Ex-Catalan leader Puigdemont has left Finland for Belgium: Finnish MP

Catalonia's former president Carles Puigdemont, wanted under a European arrest warrant issued by Spain, left Finland for Belgium on Friday, a Finnish lawmaker who organised his visit to the Nordic country said.

Mikko Karna, an MP who hosted Puigdemont in Helsinki on Thursday and Friday for talks with lawmakers, said he had "just received information that Carles Puigdemont departed from Finland last evening by unknown means to Belgium," in a statement posted on Twitter.

"Puigdemont confirmed to me today that in Belgium he will fully cooperate with authorities," Karna wrote.

Puigdemont is wanted by Spain on charges of "rebellion" and "sedition".

Finnish police had said earlier today they would comply with the European arrest warrant, but stressed they did not know Puigdemont's whereabouts.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said it could not confirm Karna's information.

"We do not have official information regarding that... This is what a member of parliament is saying, but we have no confirmation," NBI criminal inspector Hannu Kautta told AFP.