By JNS staff

For the first time in a decade, a Finnish foreign minister is visiting Jerusalem, in an effort to strengthen bilateral ties, the Israeli foreign minister said on Sunday.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar hosted his Finnish counterpart, Elina Valtonen, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem. He thanked Finland for supporting the European Union’s Jan. 29 decision to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization.

“We’ll continue working together to strengthen relations between our countries,” Sa’ar wrote in a post on X.

Valtonen wrote of their meeting on X, “I emphasized the urgent needs of the civilian population in Gaza and the importance of unhindered access of humanitarian aid. I reaffirmed Finland’s support for regional stability and securing a path towards the two-state solution.”

During her two-day visit, she also is scheduled to meet with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa in Ramallah.