Foreign Ministry's press releases

November 25 is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, as designated by the United Nations (UN). Violence against women is also a significant problem in Finland, and solving this problem is everyone’s responsibility. The Government Palace and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs’ main building, Merikasarmi, will be illuminated in orange as part of the international campaign.

Finland’s Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio will visit Nepal on 25–28 November.

At its session on 1 December, the Government appointed a new Deputy Director General for the Department for Development Policy.

Pasi Rajala, State Secretary to Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen and Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen, will attend the Halifax International Security Forum in Canada on 22–24 November. On his way to Halifax, Rajala will visit Washington DC.

Finland will withdraw from the Barents Euro-Arctic Council after 2025. Finland will continue cooperation in the northern regions through other channels.

Finland’s Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio will attend a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in its trade configuration in Brussels on 21 November 2024. Items on the agenda for the Council include trade relations between the EU and the United States and the future of the EU's trade policy, especially trade negotiations. The ministers will also discuss the reform of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The Finnish Government Programme outlines that the readmission of nationals and support for the international rules-based order are conditions for Finland’s development cooperation. Readmissions cooperation with Somalia, which is one of Finland’s partner countries in bilateral development cooperation, has not progressed as planned. For this reason, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs will suspend the implementation of Finland’s country programme for bilateral development cooperation with Somalia.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio will visit Tallinn with a business delegation on 18 November.

On 13-15 November a group of 12 coastal countries from the Baltic Sea and the North Sea met in Helsinki and Tallinn to discuss further joint actions against the Russian “shadow fleet”.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio has decided to allocate funding for cooperation between the Finnish Environment Institute and the environmental authorities of Ukraine.