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24.3.2022 | Government proposes amendments to the Rescue Act to ensure that it meets the requirements of the EU’s Basic Safety Standards Directive. The legislative amendments would expand site owners’ responsibilities for damping down, clearing and security at the site under the Rescue Act.

31.12.2023 | Fellow citizens, The coming year will bring plenty of opportunities, but also uncertainties. We have to hope for the best, though it is also wise to prepare for more difficult times.

5.6.2025 | The conditions for obtaining a permanent residence permit will be tightened. For example, the continuous period of residence required for the permit will be extended. Applicants will also be required to demonstrate proficiency in Finnish or Swedish and have a work history of a certain length. The Government submitted to Parliament the relevant proposal for amending the Aliens Act on 5 June.

20.9.2023 | Defence budget for 2024 invests in strengthening defence capability, membership in NATO and supporting Ukraine Ministry of Defence Publication date 20.9.2023 9.30 Type: Press release The 2024 draft budget for the Ministry of Defence’s administrati...

3.10.2024 | The Government proposes that the provisions of the Aliens Act on detention be tightened and the provisions on entry bans be reformed. In addition, the Act would provide for the possibility of withdrawing a residence permit from an alien staying outside Finland and imposing an entry ban for security reasons. The Government submitted a proposal on the amendments to Parliament on 3 October.

16.1.2025 | The Government has issued a decree bringing into force the agreement on police cooperation in the border area between Finland and Sweden. The agreement will enter into force on 1 February 2025.

7.7.2021 | Night-time and local speed limits for electric scooters will enter info force in Helsinki as all three electric scooter operators agreed on ways to promote traffic safety in their meeting with Minister of Transport and Communications Timo Harakka on Wednesday 7 July 2021. 

22.8.2022 | "In times of crisis, decision-making capacity is weighed up. Through good cooperation between various actors, Finland has made the necessary foreign and security policy decisions. In the middle of difficult times, we have made rapid but deliberate progress."

5.12.2022 | Finland’s additional support will help the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) provide mobile health services, safe births and family planning for women who have been forced from their homes by the drought and food crisis in Somalia.

7.7.2021 | Night-time and local speed limits for electric scooters will enter info force in Helsinki as all three electric scooter operators agreed on ways to promote traffic safety in their meeting with Minister of Transport and Communications Timo Harakka on Wednesday 7 July 2021. 

21.12.2022 | Finland supports UN agencies in their work to promote stability and human rights. Authoritarian states, conflicts, the food and climate crises and the COVID-19 pandemic are increasing inequality and weakening security and wellbeing worldwide.

23.8.2021 | Distinguished Ambassadors, Ladies and Gentlemen, This year has shown very clearly the importance of foreign policy and the work of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. I do not mean just the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan and the tasks related to it, but all the events of the past few months: the global response to the coronavirus crisis, international efforts to halt climate change, work to promote ...

3.2.2025 | Finland’s Ministry of the Interior has sent out for comments a proposal for amending the regulation on biometric data stored in the registers of the police and the Finnish Immigration Service. An objective of the Government Programme is to strengthen crime prevention and improve the conditions for using biometrics in law enforcement and crime prevention. The Ministry proposes that biometric data co...

29.9.2023 | Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen's speech at the Helsinki Security Forum 29.9.2023 Publication date 29.9.2023 12.00 Type: Speech Distinguished ministerial colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, The global security situation has changed. Tensions are ...

7.4.2022 | In such humanitarian crises as the one in Ukraine, many actors are involved. How is work divided, where are relief items purchased, and how can private individuals help? Moreover, are available humanitarian resources sufficient to meet the needs of those affected by crises? Riikka Mikkola, Senior Adviser for Humanitarian Assistance at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, answers these questions.

16.5.2024 | The agreement on police cooperation in the border area between Finland and Sweden will further improve the maintenance of security in the northern border area. The President of the Republic is to approve the agreement and the relevant bills on Friday.

8.3.2021 | Prime Minister speech in Parliament on decrees on use of powers under Emergency Powers Act on 8 March 2021. Changes possible during the speech.

3.2.2022 | The global economic system has entered a new era of geoeconomic rivarly. Particularly the United States and China are using economic instruments to advance strategic agendas, which poses a difficult challenge to the European Union.

25.3.2021 | The Government has submitted a proposal that would place temporary restrictions on freedom of movement and close contacts and introduce a mask mandate in the areas worst affected by COVID-19. The main objective is to reduce the number of encounters and close contacts between people in areas where COVID-19 is spreading rapidly and uncontrollably. The goal is to protect people from the dangerous communicable disease and to safeguard the capacity of the healthcare system.

25.3.2021 | The Government has submitted a proposal that would place temporary restrictions on freedom of movement and close contacts and introduce a mask mandate in the areas worst affected by COVID-19. The main objective is to reduce the number of encounters and close contacts between people in areas where COVID-19 is spreading rapidly and uncontrollably. The goal is to protect people from the dangerous communicable disease and to safeguard the capacity of the healthcare system.