EU development ministers’ meeting to focus on supporting resilience in Ukraine and other partner countries

The informal meeting of the EU ministers for development will take place on 10–11 February 2025 in Warsaw, Poland. Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio will represent Finland at the meeting.

The ministers will discuss practices during the new Commission’s term of office and supporting the resilience of partner countries, including Ukraine and Syria. Finland supports Ukraine’s resilience especially in the education sector, rule of law and through civil defence cooperation. In December 2024, Finland published the second part of its national plan to support the reconstruction of Ukraine.

The meeting will also discuss the future of international development financing and scaling up Global Gateway activities. The EU’s Global Gateway initiative strengthens the EU’s partnerships with developing countries through infrastructure projects that also help the countries to achieve their development goals. Private sector engagement is essential.

“EU funding and loan guarantees should be more easily accessible to businesses participating in Global Gateway projects, and processes should be accelerated and clarified. A synergy between development financing and export financing is also important,” Minister Ville Tavio says.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Tavio will meet his EU counterparts and Commissioner for International Partnerships Jozef Síkela in connection with the meeting.