Italian Region Seeks Pause in Finland's NATO Entry Process

ROME (Sputnik) - The leader of Italy's north-easternmost region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia has asked the parliament to suspend Finland's NATO entry bid after the exit of a Finnish jobmaker put 450 Italian workers at risk of unemployment.

Massimiliano Fedriga's spokesperson told Sputnik that the regional president sent letters to heads of parliamentary commissions on foreign affairs, budget, and defense, asking them to look into the planned exit of Finnish engine maker Wartsila after the company said on July 14 that it would ramp down manufacturing in the provincial capital of Trieste to focus on production at home.

Minister of Economic Development Giancarlo Giorgetti will address the employment crisis in the small autonomous region at a meeting in Rome later on Wednesday. Giorgetti said he was surprised by the company's "unjustified and unfair" decision to quit and would summon its top managers for talks. Wartsila reportedly offered to stay in return for 34 million euros ($34.5 million) in EU recovery funding.

The Italian parliament will meet in September after the summer break to consider Finland's and Sweden's NATO accession requests after the two Nordic nations were given a go-ahead on July 5. The approval of all 30 member states is required.