President and Ministerial Committee on Foreign and Security Policy discuss Finland’s participation in crisis management and the situation in the Korean Peninsula

On Friday 4 May, the President of the Republic and the Ministerial Committee on Foreign and Security Policy discussed issues relating to international crisis management.

Finland will continue its active participation in international crisis management in line with the priorities set out in the Government Report on Finnish Foreign and Security Policy. Currently, Finland has approximately 500 soldiers participating in 10 military crisis management operations and approximately 120 experts in civilian crisis management. Most of the Finnish soldiers are deployed in the UN’s UNIFIL mission in Lebanon, the training mission in Iraq and the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan. The largest individual participation in civilian crisis management is in Ukraine.

The meeting outlined that Finland will continue its participation in the EU NAVFOR MED operation Sophia in the Mediterranean between 1 January and 31 December 2019 with a maximum contribution of 10 staff officers.

The meeting also discussed the situation in the Korean Peninsula. Finland supports the ongoing negotiation processes and easing tensions between the two Koreas. At the same time, Finland stresses the need for broader-based negotiations to resolve the most difficult questions. Maintaining international sanctions is important until such time that clear progress has been made in the negotiations.

Inquiries: Jukka Salovaara, Director General, tel. +358 295 350 636, Eija Rotinen (Pohjois-Korea), Deputy Director General, tel. +295 351 731, Ministry for Foreign Affairs; Janne Kuusela, Director General (crisis management), tel. +358 295 140 300, Ministry of Defence