Tazeen Akhtar
The Embassy of Finland celebrated the National Day in Islamabad on 04 Dec with a resolve that the bilateral relations will continue to grow as they developed in couple of previous years. Finland as member of European Union supports GSP + status for Pakistan.
Mr. and Mrs. Hannu Ripatti, Ambassador of Finland to Pakistan hosted a reception at Serena Hotels to mark the national day. Ambassadors of European Union including Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and other countries, heads of organizations of EU and UN were present at the occasion.
Diplomats, officials, business community representatives and media persons were also invited to the reception. Many of them could not manage to reach only because of the highest security around the hotel as the visiting President of Kyrgyz Republic was staying there the same day.
At the reception, in his welcome address, Ambassador shared with the guests, “Finland is closing its Embassy in #Pakistan due to financial reasons as the defense spending of #Finland has increased due to the Ukraine-Russia war.’
It is unanimous opinion of the people watching and writing on Finland Pakistan relations that incumbent Ambassador’s services in enhancing the bilateral relations, links, contacts and cooperation remained examplary and remarkable.
During the posting of Ambassador H.E Hannu Ripatti, both sides worked on many prospects of forging partnerships. He coordinated the visit of a high level delegation of Metso,which is a global leader in equipment and services for the minerals processing industry in Sep 2025 to Pakistan. Metso announced a significant investment in providing technical equipment in Pakistan’s copper mining sector. The investment will focus on providing modern technology, mining equipment, and services.
Both countries reviewed the entire spectrum of bilateral cooperation at 6th round of political consultation on 18 Nov 2925. The Pakistan side was led by Additional Secretary Europe Muhammad Khalid Jamali and the Finnish side was led by Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Security Policy Outi Holopainen. Pakistani side invited Finnish companies to participate in the upcoming Pakistan-EU Business Forum scheduled for April 2026. It was agreed to hold the next round of consultations in Finland.
Despite all these developments in the mutual ties, the embassy is being closed that is heartbreaking news for the friends of Finland in Pakistan. They are looking forward that not only Finland but reciprocally, Pakistan too, will continue work on the possibility of reopening of the Embassy as soon as possible.
Ambassador has been optimistic always on the promotion of cooperation between two countries and sees great potential for that. Would that , the embassy is restored soon and Mr. Ripatti is posted again in Islamabad.
The friends of Finland celebrated national day of the country three times with the embassy and they are hopeful that they will be marking the day next year as well in Islamabad with the same team of the Embassy.
