Press Release 170/2012
10 July 2012
Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja will visit Ethiopia on 12-13 July to attend the Foreign Ministers meeting of the African Union in Addis Abeba.
The AU meetings will discuss intra-African trade as a follow-up of the previous summit's decision on introducing a continental free-trade area by 2017. Also on the agenda are election of Commissioners of the African Union and current regional crises such as Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan, Mali and Guinea-Bissau.
During his visit Foreign Minister Tuomioja will have bilateral meetings with Foreign Ministers of African states. The Ministers will discuss both bilateral relations and wider issues such as peace and security, peace mediation and the international arms trade treaty. Foreign Minister Tuomioja will also discuss with his African colleagues the Finnish candidacy to the UN Security Council.
Further information: Counsellor Erik af Hällström, Department for Africa and the Middle East, tel. +358 40 509 5107, Press Attaché to the Minister Päivi Harju-Heikkilä, tel. +358 40 749 2687
