Prime Ministers of Finland

Amid escalating tensions between Russia and the West, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has sounded the alarm, asserting that Russia is gearing up for a protracted confrontation with Western nations. Orpo's remarks, delivered today, underscore growing concerns about the geopolitical landscape and the imperative for enhanced European defense measures.

Day 719 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, chairman of the National Liberal Party (PNL), is conducting on Wednesday and Thursday a visit to Zagreb, to participate in the EPP Congress, context in which he has scheduled meetings with several heads of government and high officials of the European Union.

The European Union will help finance the construction of a railway line linking Istanbul with the Bulgarian border with the sum of 275 million euros. This was announced by European Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen at a joint press conference in Istanbul with Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeebecki, the Associated Press reported.

European Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen will visit Athens on January 29 to participate in a joint meeting of the Greek Parliament's committees on european affairs, production and trade and economics.

Katainen, who is Commissioner for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, will speak at a session titled "The future of Europe: Challenges and opportunities."

German EU lawmaker Manfred Weber won the backing of Europe's center-right parties on Thursday to stand in the race to become European Commission president next year.

Finland has emerged as the eurozone’s worst performing economy after contracting 0.6% in the third quarter. The union has been stagnant for the last three years. It’s economic problems are mainly due to a collapse in trade with Russia, highly uncompetitive labor costs and the decline of its successful Nokia.

Finland’s Finance Minister Alexander Stubb believes that the resignation of the Greek government will not have a negative impact on the 3rd Greek bailout plan approved by the Eurrogoup and EU member states.

Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb has admitted defeat in parliamentary elections held in the country on Sunday, with his party coming second.

The opposition Centre Party, led by millionaire former IT businessman Juha Sipilä, has won with 21.2% of the vote, while support for Stubb's National Coalition Party (NCP) was at 18.2%.

Polls suggest the center-right opposition could defeat conservative National Coalition Party in the vote that is being held across Finland on Sunday.