About Us
Public Affairs Section
The Public Affairs Office is responsible for media, cultural, and educational affairs for the U.S. Embassy in Finland.
The Public Affairs Office provides official public statements about U.S. policies in the daily Washington File and Electronic Journals. Through this homepage, its programs, and the American Resource Center (ARC), it offers background information on the issues that affect those policies. The ARC, a full partner of the National Library of Finland, is the best single source of information about the United States to be found in Finland.
The Public Affairs Office assists in bringing U.S. experts to Finland as speakers and promoting cultural programs with U.S. artists and performers. Assistance to Finnish organizations in arranging specialized study tours in the U.S. is also an essential part of Public Affairs Office programs in Finland.
The Press Section
The Press Section works with the Finnish media to provide authoritative information on U.S. government policies.
The Public Affairs Office organizes press conferences for visiting U.S. officials, or exclusive telephone interviews and digital video conferences with U.S. experts. The Press Section works together with the State Department's Foreign Press Centers in Washington, D.C., New York and Los Angeles, to help visiting journalists cover U.S. policies and issues and to facilitate access to authoritative U.S. information sources.
For information on foreign media visas, please see the consular section’s webpages.
Journalists may contact the Press Office at:
email: HelsinkiUSPress@state.gov
phone: +358-9-6162-5793
fax: +358-9-6162-5110
Cultural Affairs/Exchanges Office
A major responsibility is the promotion of U.S.-Finnish cultural and educational ties. Working directly with Finnish institutions, we facilitate cultural and academic exchanges, such as the Study of the United States Institutes (formerly Fulbright American Studies Summer Institutes); please see more on Study of the United States Institutes for Scholars, Study of the United States Institutes for Secondary School Educators, and Study of the United States Institute on National Security. The US Embassy promotes also cultural exchange program Fusion Arts Exchange on Digital Media and Computer-Assisted Design, as well as lectures and performances by U.S. academics, writers and artists.
Individuals interested in studying in the U.S. can contact the Fulbright Center, service organization specializing in cultural exchange between Finland and North America, for information regarding U.S. universities, including entrance examinations and admission requirements, plus many links to related sites.
Information about studying in the United States is also available on the Department of State's web site Education USA.
State Alumni is an interactive web site by and for alumni of selected Department of State Exchange programs. It operates as an online community that helps alumni stay in contact with one another and the Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Additional useful links for those involved in teaching American oriented subjects in schools can be found at Resources for Teachers and Students.
The Cultural Affairs Office may be contacted as follows:
phone: +358-9-6162-5784.
Information on the exchange programs is available at:
phone: +358-9-6162-5559.
American Resource Center
The American Resource Center (ARC), managed jointly by the National Library of Finland and the Public Affairs Office of the U.S. Embassy in Helsinki, is an extensive resource for current, in-depth information focusing primarily on political, economic and social issues and on American culture. The ARC offers a large collection of books, access to over 1,000 periodicals (most of them available electronically through the periodical database ProQuest), videotapes and many other materials. It can also draw on the vast resources available through online databases and the Internet to provide accurate information from and about the United States.
The Resource Center is located in the Fabiania building of the National Library of Finland.
Contact Information:
American Resource Center
Unioninkatu 36 (P.O. Box 15)
00014 Helsinki University
Phone: 09-191 24048
Fax: 09-652 940
E-mail: arc@usembassy.fi