Finnish name of FM to change to ‘ulkoministeriö’

The official Finnish name of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs will be changed to ‘ulkoministeriö’ from Ulkoasiainministeriö from early next year.

The government proposed that the act on the change of official name will enter into force on 1 January 2018, said an official press release.

The Ministry will keep the Swedish (utrikesministeriet) and English (Ministry for Foreign Affairs) equivalents of its name unchanged.

The shorter name ‘ulkoministeriö’ has been used in the Ministry’s communications and in the media for years.

The new name recognises the change in usage. One of the factors behind this change is harmonisation of Finnish ministries’ names. The Ministry of the Interior adopted its current name in 2013.

The Finnish name will show in the Ministry’s forms and other printed matter. The Ministry’s new visual image and logo will be published in early 2018.

The decree on the establishment of the Foreign Affairs Department of the Senate was issued in June 1918.

The actual date also marks the official day when the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland was established.

The Foreign Affairs Department has been called the Ministry for Foreign Affairs since November 1918, when a decree was issued on the Senate becoming the Government of Finland.