Finland’s Presidency of the Council of the EU

While the Council of the EU has been headed by the countries from the Western Balkan’s neighbourhood (Austria, Bulgaria, and Romania) in the last 18 months, the time has come for Finland – a country geographically distant from the region – to take over.

The saying “out of sight, out of mind” implies that things can be dismissed as unimportant when not in direct view of the subject. Will this be the case with Finland vis-à-vis the Western Balkans? What can the countries of the region do to get closer to Finland? What are Finland’s priorities? This CEP Insight hopes to provide answers to these questions.