Foreign Minister Tuomioja to an Arctic Council event in Washington, D.C.

Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja will participate in the opening of the United States' chairmanship of the Arctic Council in Washington, D.C. on Thursday 21 May.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will host the launch of the US chairmanship. The member states' foreign ministers and representatives of indigenous peoples have been invited to the event.

The United States will chair the Arctic Council in 2015–2017. Finland will assume its two-year term as chair of the Arctic Council in 2017.

The Arctic Council is an intergovernmental cooperation forum between the Governments of the Nordic countries, Russia, Canada and the United States of America. Representatives of the indigenous peoples also take part in the Arctic Council's work.

Inquiries: Tarja Kantola, Special Adviser to the Minister, tel. +358 40 590 4119 and Aleksi Härkönen, Ambassador for Arctic Affairs, tel. +358 50 462 4471.