Finnish Prime Minister Antti Rinne has said that moves to suspend the UK Parliament means that lawmakers may not be able to prevent the country from exiting the EU without an agreement to cover future relations.
Rinne was responding to UK PM Boris Johnson’s request to Queen Elizabeth this week to prorogue parliament.
"Johnson’s message yesterday is that he has got enough of a signal from his meeting with [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel to focus on taking matters forward in his own parliament. But today the message came that that initiative had been deferred. It tells me that Johnson’s actions are very contradictory," Rinne said on Wednesday, adding that the situation now looks worse than one day earlier.
"It definitely increases the risk of a no-deal Brexit," he added.
Analysts believe that if the UK crashes out of the EU, it would complicate movement between Britain and mainland Europe. It could also affect the economy and make the availability of medicines problematic.
Given Finland’s presidency of the EU Council, Rinne said he has offered his assistance in ensuring that the UK does not leave the EU without a deal. However Rinne said he now has to wait and see.
"At the moment the situation seems chaotic. We are awaiting clarification from the UK [to see] if we can somehow assist," he added.
Haavisto: No-deal Brexit could bring many surprises
Meanwhile Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto offered comments on the current situation from a Greens parliamentary group meeting in Hämeenlinna.
"Of course from Finland’s perspective it’s important that Brexit is orderly, however it happens. As the holder of the EU presidency, we naturally hope that it will happen with an EU agreement, to regulate relations between the EU and Britain," he remarked.
Haavisto pointed out that a disorderly Brexit could mean many surprises in the future.
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"A no-deal Brexit involves many risk factors and it could be bad for everyone economically. In the days [after Brexit] we don’t know how the movement of goods and people will work, what will be the status of EU workers in Britain and the Northern Ireland border question is also difficult. There would be much to negotiate after a no-deal Brexit," he continued.
Haavisto said that he believed that Brexit will also be on the agenda during unofficial meetings of EU foreign ministers at the end of this week.
The minister said that Finland’s direct message to the UK is that regardless of whether or not the country remains in the EU, bilateral relations must continue, even if only because many UK citizens live in Finland and vice versa.