Political Relations
The diplomatic relations between the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Finland were established on February 26, 1992. The 30th anniversary of this event is celebrated in 2022.
On October 1, 2010, a Liaison Office of the Embassy of the Republic of Finland in the Republic of Lithuania was opened in Minsk.
The Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in the Republic of Finland in Helsinki began to function on December 5, 2011.
The interstate relations between Belarus and Finland are built on a mutually respectful and beneficial basis, characterized by the absence of any problems and contradictions.
Presentation of credentials by Ambassador of Belarus A. Samosuev to President of Finland S. Niinistö October 25, 2018
Belarus and Finland pursue a policy of balanced cooperation within the framework of international organizations. Both countries exchange the support of their candidates for election to various global and regional international institutions.
Since 2013, annual meetings of the Heads of the foreign ministries of Belarus and Finland, mainly within the UN and the OSCE, have been held, which are aimed at developing bilateral political dialogue, exchanging views on topical issues of the global and regional agenda and on relations between Belarus and the European Union as well as participation in Eastern Partnership Initiative.
On April 12, 2017, Mr. Kai Mykkӓnen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development of Finland paid a working visit to Belarus and met with Mr. Vasily Matyushevsky, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus, Mr. Vladimir Potupchik, Minister of Energy, Mr. Oleg Kravchenko, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.
On September 12, 2017, at the invitation of Ms. Paula Risikko, Minister of the Interior of Finland, a working visit of Mr. Igor Shunevich, Minister of the Interior Affairs of the Republic of Belarus to Helsinki was held, during the meeting parties discussed issues of combating organized crime, terrorism and extremism.
Since 2018, Belarusian-Finnish inter-parliamentary dialogue has intensified. In March, a Belarus Friendship Group of the Parliament of Finland headed by Mr. Ville Rydman (National Coalition Party) was formed in Eduskunta — Parliament of Finland. In April, a Working Group on Cooperation with the Parliament of the Republic of Finland Group was created in the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, headed by Mr. Sergey Rakhmanov, Chairman of the Standing Committee on International Affairs and National Security of the Council of the Republic. Since January 2020, the Group of cooperation with the Parliament of Finland has been led by Mr. Sergei Dik, member of the Commission on International Affairs of the House of Representatives.
On May 23-24, 2018, Mr. Erkki Tuomioja, member of the Commission on Foreign Affairs of Finnish Parliament (former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland) visited Minsk to participate in the Forum “Eastern Europe: In Search of Security for All”.
On September 30-31, 2018, for the first time in the history of bilateral relations, a visit to Belarus of the parliamentary delegation of Finland, headed by Mr. V.Rudman, took place. The Finnish parliamentarians met with Mr. M.Myasnikovich, Chairman of the Council of the Republic, members of Group on cooperation with the Parliament of the Republic of Finland of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, as well as Mr. Andrei Hudyk, Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection and Mr. Oleg Kravchenko, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The visit of the delegation of Eduskunta (Parliament of Finland) to Belarus on August 30, 2018
On November 25, 2019, Mr. Pekka Haavisto, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Finland paid a working visit to Minsk. During the visit Mr. Alexander Lukashenko, President of the Republic of Belarus and Mr. Vladimir Makei, Minister of Foreign Affairs met with the Head of the Finnish diplomatic service.
In January 2020, a working group of the National Assembly for cooperation with the Parliament of the Republic of Finland was created in the new convocation of the Parliament of Belarus, headed by Mr. Sergei Dik, member of the Standing Committee on International Affairs of the House of Representatives.
During 2020 – 2021, a number of telephone contacts took place between the Foreign Ministers of Belarus and Finland, as well as two meetings «on the margins» of multilateral events, which allowed the ministers to maintain regular relations in order to promptly respond to the full range of issues.
