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29.6.2026 | Venezuela was hit by two devastating earthquakes on 24 June. Finland is assisting Venezuela by providing emergency shelter assistance through the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism.

21.5.2026 | The Act on Healthcare Professionals has been amended to make it possible to receive international assistance for healthcare in different kinds of crises. The amendments will facilitate and speed up the operations of humanitarian assistance providers in Finland when assistance is needed fast. The amendments will enter into force on 25 May 2026.

19.5.2026 | Opening speech by Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen at the LDC Future Forum in Helsinki on 19 May 2026.

26.4.2026 | On 26 April 2026, Minister of Climate and the Environment Sari Multala visited Ukraine to attend memorials commemorating the Chornobyl nuclear power plant accident 40 years ago and to participate in a high-level meeting on improving the plant safety. She also took part in a G7+ meeting in Kyiv to discuss support for Ukraine for the winter of 2026–2027 amid Russia’s continuing attacks on energy and civilian targets.

11.2.2026 | The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Finnish missions abroad provided consular services to approximately 245,000 customers in 2025. In addition, the Ministry’s 24/7 service was contacted around 6,700 times over the course of the year.

13.11.2025 | On 16 July, the European Commission put forward a proposal for a reform of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. The reform is one of the key measures to implement the EU Preparedness Union Strategy. The Government informed Parliament of the proposal by submitting a Union communication on 13 November.

20.11.2025 | The Government proposes amendments to the Act on Healthcare Professionals that will make it possible to receive international assistance for healthcare in different kinds of crisis situations. The aim is to facilitate and speed up the operations of humanitarian assistance providers in Finland when assistance is needed fast.

7.10.2025 | Finland will host the annual seminar of NATO’s Food and Agriculture Planning Group (FAPG) in Helsinki on 7–8 October 2025. The seminar is primarily aimed at the Finnish members of the FAPG, and its focus is on hybrid threats and critical infrastructure protection.

2.10.2025 | The tense security situation underscores the importance of preparedness, both in the Baltic Sea region and in the Euro-Arctic area. Meeting new threats requires joint exercises and well-functioning processes, as underlined at the Rescue Borealis 2025 international field exercise held in Oulu.

18.8.2025 | By decision of the Ministry of the Interior, Finland has sent a module for ground forest firefighting to Spain to help manage wildfires raging across the country. The module will be deployed in Spain for about a week.

21.3.2025 | Finnish Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio will attend a high-level forum in Oslo on 24–25 March. The forum is organised by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR). The event will discuss accelerating financing to reduce disaster risks and to improve global preparedness for risks.

26.5.2025 | On his visit to Finland on Tuesday 27 May, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher will meet with Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio.

4.4.2025 | Minister of Science and Culture Mari-Leena Talvitie will attend an informal meeting of EU ministers of culture in Warsaw on 7 and 8 April. The meeting will continue the discussion on the protection of cultural heritage, especially from the perspective of the situation in Ukraine.

26.2.2025 | Opening Remarks by OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland Elina Valtonen, Reinforced Permanent Council of the OSCE, 24 February 2025.

16.4.2025 | The official development assistance (ODA) declined in 2024 both in Finland and globally. Ukraine, which is heavily affected by Russia’s war of aggression, is the largest recipient of Finland’s ODA for the third consecutive year.

The amended programme document Interreg AURORA 2021-2027 VERSION 3.0 After reallocation of Interreg NEXT Kolarctic and Interreg NEXT Karelia 1 CCI 2021TC16RFCB027 Title (Interreg VI-A) Sweden-Finland-Norway (AURORA) Version 3.0 First year 2021 Las...

24.7.2024 | Finland will participate in a rescue service deployment by sending 48 experts in international civil protection to Portugal. These experts will be tasked with helping local authorities manage wildfires. The first of two groups will leave for Portugal at the beginning of August.

3.6.2024 | Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen met Austria's Federal Minister for the Interior in Vienna on Monday. The ministers discussed cooperation between the two countries in migration policy, ways to manage migration, and partnerships with third countries. Minister Rantanen will travel from Vienna to Brussels, where she will participate in the European Civil Protection Forum's high-level panel discussion on EU preparedness.

1.3.2024 | Czechia has requested assistance in preparing for wildfires through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. Finland responds to the request by sending a risk management expert to join the EU’s international team in the country. 

23.2.2024 | The world’s highest-level decision-making body for matters related to the environment, the United Nations Environment Assembly UNEA, will convene at its sixth session in Nairobi, Kenya on 26 February–1 March. UNEA-6 will bring UN Member States and representatives of civil society groups, the scientific community and the private sector together to seek solutions to acute environmental challenges. Finland’s UNEA delegation will be led by Minister of Climate and the Environment Kai Mykkänen.