Finland Has Cancelled Participation in Meetings Under the Hungarian EU Presidency

Finland has decided not to participate temporarily at the political level in informal ministerial meetings held under the Hungarian Presidency of the European Union.

This was announced by the press office of the Finnish Government.

This Finnish decision means that no Finnish ministers or political secretaries will attend these meetings, although Helsinki will be represented at the official level. This decision has been taken in view of Finland's priorities in the EU, where support for Ukraine is a key focus.

Finland intends to continue to actively influence the shaping of the programme of the new European Commission. To this end, the Government plans to send letters to each new member of the European Commission once they have been approved.

The EU Committee of Ministers also discussed two upcoming informal meetings to be held next week in Brussels: a meeting of foreign ministers on 29 August and a meeting of defence ministers on 30 August.

Both meetings will focus on support for Ukraine, including the possibility of additional funds for the Peace Fund from the reserves of the Russian Central Bank. The situation in the Middle East and EU defence preparedness will also be discussed.

Following Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's visits to China and Russia, six countries have announced that they will not send their ministers to meetings organized by Hungary as part of its EU Council presidency. These countries include Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Finland. Later, Denmark also joined the boycott.

In addition, the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning Orbán's visit to Russia, saying that this violation should have consequences for Hungary.