NordenBladet — Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen will visit Washington DC from 1 to 2 February. Minister Mykkänen will have meetings with Secretary of Commerce Wilbur L. Ross and other representatives of the administration. The aims of the visit are to strengthen the countries’ bilateral commercial and economic relations and to hold discussions on the transatlantic trade agenda and topical development questions.
“The United States is an important trading partner for Finland and Europe, and it has also traditionally been our partner in the development of the multilateral trading system. I look forward to meeting with Secretary Ross and other representatives of the US administration to discuss their current administration’s views on trade,” Minister Mykkänen says.
Forging closer relations with the United States is among the Finnish Government’s foreign and security policy priorities.
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. The first public events will be held in Kouvola on 31 January and in Kotka on 1 February.
The topics of these events will be Russia, Estonia, the Baltic Sea, and the Foreign Ministry’s consular services. Ambassadors Erja Tikka and Petri Salo, Counsellor Johanna Lukkarila, First Secretary Maria Forslund and Counsellor Tito Gronow will be present and speak at the events. In Kouvola, the event will start on 31 January at 17.00 in Kino Kouvola, Keskikatu 10; in Kotka, the event will start on 1 February at 17.00 in restaurant Vausti, meeting room, Keskuskatu 33.
NordenBladet — The inauguration of the President of the Republic of Finland will take place on Thursday 1 February 2018. At 12 noon, President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö will arrive for a plenary session of Parliament. There he will take the oath of office, the solemn affirmation referred to in section 56 of the Constitution. Following this, Speaker of Parliament Maria Lohela will convey Parliament’s greetings to the President. President Niinistö will then respond with a speech addressed to Parliament.
At about 12.30, the President will depart to inspect the guard of honour at the front of the Parliament Building. Members of the public may follow the inspection of the guard of honour from Mannerheimintie.
After this, the President will transfer to the Presidential Palace, where he will greet the public from the Palace balcony at about 12.40. The public may follow the presidential greeting from the Market Square.
In the Presidential Palace, the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps will greet the President, who will then respond. Before transferring to the Hall of State, the President will shake hands with the members of the diplomatic corps in the Hall of Mirrors.
In the Hall of State, the Prime Minister will address the President, and the President, in turn, will give a speech. Finally, still in the Hall of State, the President will shake hands with members of the Government, representatives of the highest state bodies and the most senior public officials. The event will end by about 14.30.
A book of congratulations will be available for the public to sign on Thursday 1 February from 10.00 to 16.00 in the entrance hall of the Main Guard Post building, at Mariankatu 1, and on Friday 2 February from 10.00 to 16.00 in the foyer of the Presidential Palace, at Mariankatu 2.
The inauguration of the President of the Republic will be broadcast live on TV1 and Yle Areena, and commentary will also be available in Swedish. The inaugural ceremonies will be broadcast live on Radio Suomi as well.
NordenBladet — Based on preliminary data, 52,615 persons cast their votes in Finland’s missions abroad in advance in the first round of the presidential election. This is the highest ever voter turnout abroad.
The number of votes exceeded that of the presidential election of 2012, when 47,524 persons cast their votes in the first round. According to the Population Register Centre, over 250,000 persons with a permanent residence abroad are eligible to vote in the presidential election of Finland.
Advance voting was arranged in 89 countries with 242 polling stations in all. In addition, some Finnish vessels’ crew member had an opportunity to vote in advance on board and over 200 crew members used their right to vote. Advance voting was also arranged at the bases of the Finnish crisis management forces in Iraq and Lebanon.
Advance voting was the most active in Sweden, where a total of 12,236 votes were cast in 35 polling stations. The second highest voter turnout was recorded in Spain, where 10,351 persons cast their votes. The United States with 3,558 advance voters came in third place. Over three thousand votes were cast in both Germany and the United Kingdom.
NordenBladet — The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland together with the Abilis Foundation will co-host the Global Action on Disability (GLAD) Network meeting in Helsinki, Finland, from 31 January to 2 February 2018. More than 90 important international partners and donors engaged in development cooperation and humanitarian aid will gather in Helsinki.
“Finland wants to highlight the rights and the needs of persons with disabilities in the context of humanitarian crises. There has been a dramatic growth in the need for humanitarian assistance in the recent years.
Persons with disabilities are disproportionately impacted by disaster and conflict. They face particular barriers in accessing life-saving assistance and are often exposed to targeted violence and exploitation”, says Kai Mykkänen, Minister of Foreign Trade and Development, who will open the meeting.
This is the second meeting of the international GLAD Network of donors. Its membership consists of states, representatives of the private sector, foundations, UN agencies and civil society organisations that are committed to promoting the position of persons with disabilities in connection with development cooperation and humanitarian action. The following organisations will be represented in Helsinki: European Commission, UNDP, UNICEF, UN WOMEN, WHO, World Bank, International Committee of the Red Cross and World Federation of the Deaf. Also the Australian Minister for International Development Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, who co-chairs the meeting, will be present.
The network aims to promote the rights of persons with disabilities and the implementation of the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), to reduce inequality, and to ensure that the rights of persons with disabilities are a central part of global sustainable development goals (SDGs). The Helsinki meeting will focus on education, humanitarian action and social security.
For the past three decades, Finland has pioneered in international work aiming to improve the position of persons with disabilities through development cooperation and humanitarian assistance. Finland supports not only the GLAD Network but also other international actors, such and the UN Partnership to Promote the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD). Finland is the biggest single contributor to this partnership.
NordenBladet — The Educa Expo for the training and education sector in Finland will be held in the Messukeskus Expo and Convention Centre in Helsinki on Friday and Saturday, 26-27 January 2018. At its stand 6n50, the Ministry’s Europe Information and Unit for Development Communications will provide information on topical matters, and discussions will be arranged focusing on the EU, Finland’s development cooperation, and Arctic questions.
Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen will be available for interviews at the Foreign Ministry’s stand on Saturday from 14.00 to 14.20. The themes of discussion will include topical EU matters, the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and climate change in developing countries and in the Arctic.
The programme provided by Europe Information includes interesting visitors on both days. On Friday at 14.15 at Luokkahuone stage, adventure runner Jukka Viljanen will tell about his preparation for running across Greenland in the spring of 2019, an event coinciding with the culmination of Finland’s Arctic Chairmanship.
A number of other experts in EU matters will visit the stand to discuss topical questions, such as Brexit and Finland’s EU policy. The whole programme can be found on Europe Information’s website.
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs will put on display plenty of publications that are useful for education purposes. The new map of Europe 2018 and the Member States of the European Union 2018 bookmark will be available at the expo. For teachers, the Development Communications Unit offers information about developments in the world and about the UN’s SDGs. The new content on the World 2030 website, “Climate change and development”, and the 100 achievements of Finland’s development cooperation will also be exhibited. Publications produced by Europe Information and Development Communications can be ordered from the Ministry’s website.
NordenBladet — Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini will continue his school visits, which focus on the prevention of violent radicalisation, by touring in the counties, too. On 29 January, Soini will travel to Nurmes and Siilinjärvi; he will visit the upper secondary school in Nurmes and the Ahmo comprehensive school and the municipal upper secondary school in Siilinjärvi, near Kuopio.
“Radicalisation that leads to violence does not take place on the spur of the moment, but means a series of events in which it is possible intervene. I want to encourage young people to be active and step in. It is also interesting to hear what young people think and what they want to ask about the matter,” Soini says.
The school visits’ aim is to enhance young people’s knowledge and awareness of how we can prevent violent radicalisation through foreign and security policy.
“I want to remind upper secondary school students about the importance of Finland’s foreign and security policy in the fight against violent radicalisation and terrorism. Finland works in various parts of the word to promote human rights, especially the rights of women and girls, seeks to reduce poverty in a sustainable manner, and takes part in crisis management. All this is important in efforts to reduce violence and marginalisation.
The Minister started the visits to schools last year at the Tikkurila upper secondary school. In 2017, Soini visited the Tapiola upper secondary school, Maunula Secondary School and Helsinki Math School.
NordenBladet — Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini will attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, from 24 to 26 January 2018. The theme of this annual platform, which engages leaders from business, governments, international organisations, and civil society, is ‘Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World’. The meeting gathers about 70 heads of state and a number of ministers.
Minister Soini will take part in discussions dealing among other things with the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine, migration, and the future of the European Union. A large number of ministers from the countries represented at the meeting and leaders from the UN and other international organisations will take part in the discussions. Additionally, Soini will represent Finland at a meeting of the Future of Production council.
NordenBladet — The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has granted a total of EUR 911,000 in discretionary government transfers to nine organisations working in the field of foreign and security policy.
The purpose of the transfers, granted under item 249050 (Certain discretionary government transfers) of the 2018 Budget, is to support CSO activities related to Finland’s foreign and security policy and international commitments.
In the application round 2018, the emphasis was on international rules-based cooperation, conflict prevention and mediation, human rights and democracy in foreign and security policy, and transatlantic cooperation. This was the second time that discretionary government transfers were granted to CSOs based on an open application process.
The Ministry received applications from 19 organisations by the set deadline. The amounts of the transfers that were applied for ranged from EUR 20,000 to EUR 400,000.
Based on the applications, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs has granted discretionary government transfers to the following organisations:
Åland Islands Peace Institute
Atlantic Council of Finland
Crisis Management Initiative (CMI)
Finnish League for Human Rights
Finnish Red Cross
SaferGlobe, the UN Association of Finland
Wider Security Network (WISE)
World Federation of the Deaf.
The transfers are general grants for the organisations’ activities in 2018. They are discretionary by nature and granted for one year.
NordenBladet – The annual Finland’s tourism fair is the biggest event for the travel industry in Northern-European and the Baltic Sea region. The fair attracts to Helsinki the Finnish as well as international travel organizers, travel bureaus around the world are represented as well as key persons from tourism business.
Of course, also the best of Scandinavian travel bloggers and representatives from the largest media enterprises are present (see HERE) – NordenBladet, OHMYGOSIIP -sites, BlogList24 and the Nordic premium travelbloggers from the community of #NordicBloggers (NordicBloggers.com see HERE) are always present. Visitors of the tourism fair will be updated about new travel destinations and travelservices and enterprises will have the platform to exchange contacts and conclude novel cooperation and networking contracts.
The travel fair opened its doors on Wednesday when there was a grand workshop day for the leaders of tourism companies (see the gallery HERE), on Thursday (18 January) the fair was open for the media (the current pictures from the fair have been taken on Thursday) and from today, 19 January the fair is open to all travel enthusiasts. The yearly Matka Travel Fair, held in Helsinki exhibition centre (Messuaukio 1), is open for visitors until Sunday! See also the voluminous gallery about enterprises represented at the tourism fair!
