Sari Essayah, the leader of the Christian Democrats and a government minister, on Friday announced that she disagreed with Finland's stance in the UN vote regarding Israel and the Palestinians.
Finland's Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Sari Essayah (CD), expressed a dissenting opinion in a meeting of the President and Ministerial Committee on Foreign and Security Policy (TP-UTVA) that outlined Finland's policies in the Middle East.
According to Finnish news agency STT, Essayah confirmed via text message that she disagreed with Finland's decision last month at the UN to vote in favour of declaring Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories as illegal. Essayah told STT she could not support Finland's decision on the matter and recorded her dissenting opinion in the committee's minutes.
Essayah's announcement made headlines in Finland as dissenting opinions on foreign policy are rare after meetings of the committee, with parties usually committed to maintaining a consensus in public — even when disagreements exist. Following the committee's session on Friday, both President Alexander Stubb and Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) held press conferences emphasising unity on Finnish foreign policy.
In September, Finland's voting decision on Israeli settlements faced criticism from members of two parties in Orpo's government coalition: the Christian Democrats and the Finns Party.
Yle asked Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen (NCP) about Essayah's criticism.
"In a democracy, it is not a flaw but rather a feature that parties have different viewpoints. They represent their respective voters," she told Yle's Ykkösaamu chat show on Saturday.
Valtonen emphasised that working with Essayah would not be a problem going forward.
"She has a different opinion on this matter. I have no problem continuing to work with her. The government does not need to be unanimous on foreign policy issues," Valtonen added.
Valtonen has said that Finland will recognise Palestine sometime in the future.
"Now is not the time to recognise Palestine," she told Yle, noting that the region must first see a ceasefire and hostages released before negotiations can begin.
Essayah's dissenting opinion was initially reported by the Social Democratic party paper Demokraatti.