NordenBladet — At its public sitting today, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) discussed the latest developments in Belarus with leader of the Belarusian opposition Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, and asserted Estonia’s continuing solidarity with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s mission and the people of Belarus.
Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Enn Eesmaa emphasised that Estonia had actively supported the democratic changes in Belarus, and had kept the situation in Belarus in the focus of several international organisations. “We observe with constant attention the events in Belarus and support the people there in their fight for free and democratic future. Their activities and their welfare are very close to our heart,” he said.
Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Marko Mihkelson recalled the Statement in Support of Democracy and Civil Society in Belarus adopted by the Riigikogu, and assured that the attention towards the events in Belarus would not cease. He wanted to know how the international community could contribute to putting pressure on the regime and reaching new, free and democratic elections in Belarus.
Tsikhanouskaya gave the Foreign Affairs Committee an overview of the recent developments in Belarus and the ways how the international community could support the civil society in Belarus. She underlined the need for imposing targeted sanctions and stressed the importance of solidarity and justice.
Tsikhanouskaya thanked Estonia for its support, and emphasised that the people of Belarus would not get tired from fighting for democratic and free society. She also encouraged the people of Estonia to support those who had been arrested and repressed in Belarus by sending them support postcards.
The meeting was also attended by members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu Imre Sooäär, Indrek Saar, Mihhail Lotman, Raivo Tamm and Ruuben Kaalep.
NordenBladet — On 22 December, the Government decided to tighten the restrictions on entry into Finland. The new restrictions will enter into force on 27 January and will remain in force until 25 February. The new restrictions aim to reduce cross-border traffic in order to prevent the spread of the new COVID-19 variants. The epidemiological situation in Finland differs considerably from that in other Schengen countries. For this reason, the risk that travellers might spread the virus variants is significant in Finland.
New restrictions on commuting across internal bordersInternal border traffic refers to traffic between Finland and other Schengen countries. As of 27 January, Finland will restrict entry from all Schengen countries.The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment maintains a list of the work that is considered important for the functioning of society or for security of supply. However, any critical task included in the list does not automatically mean that entry into the country is warranted. Employers must use a separate form to justify why the job of a worker seeking entry into Finland is essential and why the work must be performed without delay. The worker seeking to enter Finland presents this form in the border check in addition to other documents required for crossing the border.
Entry into the country permitted for essential reasons
Entry is still permitted for healthcare and rescue service personnel (including emergency medical care) and for professionals who take care of the elderly in their duties; freight transport and logistics personnel in their duties, as well as for authorities in essential duties, diplomats, staff of international organisations, military personnel and personnel of aid organisations in their duties, as well as for representatives of states participating in international negotiations, and for persons participating in the work of international organisations.
Belonging to a border community is no longer a valid reason for entry
The previous decision will also be amended so that belonging to a border community at Finland’s land border with Sweden or Norway is no longer a valid reason for entry. In practice, this applies only to non-Finnish citizens. Finnish citizens and those living in Finland can continue to cross the border under the Constitution. Restrictions on external border traffic to remain in forceExternal border traffic refers to traffic between Finland and non-Schengen third countries. The validity of the decision made on 7 January will be extended until 25 February. The decision will be amended as of 27 January so that restrictions on external border traffic will be lifted for traffic arriving in Finland from South Korea for residents of South Korea.
Government still recommends avoiding unnecessary travel abroad
Under the Constitution of Finland, Finnish citizens and residents of Finland always have the right to return to Finland, and everyone has the right to leave Finland if they so wish, provided that there is no legal impediment to this. However, the Government still recommends avoiding unnecessary travel to other countries, except for countries for which the restrictions on entry have been lifted. Travellers must be aware of the current entry and quarantine regulations of their country of destination.
Travellers should check quarantine and testing recommendations before travel Travellers arriving in Finland must take into account Finland’s quarantine and testing recommendations. The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare will provide guidance on these health security measures. Information is also available on the FINENTRY service.
Finnish Border Guard gives advice on cross-border trafficThe Finnish Border Guard gives people advice on cross-border traffic by phone and email. The service will be available in Finnish, Swedish and English between 8.00 and 16.00 at +358 295 420 100. The service will also be available over the weekend of 23–24 January 2021 at 8.00–16.00.
NordenBladet —The world’s largest and oldest international agriculture and food fair International Green Week in Berlin has been exceptional in several aspects. For the first time, the 95th Green Week fair was held virtually.
The Global Forum for Food and Agriculture and its high-level meeting of agriculture ministers held in parallel to the fair were also virtual. The meeting hosted representatives from nearly 100 countries. This makes it the largest meeting of ministers in its history by number of participating countries.
The main topic for this year’s forum was “How to feed the world in times of pandemics and climate change?”
„The topics discussed in the meeting are extremely important, as the world cannot allow for this health crisis to turn into a food crisis. Countries must act together, just as they’ve done in tackling the pandemic,” Minister of Rural Affairs Arvo Aller stated.
The key issues of the meeting were the continuation of international food trade consistent with WTO rules; strengthening cooperation across the health, agricultural, veterinary and environmental sectors; mitigating climate change; reducing food loss; and the implementation of new technologies and innovation in agriculture.
“The world is in a situation, where hunger is an increasing problem. An estimated two billion people do not have regular access to adequate food, while three billion people cannot afford even the cheapest healthy diet. At the same time, obesity and diet-related illnesses are also increasing. These are the biggest challenges we are facing and require a broad-based societal commitment to solve in light of the pandemic and climate change.”, Minister Aller noted.
The results of the GFFA will be integrated into the current United Nations discussions on food systems and, in particular, into the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit to be held in September.
NordenBladet — The EU Foreign Affairs Council will hold its first meeting of the year in Brussels on Monday 25 January. Finland will be represented by Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto. Climate and energy diplomacy of the EU and discussions with the Foreign Minister of Japan will be the main topics of the meeting. At lunch, the ministers will discuss cooperation between the EU and the United Kingdom in foreign and security policy. The arrest of the Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny will also be raised.
EU foreign ministers want to send an encouraging message to countries outside the Union before the COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in November. The EU wants to speed up the establishment of international partnerships to enable global green transition. Finland emphasises the international link between climate change and biodiversity loss and expects the EU to give adequate consideration to the Arctic region in its policies. The ministers will also assess the geopolitical impacts of climate change.
The foreign ministers of Japan and the EU will discuss developments in the Indo-Pacific area, which extends from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific, and regional security issues. Japan is an important partner to the EU. The Union recently concluded a free trade agreement with this Asian country, and there has also been cooperation in other fields. Finland is of the view that the EU should strengthen dialogue with Japan and work to ensure better implementation of the agreements between the two parties.
Over a working lunch, the EU foreign ministers will have an informal discussion on the future relationship with the United Kingdom in foreign, security and defence policy, and cooperation between the two parties in this area. Both Finland and the European External Action Service are of the view that close cooperation between the EU and the United Kingdom in foreign, security and defence policy should continue.
The foreign ministers will also discuss a range of topical issues such as the arrest of the Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny after his return to Moscow. Other topical issues on the ministers’ agenda will include the relations between the EU and the new US administration, state of the Iran nuclear agreement JCPOA, situation in the Horn of Africa, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, wider security in the Persian Gulf region, Hong Kong, Venezuela and availability of coronavirus vaccines outside the EU. Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi
NordenBladet – From the Swedish monarch’s lockdown residence Stenhammar Palace just outside Stockholm, King Carl XVI Gustaf attended a digital event entitled The Forest Day on Wednesday. The King of Sweden has a deep commitment to issues concerning nature, the environment and forests. His Majesty participated in the conference and opened the digital event with a speech.
In his speech, the King said: “I am sitting here on Stenhammar and looking out over the Sörmland forest, and thinking about how important the forest is to our country. The fact is that it is the income from those who have built up Sweden’s prosperity. And still does, with an annual export worth 150 billion Swedish crowns. At the same time, growing forests play a key role in slowing down and counteracting global climate change. Here in Sweden alone, it binds over 140 million tonnes of carbon every year.”
The conference was arranged for the seventh year in a row, this time completely digitally. The purpose of the conference is to strengthen the knowledge about Sweden’s forest and focus on the work that is done with the forests. Following the speech of the King, politician, academics and experts spoke and discussed, among other things, the role of the forest in a sustainable society.
In advance of the conference, King Carl Gustaf had a private visit to the forest near Stenhammar Palace – a residence recently attacked by an infestation of bark beetles. Here, and in many other similar areas in Sweden, work is now underway to get eliminate the bark beetles and rebuild the forest – job that will take a long time.
The forests in Sweden consists of about 75% cultural forest and just under 25% natural forest. In the south, deciduous forest is relatively more common, while central and northern Sweden are completely dominated by coniferous forest consisting of spruce and pine stands.
In Sweden, planned forestry has been conducted since the turn of the century in 1900, with the aim of supplying the forest industry with high-quality raw materials, while at the same time not jeopardising the long-term regrowth.
NordenBladet — The Ministry for Foreign Affairs urges to avoid all travel to the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa in accordance with the recommendation of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. For all other countries, the Foreign Ministry’s general travel advice due to the COVID-19 pandemic is to avoid all but essential travel.
The coronavirus pandemic remains a major global risk to travel safety, and the situation may deteriorate abruptly and unpredictably in any country or region. Travellers may face limited access to healthcare, quarantine and restrictions on being outdoors. The Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs has only limited capabilities to assist travellers in distress during the pandemic.In its meeting on Wednesday 13 January, the Government discussed measures to prevent the spread of the new COVID-19 variants and the renewed acceleration of the epidemic. According to the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), the new virus variants may be more infectious and spread faster than other variants.
NordenBladet — Finland must pay stronger and more consistent attention to biodiversity in its development policy and international advocacy work. In addition, developing countries should be supported in their efforts to implement biodiversity agreements. The view is expressed by the Development Policy Committee’s expert group, whose analysis on safeguarding biodiversity was published on Friday 22 January.
According to the group of experts representing the member organisations of the Development Policy Committee, it is important that biodiversity and the protection of the environment go hand in hand with the fight against climate change in all Finnish activities. The importance of biodiversity is not yet sufficiently reflected in policy guidelines concerning development cooperation, and especially not in practice. The group of experts considers it important that biodiversity be included in the next government report on development policy, which sets out principles to be applied across government terms. Biodiversity should be approached both as a cross-cutting objective and as a key theme under the fourth priority (climate change and natural resources) of Finland’s development policy. This is to safeguard the protection of biodiversity in all development cooperation.
Only a fraction of development finance is targeted at biodiversity
NordenBladet — The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu is meeting the Belarus opposition representative Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya at a public sitting today to discuss the most recent developments in Belarus.
The Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Enn Eesmaa says that the situation in Belarus must be constantly monitored by the international community. “We continue to support the people of Belarus on this crucial fork in the road and in their fight for a democratic future. The sitting today will provide us with a direct and up-to-date overview of the latest developments, and express the continuous solidarity of the Estonian nation with the people of Belarus,” he said.
The public sitting starts at 2 p.m. and is streamed online with simultaneous Estonian interpretation.
NordenBladet — At a video conference today, the new Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives Gregory Meeks and the Chairmen of the Foreign Affairs Committees of the Parliaments of the Baltic States discussed opportunities for future cooperation and emphasised the importance of protecting democracy in the world.
Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Enn Eesmaa underlined that Estonia highly appreciated the consistent support the United States had shown for decades, and their policy in ensuring the security of the Baltic States. He expressed thanks to the US Congress for adopting the budget package for the security of the Baltic region and asserted that Estonia took its security cooperation commitments very seriously. “The United States are a key ally for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. We hope to have close ties and cooperation with our colleagues on the other side of the Atlantic also in the future,” he said.
The Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee assured that the Baltic States were an important partner for the United States. Meeks said that he had been following the politics and achievements of the Baltic States, and he considered them remarkable. The relations between the European Union and the USA, NATO’s partner relations and cyber security were also discussed at the meeting.
Eesmaa pointed out that Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania had been actively supporting the democratic changes in Belarus, Ukraine and Georgia. “The Eastern partners need our common support. The welfare of these countries is particularly close to our heart and of critical importance to European security,” the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu said.
Eesmaa also proposed his colleagues to initiate a US-Baltic parliamentary supervision programme in support of democracy and civil society in Belarus, Ukraine and Georgia. The programme would include parliamentary hearings and meetings, with the aim of supporting the strengthening of democratic societies. The Chairs of Foreign Affairs Committees agreed that protection of democracy and human rights was an important cooperation opportunity for the Baltics and the United States.
NordenBladet — The Ministry of Transport and Communications requests comments on the draft National Transport System Plan for 2021-2032 and its impact assessment. The deadline for submitting comments is 23 February 2021.The National Transport System Plan aims to add a longer-term perspective to the development of the transport system across Finland. The Plan will be approved for 12 years at a time.
The preparation of the Plan is based on the Act on the Transport System and Highways. An environmental assessment required by law has been carried out of the Plan.
Plan covers the whole of Finland
The Plan will cover all transport modes, passenger and goods transport, transport networks, services and support measures for the transport system.
The following has been included in the Plan:-a vision of the transport system development until 2050-an assessment of the current state of the transport system and of the changes in the operating environment-goals of the Plan and the strategic guidelines specifying them-an action plan for achieving the objectives-a government funding programme.
The Plan has been prepared at parliamentary level and in close interaction with stakeholders since June 2019.
Strategic situation picture of the transport network
The Transport and Communications Agency Traficom and the Transport Infrastructure Agency have together updated the strategic picture of the situation with regard to transport network. It will be published on 21 January 2021. The situation picture reviews the need to develop the transport network, including the state infrastructure network. The review will be used in the implementation of the National Transport System Plan. In the future, the situation picture will be updated twice a year.
Next steps
The draft National Transport System Plan for 2021-2032 and its impact assessment will be available for comments until 23 February 2021.Comments can be presented by all organisations and citizens at www.lausuntopalvelu.fi. The feedback received will be considered in finalising the Transport System Plan before any decisions are made. The comments will also be taken into account in the impact assessment.
The Government is due to submit the National Transport System Plan for 2021-2032 in the form of a report to Parliament in spring 2021. After the discussion in Parliament, the decision on the Plan will be made by the Government.
