OREANDA-NEWS  Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini visited Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan on 24–26 October 2016. The purpose of the visit was to learn about the effectiveness of civil and military crisis management operations and meet Finnish actors and Afghan political leaders.

On the agenda were also meetings with leaders of the NATO Resolute Support Mission (RSM) and EUPOL and learning about the activities of the Embassy of Finland in the highly demanding operating environment.

Finland's support to Afghanistan has been significant. At the moment the numbers of Finnish actors are the largest Mazar-e-Sharif in the north. Finland intends to continue to support the country.

Foreign Minister Soini thanked the Finnish military and civil crisis management staff and all the about 2 000 Finnish crisis management veterans who have served in Afghanistan.

“The presence of Finnish troops in the country is important. Even if the situation has improved and the Afghan Security Forces bear a great deal of responsibility for the country's security, international support is still needed. Finland is committed to the principle ‘in together – out together’. As yet, this is not the time to leave", says Foreign Minister Soini.