Bilateral relations between the

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, have existed for over a century.

History

Decreto de reconocimiento argentino a Finlandia

The first Finnish immigrants arrived to Argentina in 1906 and founded ''Colonia Finlandes'' in the vicinity of the town of

Oberá Oberá, formerly Svea, is a city in the interfluvial province of Misiones, Argentina, and the head town of the Oberá Department. It is located 96 km east of the provincial capital Posadas, on National Route 14, and about 1,150 km nort ...

Misiones Province Misiones (, ''Missions'') is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes ...

. In May 1918, Finland regained its Independence from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

after the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War; . Other designations: Brethren War, Citizen War, Class War, Freedom War, Red Rebellion and Revolution, . According to 1,005 interviews done by the newspaper ''Aamulehti'', the most popular names were as follows: Civil W ...

. Argentina recognized the independence of Finland on 11 May 1918, becoming the first nation outside of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

to do so. Soon afterwards, both nations established diplomatic relations and Finland opened a consulate in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

. In 1923, Argentina accredited an ambassador to Finland from its embassy in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

while Finland accredited an ambassador to Argentina from its embassy in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. In 1929, Finland opened a resident embassy in Buenos Aires, becoming its first embassy in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Finland was invaded by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

which triggered the

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

. Argentina supported Finland diplomatically during the war and asked the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

to expel the Soviet Union from the group for its aggression against Finland. During the war, Finland continued to maintain a resident embassy in Buenos Aires. Soon after the war, in January 1946, Finnish ships began arriving again to Argentina with Finnish made products. In 1997, Finnish President

Martti Ahtisaari Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari (; born 23 June 1937) is a Finnish politician, the tenth president of Finland (1994–2000), a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and a United Nations diplomat and mediator noted for his international peace work. Ahtisa ...

paid an official visit to Argentina, becoming the first high-level Finnish politician to visit the country. In 1998, Argentine President Carlos Menem paid an official visit to Finland. In 2007, UPM, a Finnish pulp company, opened a mill in

Fray Bentos Fray Bentos () is the capital city of the Río Negro Department, in south-western Uruguay, at the Argentina-Uruguay border, near the Argentine city of Gualeguaychú. Its port on the Uruguay River is one of the nation's most important harbours. ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

just across the river from Argentina. During the construction of the mill, Argentina filed a complaint against the company and the Uruguayan government stating possible pollution of the river by the mill. The

Uruguay River The Uruguay River ( es, Río Uruguay, ; pt, Rio Uruguai, ) is a major river in South America. It flows from north to south and forms parts of the boundaries of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, separating some of the Argentine provinces of La M ...

is shared by the two countries and is protected by a treaty, which requires both parties to inform the other of any project that might affect the river. Besides the issue of pollution, Argentina claimed that the Uruguayan government had not asked for permission to build the mill. This diplomatic incident became known as the ''

Uruguay River pulp mill dispute The pulp mill dispute was a dispute between Argentina and Uruguay concerning the construction of pulp mills on the Uruguay River. The presidents at the time were Néstor Kirchner (Argentina) and Tabaré Vázquez (Uruguay). As a diplomatic, econom ...

''. The dispute was brought before the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...

which said that Uruguay had breached its procedural obligations to inform Argentina of its plans but had not violated its environmental obligations under the treaty and therefore the Finnish mill could continue operations. In October 2016, Finnish Prime Minister

Juha Sipilä Juha Petri Sipilä (; born 25 April 1961) is a Finnish politician who served as Prime Minister of Finland from 2015 to 2019. A relative newcomer to politics, he has a successful background in business. He was the leader of the Centre Party fr ...

paid a visit to Argentina. During his visit, he met with Argentine President

Mauricio Macri Mauricio Macri (; born 8 February 1959) is an Argentine businessman and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 2015 to 2019. He has been the leader of the Republican Proposal (PRO) party since its founding in 2005. He previo ...

and both leaders discussed exploring new possibilities for cooperation between both nations and in their respective private sectors. In May 2018, both nations celebrated 100 years of diplomatic relations.

High-level visits

High-level visits from Argentina to Finland * President Carlos Menem (1998) * Vice President

Gabriela Michetti Marta Gabriela Michetti Illia (; born 28 May 1965) is an Argentine politician and was Vice President of Argentina from 2015 to 2019 during Mauricio Macri's administration. Before her, the only woman to serve as vice president was Isabel Perón. ...

(2018) High-level visits from Finland to Argentina * Foreign Minister

Paavo Väyrynen Paavo Matti Väyrynen (born 2 September 1946) is a Finnish politician and former member of the Finnish Parliament who has represented the Seven Star Movement, the Citizen's Party and Centre Party. He is currently member of Centre Party. Väyryn ...

(1985) * Foreign Trade Minister Pertti Salolainen (1990) * Foreign Trade Minister

Ole Norrback Johan Ole Norrback (born 18 March 1941) is a Finland-Swedish politician and diplomat. Norrback was born in Övermark. He graduated as a primary school teacher in 1965 and was the ombudsman for the Sfp, Swedish People's Party in Ostrobothnia be ...

(1996, 1997) * President

(1997) * Prime Minister

(2016)

Bilateral agreements

Both nations have signed a few bilateral agreements such as an Agreement on Trade (1935); Agreement to not wage war on each other (1938); Agreement on the removal of visas in ordinary passports (1961); Agreement on Trade, Technology and Industry Cooperation (1980); Agreement on Investment Protection (1993) and an Agreement on the Avoidance of Double Taxation (1994).

Trade

In 2017, trade between Argentina and Finland totaled US$389 million. Argentina's main export products to Finland include: metallic minerals; beverages, wines and vinegar; fruits, seeds and meats. Finland's main export products to Argentina include: machines, appliances and electrical equipment; mechanical devices; nuclear reactors and industrial instruments; paper and cardboard; vehicles and chemical based products.

Resident diplomatic missions

* Argentina has an embassy in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

. * Finland has an embassy in

. File:Embassy of Argentina in Helsinki, Finland.JPG, Embassy of Argentina in Helsinki File:Swiss Embassy, Buenos Aires 02.jpg, Embassy of Finland in Buenos Aires

References