Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government and Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen retained the confidence of Finland’s parliament on Friday after separate opposition challenges over the government’s Middle East policy and Häkkänen’s visit to Israel.
MPs backed the government by 93 votes to 62, with 21 abstentions. Häkkänen secured a wider majority, winning his confidence vote by 114 votes to 61.
The votes followed criticism from opposition parties over Finland’s approach to Israel and Palestine.
The Social Democratic Party had proposed a vote of no confidence in the government, arguing that disagreements within the coalition had produced an inconsistent Middle East policy.
SDP chair Antti Lindtman described the government’s policy as “completely unsuccessful and confused”, according to Ilta-Sanomat. The party targeted the government as a whole rather than joining the separate motion against Häkkänen.
The SDP, Greens and Left Alliance voted against confidence in the government, according to Helsingin Sanomat.
One dispute concerned Finland’s position on trade restrictions involving Israeli settlements. Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen joined Finland to an international statement supporting restrictions, while Foreign Trade and Development Minister Ville Tavio later said he did not support EU-level trade restrictions.
The Greens separately sought a vote of no confidence in Häkkänen, with support from the Left Alliance. Their motion centred on his September visit to Israel and his meeting with Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz.
The Greens questioned why a ministerial visit was necessary at that point and sought further explanations about its political purpose.
Häkkänen has claimed the trip concerned Finland’s security and its purchase of the David’s Sling air defence system from Israel.
Finland signed a €317 million agreement for the David’s Sling air defence system in November 2023, after selecting the system earlier that year.
The agreement went ahead after the start of Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza and drew criticism over Finland’s decision to buy military equipment from Israel while its armed forces faced allegations of violations of international humanitarian law.
Critics of the procurement have argued that defence contracts provide revenue to Israel’s arms industry and deepen Finland’s military ties with the country. The Finnish government has defended the purchases on national security grounds, arguing that equipment should be selected according to the needs of the Finnish Defence Forces.
The issue has remained part of the political dispute, as Finland and Israel have continued defence cooperation since the David’s Sling agreement.
Yle reported in August that the countries had renewed a memorandum on defence materiel cooperation for 10 years, extending the arrangement until 2034. The Ministry of Defence had not publicly announced the agreement.
The memorandum covers research, development and procurement of military equipment. The Greens and Left Alliance criticised both the timing of the agreement and the lack of a public announcement, questioning why Finland was expanding defence cooperation with Israel during the genocide in Gaza.
HT
