Finnish President Cancels Dinner with Swedish King Following Putin's Remarks

On June 9, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö unexpectedly canceled a scheduled dinner with King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden in the Åland Islands in the Baltic Sea and urgently returned to Helsinki with his wife. This was reported by RTVI.

The reason for the cancellation of the event was not specified. The British tabloid Daily Mail drew attention to this event.

The publication speculated that the incident could have been triggered by Russian President Vladimir Putin's speech during a meeting with young entrepreneurs, where he notably stated that Peter I "did not seize Swedish lands, but returned Russian territories." According to the DM, given the two countries' plans to join NATO, the Russian leader's words could have been interpreted by the Finnish president as a veiled threat.

Moreover, the publication mentioned that at the moment of Putin's speech, Russian military ships had commenced exercises in the Baltic Sea. Specifically, it reported that a group of Russian ships had moved from Kaliningrad towards the Åland Islands, prompting both the Swedish king and the Finnish president to leave the region, where there were no weapons.

Immediately following the publication of the British tabloid material, Finnish newspaper Ilta Sanomat reported that representatives of the Swedish king had been warned by the protocol service of the Finnish president about this turn of events. The Swedish side expressed full understanding, the periodical noted. The publication does not clarify why Niinistö went to his residence in Naantali while the guests returned to their homeland.