Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has asked Speaker of Parliament Jussi Halla-aho to recall MPs from their summer recess so the government faces questions and a confidence vote over €35 million in conditional state support for the Garden Helsinki arena project. The government plans to submit a formal statement to parliament on Tuesday, 21 July.

In Finland, even the appearance of impropriety attracts intense scrutiny

After weeks of silence on the growing controversy, the Finnish PM said that a former NCP politician's emails pushing for funding were "completely inappropriate".