Finland has cancelled a planned informal meeting of foreign ministers due to evolving events in Japan and Libya, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday, DPA reported.
"The situation among others in Libya and Japan is so serious that the foreign ministers are needed in their own capitals," Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb said in a statement.
In Japan, authorities are struggling to avert a meltdown at a nuclear power plant after last week's massive earthquake, while in Libya Moamer Gaddafi's regime is fighting to regain control of rebel- held territories.
Stubb had been set to host informal talks with the European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, and eight other European foreign ministers in northern Finland.
The foreign ministers of Belgium, Britain, Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Norway, Sweden and Turkey had earlier confirmed they planned to attend the March 18-20 meeting in the Arctic ski resort of Saariselka.
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