Foreign Ministry: employees of the Finnish embassy evacuated from Afghanistan

Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said during a press conference that early Monday morning 18 Finnish citizens were evacuated from Afghanistan.

All employees of the Finnish Embassy were taken by a US military plane from Kabul to Doha. The activities of the embassy are now suspended.

According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, dozens of Finnish citizens are expected to be evacuated from Afghanistan, as well as Afghans who worked for the Finns, whom Finland promised to help with leaving the country and provide a residence permit.

The success of further evacuations largely depends on the organization of flights at the Kabul airport, which was taken under control by the US military. Commercial flights have been discontinued, so evacuation is carried out exclusively by military aircraft.

Finnish evacuations are carried out on planes of other countries, thanks to the international contacts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Defense Forces.

According to Haavisto, the situation at the airport is now extremely chaotic, as a huge number of people seek to leave the country and board the departing planes.

The Finnish Defense Forces take part in the evacuation of Finnish diplomats from Kabul.

The Helsingin Sanomat newspaper previously reported on the evacuation of Finnish diplomats, citing its sources.

Minister of Defense: Finnish evacuation and the Afghans who worked for them are a priority

Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen earlier today said that Finland’s top priority for the near future is to get the Finns and Afghans working for them to a safe place.

– The State Council is now working in this direction, – he assured.

Kaikkonen added that after the withdrawal of Western troops, the situation in the country deteriorated much faster than predicted.

– Unfortunately, the situation in Afghanistan quickly changed for the worse. All power in the country passed to the Taliban. We hope that the final change of power will take place peacefully and safely for the representatives of the international community in Kabul, the minister said.