Prime Minister Orpo to attend Special European Council in Brussels

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo will attend a special summit of the European Council in Brussels on 6 March. The meeting will focus on support for Ukraine and European security. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy will attend via video connection.

“Ukraine must be at the heart of this summit. Europe now has a greater responsibility for Ukraine’s political, economic and military support,” said Prime Minister Orpo.

The European Council will also discuss the collective security and defence capabilities of Europe and their financing. On Wednesday 4 March, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen presented the ReArm Europe plan, which would help the EU Member States to quickly and significantly increase their defence capabilities.

“We now have a proposal, and I look forward to discussing it further. It is important to make sure the plan brings tangible benefits to European defence,” says Prime Minister Orpo.

“As we have done before, we will continue to highlight the importance of targeting funding specifically at frontline countries such as Finland,” Prime Minister Orpo said.

More information on Finland’s positions for the European Council meeting is available in the Ministerial Committee on European Union Affairs press release from 5 March. Ministerial Committee on European Union Affairs discusses Special European Council | Government

Inquiries: Juuso Kilpinen, Special Adviser for EU Affairs, tel. +358 295 160 444, Marja Koskela, Diplomatic Adviser, tel. +358 295 160 978 and Anne Sjöholm, Head of Communications for EU and International Affairs, tel. +358 40 537 0733, Prime Minister’s Office