NordenBladet — The informal meeting of the EU Foreign Ministers (Gymnich) will be held in Sofia on 15-16 February. Finland’s representative in the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini. The topics on the agenda are North Korea, security and defence, the Western Balkans and Syria.
In the talks about North Korea the focus will be on recent events and the EU policy on North Korea.
The ministers will also discuss the situation in Western Balkans on the basis of the Commission strategy concerning the Western Balkans. The discussion on Syria will take place in light of recent developments in the country and preparations relating to the envisaged EU Conference on Syria.
The tradition is that the Foreign Ministers of the EU candidate countries (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey) attend some of the sessions of the informal meeting. In Sofia they will participate in the talks about security and defence issues.
NordenBladet — The Ministry for Foreign Affairs appointed Helena Liikanen-Renger to serve as Press Officer at the Embassy of Finland in Washington, starting on 1 June 2018. The post will be a fixed-term appointment ending on 31 May 2021.
Helena Liikanen-Renger will transfer to the United States from France, where she is currently working as a freelancer journalist and writer. She gained experience of the media in the United States while she attended a Master’s programme in specialised journalism in California.
Helena Liikanen-Renger has worked as a journalist in both the printed and electronic media for twenty years. Her career includes working as a news editor and producer. She specialises in social media Liikanen-Renger holds a Master of Social Sciences degree and a Master’s degree in specialised journalism.
Her strengths include a long and diverse experience of communications as well as a fresh perspective to the content of her new tasks. The Press Officer is responsible for the embassy’s external communications, social media, and media relations. In addition, she will be in charge of the Finland programmes targeted to the US Congress and of the overall coordination of contacts with the Congress. The tasks will include country brand work and media arrangements related to visits at political level and visits by opinion-makers. The Press Officer is the embassy’s communications team leader.
NordenBladet — An International Conference of Iraq Reconstruction and Development will be held in Kuwait from 12 to 14 February. The World Bank, the UN and the EU have supported the making of reconstruction plans for Iraq which will be published at the conference. Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Anne-Mari Virolainen will attend the high-level segment of the conference on 14 February.
The wars have caused immense destruction in Iraq and, therefore, also the reconstruction needs are massive. Because of the war against ISIL and earlier conflicts, a large part of the country is in ruins. As a rich oil producing country Iraq is able to do a great deal with its own assets but it also needs external help. As a result of conflicts and the downturn trend in global oil prices, Iraq’s revenues from oil production are only a fraction of what they were before.
Iraq belongs to Europe’s neighbouring areas and its future development will therefore affect also Finland. It is important for Finland that Iraq’s internal situation and security stabilise and democracy will be established and developed further. In addition to reconstruction, Iraq will need help to improve its humanitarian situation, stabilise the areas recaptured from ISIL as soon as possible and carry out mine clearing, among other things.
The conference in Kuwait will place special focus on the ratio of private sector investments in reconstruction. The Finnish Delegation to the conference will consist of, for example, Finnfund and a number of companies. Iraq is a long-standing and traditional business partner for Finland, and the reconstruction process will open significant business opportunities for Finnish companies.
Since 2014, Finland has used close to EUR 18 million from development cooperation appropriations to support Iraq. The support has been allocated for humanitarian aid, stabilisation of the areas recaptured from ISIL and humanitarian mine action.
NordenBladet – Tourest is the oldest and largest travel trade fair in the Baltic countries that has been organized by the Estonian Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (ETFL) since 1991. It covers all the main travel segments, offering efficient platform to meet face to face the travel-hungry consumers and the majority of the market’s travel trade professionals who make the purchase decisions. It’s the optimum environment to present your products at the start of the season.
Tourest 2018, organized already for the 27th time, nearly 30 000 visitors wil be expected, who will have a great possibility to familiarize with the over 500 exhibitors from ca 30 countries.
Estonia is a growing market. 26 years of independence have not come close to satisfying the ever-growing motivation for travel and the need for exciting new destinations. In 2016 the number of visits to different countries abroad exceeded the population 3 times.
Nearly 8000 m2 of exhibition area of the Estonian Fairs exhibition centre, located on a pictureresque shore of the Gulf of Finland, is divided into three exhibition halls.
“The Main Hall” accommodates Estonian and international tour operators, travel agencies, transportation and insurance companies, educational institutions, hotels, leisure companies, etc. A special “Global Village” area has been reserved for different international destinations.
“Travellers’ Club” seminar area offers an inspirational programme of different travel destinations. It will definitely be one of the highlights at Tourest 2018 as well as a chance to enhance visibility as a destination.
“Travel ABC” is another seminar area in the Main Hall, where interesting topics connected to travelling will be discussed.
The hall “Visit Estonia!” lines up Estonian national tourism regions and attractions.
In the hall “Taste Estonia!” one finds a large selection of Estonian authentic food and cafeterias offered by Estonian Culinary Route. You could treat yourself during the long days of exhibiton and buy presents for those back at home. On top of that a colourful programme could be enjoyed on the main stage, with games and auctions. There will be a special area and acitivites for kids, organized by the Põlvamaa county.
TOUREST IS OPEN:
Friday, Feb 9 12:00-18:00
Saturday, Feb 10 10:00-18:00
Sunday, Feb 11 10:00-15:00
NordenBladet – Taxpayers in Denmark who earn over 600,000 kroner (81,000 euros) annually will benefit most from three major agreements made between the government and conservative allies in recent months, according to an analysis.
The conclusion is based on calculations by thinktanks Cepos, reports financial newspaper Børsen. Since November, the coalition government has reached agreement with parliamentary ally the Danish People’s Party for a business stimulus package, new budget and, most recently, tax reforms. The three deals provide tax cuts totalling around eight billion kroner (1.1 billion euros). According to Cepos’ calculations, a company director who earns 1.2 million kroner (160,000 euros) annually will benefit most from the three economic packages in terms of raw savings. The hypothetical director would save 10,625 kroner annually, while an employee with an annual wage of 600,000 kroner (80,000 euros) could see tax savings of 9,550 kroner.
Lower earners will also save, but to smaller extents, according to the analysis conducted by Cepos.
NordenBladet — Drottningholm Palace will host activities for all the family, including fun and educational image hunts for children and adults alike. The image hunts will take place during regular opening hours.
Go on a journey of discovery through the rooms of the palace! Borrow a map with pictures of details from the palace’s interiors, then find out where they are located in the palace and what the images show.
Choose between the Lion Safari to hunt for a lion, Flora to find plants and flowers, Fauna to track down animals or the Gold Hunt to find gold! Suitable for children aged 4–12, but just as much fun for the whole family. All children who take part will win a reward at the end!
All the image hunts are available at the entry to the palace, and can be carried out during opening hours.
NordenBladet — Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen adopted a decision of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs to grant EUR 206.8 million to Finnish civil society organisations (CSOs) for development cooperation programmes to be carried out in 2018–2021.The funding is directed to 22 programmes. The five biggest recipients are Finn Church Aid, the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission, Fida International, Plan Finland, and the Finnish Red Cross.
All the 22 organisations have received funding from the Foreign Ministry also before. Half of them were granted more funding than previously, six of them were granted the same amount of funding than in 2017, and funding for five organisations is now smaller than it was in 2017.
“The amount of development cooperation appropriations will remain at the same level as in 2017. The aim is to channel the funding to work that is as comprehensive and effective as possible. Organisations that reached the best results in the overall assessment of performance will now receive more funding than earlier,” Minister Kai Mykkänen says.
The programmes of the CSOs focus on East Africa, South and Southeast Asia and the Middle East. In Africa, the organisations’ biggest partner countries are Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Tanzania and South Sudan, where they often work among the poorest people and communities in order to increase people’s opportunities for employment and livelihoods and for education and health care services. This aims to reduce inequality in societies.
In many programmes, the beneficiaries are refugees and their host communities. On the other hand, the work addresses the root causes of migration, such as poverty, lack of prospects, and challenges related to disaster resilience. The recipients include organisations that have expertise in conflict resolution and promotion of democracy. The programmes also enhance sustainable management of natural resources. Climate change is taken into account in all activities.
Programmes are implemented in cooperation with local partners in order to strengthen civil society actors’ capacity to promote human rights. Additionally, public sector actors are supported in their task as duty bearers in the implementation of human rights and the provision of public services. The organisations work mainly in challenging environments. In many countries, the space for civil society has been shrinking, making it difficult for CSOs to operate.
Programme-based support is the main form of funding granted by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs for the development cooperation activities of CSOs. This is the first time that all the 22 organisations applied for discretionary government transfer simultaneously and for four years at a time. The Ministry aims to organise an open call for proposals for programme-based support in 2021. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs also grants discretionary government transfers for individual projects carried out by small and medium-sized organisations.
NordenBladet — The Swedish Ambassador Mr. Anders Ljunggren had the pleasure of hosting a Total Defence Seminar on February 6 th in Tallinn. Participants from different governmental and parliamentarian offices in both Sweden and Estonia had the opportunity to meet and exchange views on topics regarding Total Defence.
The Chairman of the Swedish Defence Commission, Mr. Björn von Sydow, was one of the keynote speakers. The Estonian Minister of Defence, Mr. Jüri Luik, was also one of the distinguished guests during the event.
The seminar consisted of presentations and interesting discussions regarding the development of Total Defence concepts in each country. The ambassador Mr. Anders Ljunggren and the Embassy of Sweden would like to thank all participants for their significant contributions during the seminar and look forward to continued cooperation between Sweden and Estonia.
The event was moderated by the Swedish Defence Attaché, Lieutenant Colonel Mathias Järvare.
NordenBladet — As a part of its 100th anniversary, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs will present its activities in various public events to be organised in different parts of the country. On 13 February, a public event will be organised in Pori.
The topics of the event will be the Baltic Sea and the Foreign Ministry’s consular services. Ambassadors Erja Tikka and Petri Salo and Counsellor Virpi Kankare will speak at the event. The event will be held on Tuesday, 13 February, at 12.00 noon in the University Consortium of Pori on Pohjoisranta 11 A.
NordenBladet — The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has granted EUR 4,295,000 to international non-governmental organisations for 2018–2020. Non-governmental organisations are partners engaged in international dialogue and exercise of influence, complementing the range of Finland’s foreign and developmet policy instruments taking into account the objectives of the Government Report on Development Policy and the Human Rights Strategy of the Foreign Service of Finland.
The thematic focus areas are prevention of discrimination and promotion of women’s and girls’ right to health. The funding covers the implementation of 3 projects.
For the prevention of discrimination, support was granted to two projects, one that advances the rights of persons with disabilities and another that addresses the rights of sexual minorities:
International Disability Alliance, Ensuring the realization of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (EUR 1,500,000)
International Lesbian Gay Association, Empowering LGBTI Human Rights Defenders in Global South to Advocate Effectively at the UN and National Levels Against Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Gender Expression, and Sex Characteristics (EUR 1,500,000)
For the promotion of women’s and girls’ right to health, support was granted to one project:
World Young Women’s Christian Association, Promoting the Realization of the Right to Health for Young Women and Girls (EUR 1,295,000)
The Foreign Ministry’s support is strategically targeted to expert organisations with a broad regional and global organisational basis and impact. The organisations share their expertise and conduct advocacy work on international forums. They also significantly contribute to the promotion of human rights and equality in Finland’s partner countries at grassroots level.
