Finland

Iran remains committed to nuclear deal, willing to continue dialogue: FM

HELSINKI, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday that his country has remained committed to nuclear treaty and is willing to continue the dialogue.

Zarif and Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto talked to the media after their meeting in Helsinki.

Commenting in Helsinki about the chances of Finland becoming a mediator between the United States and Iran, Zarif said that "a mediation should have some ground" and warned that the window for a dialogue may be closing.

Finland claims that Russian aircraft intruded into its airspace on July 17

HELSINKI, July 25. /TASS/: The Finnish Border Guard issued a statement on Thursday that a foreign aircraft that allegedly violated its airspace on July 17 was a Russian plane.

"It was confirmed during the investigation that a state Russian plane violated the airspace of Finland at 09:23 local time (coincides with Moscow time) on July 17 near the city of Porvoo," the statement reads.

The Finnish Border Guard claimed that the plane had stayed in Finland's airspace for about two minutes, having flown one kilometer into its territory.

EU ministers reach no consensus on Mediterranean asylum seeker problems

HELSINKI, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Home Affairs Ministers of the European Union (EU) countries failed to reach agreement on how to share the burden of the Mediterranean immigrant crisis in a meeting here on Thursday.

There were optimistic reports during the day about progress in creating a majority opinion on improving the Mediterranean arrivals' situation.

Council of Europe and Russia reach tentative compromise

17 May 2019; DW: Russia said it had no desire to leave the Council of Europe and was ready to pay its dues following an apparent breakthrough between Moscow and Western nations. Russia's delegation had faced sanctions over Crimea.

France and Germany pushed through a compromise which would allow Russia's Council of Europe (CoE) to return to the body, as foreign ministers from the 47 member states resumed their two day summit in Helsinki.

Lavrov meets with German top diplomat in Helsinki

HELSINKI, May 17. /TASS/: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has met with his German counterpart Heiko Maas on the sidelines of a meeting of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers in the Finnish capital of Helsinki on Friday.

The meeting between the Russian and German top diplomats took place behind closed doors.

The German Foreign Ministry said earlier that the parties would discuss bilateral relations, the situation in the Middle East, the Ukrainian issue and Russia’s Council of Europe membership.

US understands there can be no military solution to Venezuela issue

ROVANIEMI /Finland/, May 6. /TASS/: US officials understand that there can be no military solution to the Venezuela issue because the consequences of such a scenario would be devastating, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said following a meeting with US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on Monday.

Arctic Council meets amid tensions over resources

6 May 2019; DW: The eight-member Arctic Council is looking at ways to deal with global warming and access to mineral wealth. The thawing of ice has some countries scrambling over the earth's untapped resources.

Top diplomats from the United States, Russia and other member nations of the Arctic Council are meeting in Rovaniemi, Finland on Monday to discuss policies pertaining to the polar region.

Social Democrats win Finland’s parliamentary elections

HELSINKI, April 15. /TASS/. Finland’s opposition Social Democratic Party has won the parliamentary elections in the country after 100% of the ballots had been counted, the Finnish Ministry of Justice reported on Monday.

The Social Democrats garnered 17.7% of the vote followed by the Finns Party (17.5%) and the National Coalition Party (17.0%). The ruling Center Party secured 13.8% of the vote and the opposition Green League party - 11.5%. The rest of the parties have garnered less than 10% of the vote each.

Social Democrats, populists top Finland vote ahead of EU’s

HELSINKI (AP) — Results from Finland’s parliamentary election illustrated the struggle by Europe’s traditional political parties to retain supporters, with the center-left Social Democratic Party winning the most votes and followed closely by a populist party that wants to temper national efforts to curb climate change.

The 17.7% of the vote the Social Democrats received gives it 40 of the 200 seats in Finland’s new parliament, one more than the 39 the euroskeptic, anti-immigration Finns Party secured with its 17.5% support.

Climate change, social care are top issues in Finnish vote

HELSINKI (AP) — Finns are voting in a parliamentary election in which reforming the nation’s generous welfare model and tackling climate change have emerged as key issues.

Sunday’s vote in the European Union member of 5.5 million people is taking place in a Nordic country that has one-third of its territory above the Arctic Circle.

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