Finnish defense minister takes parental leave during NATO accession process

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Finland's Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen

Photo: KIMMO BRANDT / EPA

War in Ukraine, NATO accession, neighbor Russia: Finland currently has a lot to do in terms of defense policy.

However, Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen will focus on family in the coming weeks.

From January 6th to the end of February he will be on parental leave - and thus absent as a minister.

"Kids are little for just a moment and I don't just want to remember that in photos," he wrote on Twitter.

The Secretary of Defense announced the birth of his second child in July.

MP Mikko Savola will take over in his absence.

The Finnish Defense Minister's party has praised his decision on paternity leave amid the NATO accession process.

"We proudly support Antti Kaikkonen's decision," said Annika Saarikko, Minister of Finance and leader of the Center Party.

The opportunity to do so is open to everyone.

Few ministers on maternity leave

In Finland, fathers whose children were born before September 2022 are entitled to 54 days of paternity leave.

According to the government, around 80 percent of Finnish fathers take advantage of this, but only a proportion of the entire day.

Although several politicians have already taken parental leave in government positions, Kaikkonen is one of the first men in the ministerial post in Finland to take this time.

The pioneer was then Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen, who took a few days' parental leave twice during his term in office in the late 1990s.

After the Russian attack on Ukraine, Sweden and Finland broke with their decades-long tradition of military alliance neutrality and applied for NATO membership in May.

Each of the 30 NATO member countries must ratify accession.

Only Hungary and Turkey have yet to agree.

mrc/AFP