No-confidence motion prompts Minister to cancel Iceland visit

Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen has cancelled his visit to Iceland due to a no-confidence motion brought against him in Parliament by opposition parties following his recent visit to Israel, according to a press release issued by the Ministry on Thursday.

The Minister was scheduled to attend the meeting of Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) defence ministers in Reykjavík, Iceland on October 1 and 2.

The Parliament will hold the no-confidence motions against Häkkänen and the government in the plenary session at 1:00 p.m. on Friday.

Earlier on Tuesday, Vihreä Liitto (Green League) lawmaker Atte Harjanne during a general debate in Parliament brought the no-confidence motion against the minister due to his recent visit to Israel and holding meeting with Defence Minister of the country Katz.

Vasemmistoliitto (Left Alliance) lawmaker Minja Koskela and Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue (Social Democratic Party of Finland-SDP) lawmaker Tytti Tuppurainen supported Harjanne´s proposal and the Parliament decided to hold the no-confidence motions against the Minister and the government on Friday.

Earlier, Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen visited Lebanon and Israel from 13 to 18 September.

In Israel, Minister Häkkänen met Israeli Minister of Defence Israel Katz. Häkkänen learned about Finland’s future air defence system, David’s Sling, as well as about Israeli civil defence solutions, according to a government press release issued on September 18.

He also visited companies producing systems that have been procured for the Finnish Defence Forces.