Prime Minister Orpo and European Council President Costa: Support for Ukraine must be guaranteed

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and President of the European Council António Costa discussed the most effective ways to support Ukraine when they met in Helsinki on Monday 8 September. Prime Minister Orpo also highlighted issues important to Finland in the EU’s next multiannual financial framework, which forms the basis for the Union’s budget. The EU Member States have begun their long negotiations on the financial framework for 2028–2034, and the leaders of the Member States will decide on the matter in the European Council led by President Costa.

“Supporting Ukraine is the most effective way to invest in security throughout Europe. The most important security guarantee for Ukraine is ensuring that the country’s army is strong. We must provide Ukraine with funding for this and other essential needs. I have proposed that willing EU Member States and other actors could contribute more resources to the EU’s existing Ukraine Facility. We must also be able to access the funds seized from Russia,” said Prime Minister Orpo.

The Finnish Government advocated strongly for Finland’s interests before the European Commission published its proposal for the next multiannual financial framework. As a result, the starting points for the negotiations are very good for Finland.

“The proposal has the right priorities, although the overall level of funds is too high. We strongly support the considerable increase in resources allocated to defence and border management. Decisions on the framework must take into account Finland’s unique position as Russia’s neighbour – our border with Russia is more than 1,340 kilometres long,” Prime Minister Orpo said.

While in Helsinki, European Council President António Costa also met with President of the Republic Alexander Stubb.

Inquiries: Tuomas Tikkanen, Senior Adviser to the Prime Minister in European Affairs, tel. +358 40 523 5768 and Anne Sjöholm, Head of Communications for EU Affairs, tel. +358 40 537 0733, Prime Minister’s Office