MEP Laura Huhtasaari (Finns) has announced that she does not plan to run as a candidate in the next European Parliamentary elections in June 2024, according to newspaper Satakunnan Kansa.
"I want to live in Finland permanently with my mother and family," she explained.
Huhtasaari, who became known in Finnish politics as a eurosceptic, currently resides in both the municipality of Merikarvia in Finland's Satakunta region, and in Brussels for her work as a MEP.
Huhtasaari also told the newspaper that her current term as an MEP might be cut short.
"If I become a [Finnish] parliamentary candidate and am elected as an MP, then I will finish up my work here [as an MEP] already in 2023," she said, according to Satakunnan Kansa.
Finland's parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in April of next year.
Huhtasaari was elected to the European Parliament in 2019, drawing more than 92,000 votes; the most among Finns Party candidates and third-most among candidates from all other parties.
The Finns Party council chose Huhtasaari as the party’s presidential candidate in 2017.