EU affairs and the Arctic on the agenda of the meeting of the Finnish and Icelandic Prime Ministers

Prime Minister Juha Sipilä and Prime Minister of Iceland Katrín Jakóbsdottir had bilateral talks on Friday 25 January, in connection with the Nordic climate meeting. The topics included current EU affairs and Finland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union that will start in July.

Also on the agenda was brexit.

“Brexit is an unfortunate event for all of us; UK, EU and close partners, but it is not the end of the world. The Withdrawal Agreement is the best possible compromise on the table. We do not want to open it”, Prime Minister Sipilä says.

Arctic Council has a key role

The Prime Ministers also discussed the bilateral relations, Arctic issues, innovation policy, and Iceland’s Chairmanship that will start in 2019. Finland’s Chairmanship of the Arctic Council ends in May, which is when Iceland takes over the Chairmanship for the next two years.

“Finland and Iceland are working to secure a smooth transition of the Chairmanship of the Arctic Council. We are highly satisfied that Iceland will continue the work on important matters such as meteorology and black carbon. We have seen that Arctic cooperation will continue to be successful despite the international tensions. The Arctic Council has a key role in strengthening peace, stability and constructive collaboration in the Arctic region”, Prime Minister Sipilä says.

Inquiries: Jani Raappana, Special Adviser (international affairs), tel. +358 295 160 306 and Anne Sjöholm, Head of Communications for EU Affairs, tel. +358 40 537 0733, Prime Minister’s Office