Commission Vice-President Fitto to visit Finland

Commission Vice-President Fitto to visit Finland

European Commission Executive Vice-President for Cohesion and Reforms Raffaele Fitto will visit Finland on 22-24 January at the invitation of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo. Topics on the agenda for the visit include the EU's next multiannual financial framework, the situation at Finland's eastern border with Russia and the reform of EU cohesion policy.

Commissioner Fitto's programme will begin with a visit to the eastern border on Thursday 23 January. He will then meet with Prime Minister Orpo and Minister for European Affairs and Ownership Steering Joakim Strand in Helsinki.

"The EU's next multiannual financial framework must take into account the changed geopolitical situation in our neighbourhood and its diverse impacts on Finland. Commissioner Fitto and I will be discussing the situations in Eastern and Northern Finland and ways to boost vitality. Russia's illegal war of aggression in Ukraine has brought new challenges to our eastern border regions, and we need special funding from the EU to address them. The EU should modernise its cohesion policy in a way that promotes strategic investments, including defence," said Prime Minister Orpo ahead of the meeting.

Discussions between the Commissioner and the Prime Minister will also focus on the Russian shadow fleet as a problem affecting the Union as a whole and highlight the need to ramp up sanctions and lower the oil price cap.

On Friday 24 January, Commissioner Fitto will meet with President of the Republic Alexander Stubb, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sari Essayah and Minister of Economic Affairs Wille Rydman.

Commissioner Fitto is responsible for cohesion policy, regional development and cities and for leading the work to implement the NextGenerationEU recovery plan and the Recovery and Resilience Facility. He is also responsible for guiding the work on sustainable mobility and tourism and on resilience and sustainability in agriculture and fisheries.

Inquiries: Tuomas Tikkanen, Senior Adviser to the Prime Minister in EU Affairs, tel. +358 40 523 5768 and Anne Sjöholm, Head of Communications for EU Affairs, tel. +358 40 537 0733, Prime Minister's Office