Nordic-African FMs to meet in Helsinki

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will host a Nordic-African Foreign Ministers' Meeting on 13–15 June, said the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in a press release on Friday.

In addition to the Nordic foreign ministers, 25 African foreign ministers have been invited to the meeting.

The topics of discussion at the informal meeting will be peace and security, sustainable societies, measures to combat climate change, and cooperation in multilateral forums.

The foreign ministers will also have a discussion with youth representatives.

“I am happy that my Nordic and African counterparts can now finally be physically present here in Helsinki. The informal meeting provides a valuable opportunity for exchange of views on many themes and strengthens both our bilateral and multilateral cooperation. This is what we need especially in the current global situation,” said Haavisto.

The first Nordic-African Foreign Ministers Meeting was held in 2001 on the initiative of Anna Lindh, deceased former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden. The previous Nordic-African Foreign Ministers' Meeting was held in Tanzania in 2019.