HELSINKI, Dec 16 (Reuters) – European Union nations that border Russia or are located near the Russian border will flesh out proposals to boost their defence and security, Finland’s prime minister said ahead of a summit in Helsinki on Tuesday. The EU “eastern flank” meeting includes leaders from Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania, […]
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EU members bordering Russia push for enhanced security at Helsinki meeting
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HELSINKI, Dec 16 (Reuters) – European Union nations that border Russia or are located near the Russian border will flesh out proposals to boost their defence and security, Finland’s prime minister said ahead of a summit in Helsinki on Tuesday.
The EU “eastern flank” meeting includes leaders from Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania, hoping to send a strong signal ahead of a summit in Brussels next week, host nation Finland has said.
The northern and eastern EU countries meeting in Helsinki seek to keep alive proposed European Union “flagship” defence projects despite reluctance among large nations such as Germany and France who prefer to work outside of EU formats.
“We will make concrete proposals and begin planning what one of the European Union’s flagship projects, Eastern Flank Watch, could mean in concrete terms, and we will seek funding from the EU in due course,” Orpo said.
(Reporting by Essi Lehto and Anne Kauranen, editing by Terje Solsvik)