Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will visit the United States from 7 to 9 December.

The Finnish Government submitted a proposal on Finland’s accession to NATO to Parliament on 5 December. The consultation on the draft proposal generated about 1,600 responses. The Government reviewed the proposal based on the responses and supplemented the rationale with specifications concerning cooperation between the Government and the President of the Republic, Parliament’s role in the handling of NATO matters and in making decisions on them, and the status of Åland Islands under international law.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto visited Kyiv, Ukraine, on 28 November together with Nordic and Baltic foreign ministers. In Kyiv, the foreign ministers met the President and the Foreign Minister of Ukraine, among others, and reaffirmed their countries’ firm support to Ukraine.