The Ministerial Committee on Foreign and Security Policy (abbreviated hutva or utva, Finnish : hallituksen ulko- ja turvallisuuspoliittinen ministerivaliokunta) is one of the four ministerial committees of the Finnish Government, established by statute since 2000. [1] [2] The task of the committee is to handle matters related to Finland's foreign and security policy, as well as matters of internal security and total defence when they are related to foreign and security policy. [3] Nowadays it meets practically always jointly with the President of Finland, so it is often referred to as tp-utva, referring to the President of the Republic ("tp", Finnish : tasavallan presidentti) and the ministerial committee itself ("utva"). [2] [3]
The committee is chaired by the prime minister. The other members are the minister of foreign affairs, the minister of defence, and up to four other ministers appointed by the government. If the government has a so-called second minister in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, this minister is also a member of the committee. [3] In addition, the minister of the interior and other ministers participate in the committee if issues related to their areas of activity are being discussed. [3]
The politics of Finland take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy. Finland is a republic whose head of state is President Alexander Stubb, who leads the nation's foreign policy and is the supreme commander of the Finnish Defence Forces. Finland's head of government is Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, who leads the nation's executive branch, called the Finnish Government. Legislative power is vested in the Parliament of Finland, and the Government has limited rights to amend or extend legislation. The Constitution of Finland vests power to both the President and Government: the President has veto power over parliamentary decisions, although this power can be overruled by a majority vote in the Parliament.
The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) is the organised, agreed foreign policy of the European Union (EU) for mainly security and defence diplomacy and actions. CFSP deals only with a specific part of the EU's external relations, which domains include mainly Trade and Commercial Policy and other areas such as funding to third countries, etc. Decisions require unanimity among member states in the Council of the European Union, but once agreed, certain aspects can be further decided by qualified majority voting. Foreign policy is chaired and represented by the EU's High Representative, currently Josep Borrell.
Erkki Sakari Tuomioja is a Finnish politician and has previously been a member of the Finnish Parliament. From 2000 to 2007 and 2011 to 2015, he served as the minister for foreign affairs. He was president of the Nordic Council in 2008.
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Johannes Virolainen was a Finnish politician and who served as 30th Prime Minister of Finland, helped inhabitants of Karelia, opposed the use of alcohol and created Mandatory Swedish in Finnish basic schools.
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The Finnish Government is the executive branch and cabinet of Finland, which directs the politics of Finland and is the main source of legislation proposed to the Parliament. The Government has collective ministerial responsibility and represents Finland in the Council of the European Union. In the incumbent Orpo Cabinet, the Government comprises 19 ministers leading 12 ministries.
Tarja Cronberg is a Finnish Green League politician who served as a member of the European Parliament from 2011 until 2014. Cronberg was Member of the Finnish Parliament 2003–2007. She chaired her party from 2005 until 2009 and was the Minister of Labour in the Finnish government from 2007 to 2009 as part of Matti Vanhanen's second cabinet.
Ahti Kalle Samuli Karjalainen was a Finnish economist and politician. He was a member of the Agrarian League and served two terms as Prime Minister of Finland. He is, however, better known for his period as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland. Karjalainen is considered one of the most influential figures in post-war Finnish politics. Like President Urho Kekkonen, Karjalainen attached great importance to Finland's relationship with the Soviet Union, and was at one point considered to be Kekkonen's likely successor until alcoholism affected his later career.
The Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) is a configuration of the Council of the European Union that convenes once a month. Meetings bring together the foreign ministers of the member states. Ministers responsible for European affairs, defence, development or trade also participate depending on the items on agenda. The configuration is unique in that is chaired by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP) rather than the member state holding the presidency of the Council of the European Union. There is one exception, when the FAC meets in the configuration of ministers responsible for trade (FAC/Trade), with the presiding member state's minister chairing the meeting.
The Australian Intelligence Community (AIC) and the National Intelligence Community (NIC) or National Security Community of the Australian Government are the collectives of statutory intelligence agencies, policy departments, and other government agencies concerned with protecting and advancing the national security and national interests of the Commonwealth of Australia. The intelligence and security agencies of the Australian Government have evolved since the Second World War and the Cold War and saw transformation and expansion during the Global War on Terrorism with military deployments in Afghanistan, Iraq and against ISIS in Syria. Key international and national security issues for the Australian Intelligence Community include terrorism and violent extremism, cybersecurity, transnational crime, the rise of China, and Pacific regional security.
Anand Sharma is an Indian politician and former Union Cabinet Minister in charge of Commerce and Industry and Textiles in the Government of India. Since June 2014, Sharma was the Deputy Leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament until 2022.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment is one of the ministries of the Finnish Government. The ministry implements industry, labor, and local development policies.
The cabinet of Juha Sipilä was the 74th government of Finland, from 2015 to 2019. It was formed following the parliamentary election of 2015 and formally appointed by President Sauli Niinistö on 29 May 2015. From June 2017, the cabinet consisted of a coalition formed by the Centre Party, Blue Reform and the National Coalition Party. The cabinet's Prime Minister was Juha Sipilä.
The National Security Committee (NSC), also known as the National Security Committee of Cabinet, is the paramount decision-making body for national security and major foreign policy matters in the Australian Government. It is a committee of the Cabinet of Australia, though decisions of the NSC do not require the endorsement of the Cabinet itself.
The Supreme Council of Defence is an Italian institution of constitutional importance which controls the Italian Armed Forces.
The Government Delegated Committees, in Spain, are a collective decision-making-body of the Spanish government consisting on Cabinet ministers and non-Cabinet ministers. This Committees are secondary work bodies of the Council of Ministers responsible for the discussion or resolution the topics that do not require to be discussed in the Cabinet itself.
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