Finland’s defence minister cancels participation in JEF meeting — YLE News
Finnish Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen has cancelled his planned participation in a meeting of defence ministers of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), which was due to take place in Reykjavik on Thursday and Friday. The reason was the planned parliamentary consideration of no-confidence motions against the minister and the government, YLE News reports.
No-confidence motion against the minister
Finland’s Ministry of Defence announced the change of plans on Thursday morning. Parliament is expected to consider the no-confidence motions on Friday.
Earlier this week, Atte Harjanne, an MP from the opposition Green Party, submitted a motion of no confidence in Häkkänen. It was supported by Minja Koskela, chair of the Left Alliance party. Representatives of these political forces criticised the minister’s recent visit to Israel, where he met his Israeli counterpart in mid-September.
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Disputes over Middle East policy
At the end of August, it became known that Finland and Israel had privately extended a memorandum on cooperation in the development and procurement of defence materiel. The document was concluded in 2013, and its term was due to expire. At the beginning of 2024, Finland proposed extending the agreement.
Finland’s Social Democratic Party also called for a no-confidence vote against the entire government. Tytti Tuppurainen, chair of the party’s parliamentary group, said that disagreements within the government over Middle East policy create uncertainty regarding the country’s position.
Joint Expeditionary Force meeting
The JEF is led by the United Kingdom. This defence group includes Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. According to Finland’s Ministry of Defence, the participating countries are developing military capabilities, seeking to prevent crises and respond to them jointly when necessary. The group operates primarily in Northern Europe and the Baltic Sea region.
