Finnish prime minister leaves EU summit to take coronavirus test

16 October 2020, 11:04

Finland’s prime minister Sanna Marin (Johanna Geron/AP)
Belgium EU Summit. Picture: PA

Sanna Marin took the ‘precautionary measure’ the day after Commission president Ursula von der Leyen left the venue when a staffer tested positive.

Finnish prime minister Sanna Marin has left the European Union summit in Belgium “as a precautionary measure” and was flying back home to undergo a coronavirus test.

The move came one day after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen left the summit venue in Brussels shortly after the meeting began because one of her close staffers tested positive for Covid-19.

Ms Marin wrote: “I left the European Council meeting as a precautionary measure and asked the Swedish prime minister Stefan Lofven to represent the Finnish end of the meeting time.”

Ms Marin had attended a meeting on Wednesday at the Finnish parliament together with politician Tom Packalen who later tested positive for coronavirus and had mild flu symptoms.

By Press Association

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