Reuters
Britain's defence secretary Ben Wallace said on Thursday that the suspension of parliament is an annual occurrence, as he arrived in Helsinki for talks with his European Union counterparts.
"It happens every year," Wallace told reporters when asked about the government's controversial move on Wednesday to prorogue parliament. The move has sparked outrage among opposition lawmakers and many others in Britain, and led to a sharp weakening in sterling as it was seen as increasing the risk of a no-deal Brexit.
EU's foreign and defence ministers are meeting to discuss a raft of issues from hybrid threats to climate risks to security to tensions in the Middle East. Austria's defence minister was asked if Brexit would weigh on EU defence capabilities.
"Of course there will be consequences but it (Brexit) has also driven a dynamic to make the EU more self-reliant in this area," Thomas Starlinger told reporters.
