Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Löfven (S) is not present at this week's meeting, as his mother recently died and will soon be buried.
Instead, Finland's True Navy may also speak on behalf of Sweden, as substitutes are not accepted at EU summits.
- There will be no difficulties for her.
Sweden and Finland are very close to each other when it comes to all the issues on the agenda, says EU Minister Hans Dahlgren (S), who is on site in the summit corridors in Brussels to be able to reconcile with his Finnish colleagues.
Löfven: "Unacceptable actions"
The actual meeting on Thursday will be devoted almost entirely to foreign policy, especially with a focus on Turkey.
For several years, the EU country Cyprus has become increasingly angry about Turkey's actions around the divided island, where an unrecognized Turkish-backed breakaway republic is housed along the north coast.
Not least, the irritation concerns the Turkish search for oil and gas on water, which the recognized Cyprus sees as its own.
It is now thought that the EU will show collective support for the Cypriots.
- Turkey's destabilizing actions in the eastern Mediterranean are unacceptable and exacerbate an already tense situation, Löfven said in a statement in the Riksdag's EU Committee on Wednesday.
Hoping for a green light for Belarus sanctions
In the first place, the EU countries hope to bring about a relaxation through talks.
Probably also marked by more people and companies participating in the Turkish activities being added to the EU sanctions list.
- Should the dialogue path not yield results, then the EU must be ready to consider other courses of action, such as expanded listings within the framework of the existing sanctions regime, Löfven said.
Hans Dahlgren hopes for a "cohesive approach" to Turkey, and thus also a breakthrough to bring about increased sanctions against Belarus' longtime dictator Alexander Lukashenko - something that has so far been blocked by Cyprus, pending the discussion on Turkey.
Lukashenko is an illegally elected president.
It is really high time that these sanctions are implemented now, says Dahlgren.