Finland Getting Ready to Re-Open Embassy in Baghdad - Government
Helsinki is preparing to re-open its embassy in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the Finnish government said Thursday.
HELSINKI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th August, 2018) Helsinki is preparing to re-open its embassy in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the Finnish government said Thursday.
"Finland is preparing to re-open its embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. There was no Finnish diplomatic staff in Baghdad since 1991. Finland has had an ambassador-at-large for Iraqi affairs acting from Helsinki since 2016," the country's government said in a statement.
The opening of the diplomatic mission will contribute to the development of bilateral relations, as well as trade cooperation, the government added.
Also on Thursday, the Finnish Foreign Ministry said that at present, 14 EU member states were permanently represented in Baghdad at an ambassadorial level.
"Iraq belongs to the European neighbourhood, and its development will affect Finland, too. Finland has a fairly large Iraqi diaspora community, which means that cooperation between the citizens of the countries and other collaboration are increasing.
The agenda of the discussions on the bilateral relations between Finland and Iraq includes also questions relating to the return of those whose asylum application has been refused," Finnish Foreign Minister Timo Soini said, commenting on the significance of the reopening of the embassy.
The exact date of the Finnish embassy's opening is unknown so far.
The Finnish embassy in Iraq was closed in 1991 as the security situation in the region aggravated with the start of the 1990-1991 Gulf War. In August 1990, then Iraqi President Saddam Hussein ordered the country's troops to occupy Kuwait amid the tensions between the two countries over border demarcation and oil production. In February 1991, the international coalition of forces liberated Kuwait and invaded Iraq prompting Hussein to give in.