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4.4.2025 | Finland provides humanitarian assistance to Myanmar. The damage caused by the recent severe earthquake in Myanmar exacerbates the already challenging humanitarian situation.

23.4.2025 | Finland has sent material assistance to the regions affected by earthquake in Myanmar through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. The assistance consists of storage and hall tents and water purification tablets requested by the country.

4.4.2025 | Finland beviljar humanitärt bistånd till Myanmar. Skadorna efter den kraftiga jordbävningen som nyligen drabbade Myanmar försvårar ytterligare den humanitära situationen i landet.

23.4.2025 | Finland har lämnat materialbistånd till jordbävningsområdet i Myanmar genom EU:s civilskyddsmekanism. På begäran av Myanmar har vi sänt förvaringstält, tälthallar och vattenreningstabletter till landet.

13.10.2022 | The military coup in Myanmar last year shocked the people and stalled the country’s positive development. Despite the crisis, Pekka Shemeikka, Head of Mission at Finland’s Embassy to Myanmar, sees a lot of potential in the country and its 55 million inhabitants provided that a credible way out of the conflict is found.

17.3.2021 | Together with the European Union, Finland has firmly condemned the military coup in Myanmar against its civilian government and urged restoration of the civilian government. The military authorities are demanded respect for human rights, the rule of law, freedom of assembly, and freedom of expression, including peaceful protests. The armed forces’ violence against protesters is strongly condemnable.

31.3.2021 | Due to the military coup on 1 February 2021, the situation in Myanmar is now deeply disturbing. On 29 March 2021, Finland together with the other Nordic countries raised the alert level of its travel advice, urging travellers “to leave the country as soon as possible”.

13.10.2022 | Militärkuppen i Myanmar förra året skakade folket och fick landets positiva utveckling att stanna upp. Trots krisen ser Pekka Shemeikka, chef för Finlands beskickning i Myanmar, en stor potential i landet och dess 55 miljoner invånare, om man lyckas hitta en trovärdig utväg ur den militära konflikten.

17.3.2021 | Finland har tillsammans med EU kraftfullt fördömt militärkuppen i Myanmar och kräver en återgång till demokratiskt styre. Finland och EU kräver att militärregimen respekterar de mänskliga rättigheterna, rättsstatsprincipen, mötesfriheten och yttrandefriheten, bland annat fredliga protester. De väpnade styrkornas våld mot demonstranter är fullständigt oacceptabelt.

31.3.2021 | Situationen i Myanmar har utvecklats i mycket oroväckande riktning efter militärkuppen den 1 februari 2021. Finland har i samråd med de övriga nordiska länderna höjt risknivån i resemeddelandet om Myanmar till ”lämna landet omedelbart” från och med den 29 mars 2021.

23.2.2026 | At the start of the year, the humanitarian assistance decisions of Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs prioritise support for Ukraine, major refugee crises in Africa and the humanitarian situation in the Middle East. The humanitarian assistance Finland now grants totals EUR 72 million, and EUR 20 million of this assistance will go to Ukraine. Humanitarian needs are record high at the same time as global funding is declining.

28.11.2025 | The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is reforming its network of missions abroad. In the first stage of its strategic review, the Ministry strengthened Finland’s presence in the United States by establishing a Consulate General in Houston. In the next stage, the Ministry will open commercial offices in locations where Business Finland previously had an office. At the same time, the Ministry for Fore...

18.8.2025 | Finland’s decisions on humanitarian assistance this year have prioritised support to Ukraine, major refugee crises in Africa and the humanitarian situation in the Middle East. The number of people in need of assistance continues to grow. By the end of July, Finland had provided a total of approximately EUR 97.5 million in vital humanitarian assistance in 2025, nearly EUR 18 million of it to Ukraine.

2.4.2025 | The earthquake and its aftershocks in Myanmar on Friday 28 March have caused extensive damage. By decision of the Ministry of the Interior, Finland will send an expert to Bangkok through the EU's Civil Protection Mechanism to support the coordination of assistance to Myanmar. The Finnish expert will be posted to Myanmar for two weeks (2 to 15 April 2025).

22.7.2025 | Prime Minister Petteri Orpo gave a speech at the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in New York on Monday 21 July. Speech to be checked against delivery.

29.10.2025 | As part of the lecture series "Raffles lecture" at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in Singapore Minister Elina Valtonen delivered the following speech on 28th October 2025.

15.3.2024 | The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has decided to suspend the reception of wild-berry pickers’ visa applications in Thailand. The suspension applies to all applicants in countries within the consular district of the Embassy of Finland in Bangkok: Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar. This means that Schengen visas will not be issued to wild-berry pickers from these countries for the summer 2024 harvest season.

18.1.2024 | The budget reductions set out in the Government Programme will focus especially on region and country-specific development cooperation. The Country Programmes with Afghanistan, Kenya, Mozambique and Myanmar will be discontinued during the government term. Reductions will also be made in multilateral cooperation, humanitarian assistance and development policy loans and investments.

26.2.2024 | In accordance with established practice, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs invited civil society organisations (CSOs) to comment on Finland’s activities at the 55th session of the UN Human Rights Council on 12 February. Representatives of more than 40 CSOs participated in a discussion with Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen. The discussion focused on the rights of children and the safety...

22.12.2023 | Finland will provide EUR 17.3 million in humanitarian aid to Sudan, Ukraine, Burkina Faso and Lebanon through the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the International Committee of the Red Cross.