MINISTRY FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Press release 340/2011
16.12.2011
The services of the Embassy of Finland in Damascus to be temporarily relocated
The Embassy of Finland in Damascus has temporarily halted its services since the 11th of December 2011. The reception and processing of applications will be temporarily relocated to the Embassy of Finland in Ankara during January 2012. The precise date of the relocation of services will be announced at a later date. During the relocation of services the Embassy of Finland in Ankara will receive applications from Syrian, Iraqi, Lebanese, Jordanian as well as Turkish citizens.
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has also decided to cancel the holding of early voting sessions in Syria. Eligible voters still resident within Syria may instead cast their votes at early voting stations in Beirut or Amman.
According to the information submitted to the Embassy of Finland in Damascus 30 Finnish citizens or persons permanently resident in Finland continue to remain within Syria. As per the travel advice published by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, these persons are requested to leave the country and others are recommended to refrain from travel to Syria.
Further information: Counsellor Vesa Häkkinen, Passport- and Visa Department, tel. 09 1605 5219, 040 726 1379 (immigration affairs), Director of the Department for the Middle East and North Africa Helena Tuuri, tel. 09 1605 6358, 040 553 3494 (the situation in Syria)
