of issues, focusing on the Middle East, Afghanistan, Iran and North Africa.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja will visit Washington D.C. on 16–17 February. During the visit, Tuomioja will meet Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. In the discussions with his counterpart, Tuomioja intends to bring up, among other things, the situation in North Africa, the Middle East, Iran, Afghanistan, Russia, NATO Summit in Chicago, the global Arms Trade Treaty, cooperation on gender equality issues, and matters related to bilateral relations.

Exclusive interview: Einojuhani Rautavaara’s first opera, suppressed during the Cold War, now goes to the Grammies.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs launched Finland’s action plans for the United States and Canada that are in line with the Government’s Programme at the House of the Estates in a relaxed atmosphere on Wednesday, 7 December. The action plans were presented by Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja. This was followed by comments from American Ambassador Bruce Oreck and Canadian Ambassador Christopher Shapardanov.

More than a century ago, working-class Finnish immigrants brought their culture into two New York City neighbourhoods. We talk to a couple who lived in New York’s Finntown in the 1950s.