Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson joked there may be a place for Canada in the European Union to join “like-minded” nations as “the most Nordic country in the world outside the Nordics.”

“European Union is obviously a matter of geography, you can hear that from the name,” Kristersson told CTV Question Period host Vassy Kapelos when asked for his opinion on comments by other world leaders that Canada should join the EU.

“But it is also a matter of values, and a matter of what countries would you like to integrate together with in different aspects,” he added, laughing. “So, it’s not for me to say, but the European Union is a very welcoming club for (the) like-minded.”

Finnish President Alexander Stubb made headlines last month when he commented on the possibility of Canada joining the EU. Asked by Kapelos about those comments during an interview on CTV Question Period at the time, Stubb said he wasn’t the one who raised the idea, but that he hopes Canada and the EU can “be as close as possible.”

“I would embrace you, because I think you guys are great, and you would slot into the system like nothing before,” Stubb said of the hypothetical scenario.

...