Parliamentary body chair quits for prickly remark on Ukraine

Main opposition Perussuomalaiset (Finns Party) lawmaker and Chair of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee Mika Niikko announced to resign from his committee post following criticism over his controversial remarks regarding Ukraine and NATO, local media reported.

Niikko in a twitter post on Tuesday wrote that French President Emmanuel Macron, or another leader, should make a public statement that that Ukraine would not join NATO.

He, however, deleted the twitter post and made a clarification where he said he believed that every independent country is free to apply for NATO membership.

According to media reports, Niikko said Tuesday evening that he will resign as chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee at its meeting on Wednesday and requested party´s parliamentary group to replace him.

The Perussuomalaiset parliamentary group may take decision regarding the replacement within couple of days.