“I put my family first,” Orpo said during a press conference. “This work is demanding. It is also challenging for my family and loved ones. The fact that we got to be together was worth it. I would make that decision again.”
Orpo sent Finnish President Alexander Stubb to the July summit and he was cheerfully greeted by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as he arrived at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire.
According to opposition MPs from the Social Democratic Party, Stubb’s participation was a “peculiar anomaly” and “contrary to the spirit of the Constitution,” arguing that Finland has previously been represented by the prime minister during similar European meetings.
Orpo also faced blowback for not immediately publicly disclosing the reasons for his absence at the summit.
“It is not known where Prime Minister Orpo was on July 18, when the meeting was being held,” Tytti Tuppurainen, a member of the Social Democratic Party, wrote on X in late July.
According to Orpo, however, Stubb’s attendance at the summit did not represent a problem and he said that the replacement was agreed in advance with officials and meeting organizers.
“This was a meeting focusing on foreign and security policy, so it was very natural that the president of the republic participated,” Orpo said Tuesday.
Addressing criticism about why the reasons for his absence were not immediately made public, Orpo said: “I thought of it in such a way that when you say that there are family reasons behind it, that would be enough. In this case, too, family reasons were involved.”
