Finland, Sweden vow to boost bilateral cooperation

Prime Minister Juha Sipilä and his visiting Swedish counterpart Stefan Löfven on Tuesday reiterated their interest to engage in closer cooperation in several sectors between the neighbouring countries.

The Premiers at a meeting in Helsinki expressed their interest to cooperate in various sectors such as the bio-economy and the defence sectors, said a government press release.

Finland was the first destination visited by Prime Minister Löfven after his re-election.

“I am very happy that the new Swedish Government places so much emphasis on further developing and deepening our relations in sectors such as defence cooperation and biotechnology”, Prime Minister Sipilä said.

The Prime Ministers also talked about the outcome of the Nordic climate meeting held in Helsinki last week and the ways to promote climate change mitigation by Nordic and European action.

They also discussed upcoming Presidency of the Council of the EU and topical EU affairs such as migration, the next Multiannual Financial Framework of the EU, defence and Brexit.

“With regard to Brexit the ball is still in the British court. It is for the country to decide what it wants. As long as the situation is unclear, the EU will prepare for all options”, Sipilä said.