Finland Times

 

Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Roivas (R) and Finland's newly elected Prime Minister Juha Sipilä (L) shake hands during a press conference at the Estonian government headquarters in Tallinn, on June 9, 2015. Photo – AFP / Lehtikuva.

Finland and Estonia will join a summit in Brussels on Wednesday where they are expected to oppose an immigration quota proposed by the EU Commission.

 

Prime Minister Juha Sipilä and his Estonian counterpart Taavi Roivas discussed the issue during Sipilä’s visit to Tallinn on Tuesday where both the premiers said they were on the same course in this regard.

 

Although Estonia had already disclosed its official decision on the issue, Sipilä said Finland had not yet expressed its official position. However, the matter is up for discussion on Friday.

 

Estonia published a declaration on its position on Tuesday. According to the declaration, the number of asylum seekers which the EU Commission proposed for Estonia is too large, and the movement of people from Greece and Italy as well as from other EU countries can only be grounded on a voluntary basis.

 

Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Roivas (R) and Finland's newly elected Prime Minister Juha Sipilä (L) address a press conference during a meeting at the Estonian government headquarters in Tallinn, on June 9, 2015. Photo – AFP / Lehtikuva.

“The premise would have been a voluntary practice,” Sipilä said.

 

There have been grumblings from other countries as well which have called for fair burden sharing. Among the countries are France and Germany where nearly 40 per cent of the 40,000 asylum seekers will be channelled to.