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A CLEAR MAJORITY of Finns have a positive view of Nato, reveals a value and attitude survey commissioned by the Finnish Business and Policy Forum (Eva). Nearly three-quarters, or 71 per cent, of the survey respondents stated that they have a positive view of membership in the defence alliance, representing a drop of five percentage points from the first half of the year. One in ten respondents had a negative view and almost one-fifth, or 17 per cent, a neutral view of the membership.
New data from Statistics Finland paints a grim picture of rising drug-related deaths in Finland, particularly among young people. In 2023, drug overdoses claimed the lives of 310 individuals, including 91 under the age of 25. Among 15–24-year-olds, drugs were the cause of death in one out of every four cases, marking a near doubling of fatalities in this age group compared to the previous year. “The time to act is now,” write Robert Koski and Jarmo Kantonen , experts in substance abuse...
Kimmo Kiljunen , a veteran Finnish MP from the Social Democratic Party (SDP), has resigned as chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee following remarks about reopening Finland’s eastern border. His resignation comes amid criticism that his comments undermined confidence in his leadership. A new chair will be chosen next week. The decision was confirmed during an SDP parliamentary group meeting. Kiljunen, who has held the post since early 2023, said he requested the resignation himself.
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Gunnel Stenbäck , a deaconess and Finland’s oldest known living person, has died at the age of 110. She passed away peacefully on Saturday at the Helsinki Deaconess Institute’s care home, according to her family. Born in 1914 on the Åland Islands, just months after the outbreak of the First World War, Stenbäck lived through all of Finland’s modern history, including two world wars and the terms of every Finnish president.
Riikka Purra , Finland’s finance minister and leader of the Finns Party, has defended two of her party’s MPs for choosing to participate in the controversial 612 torch march on Independence Day rather than attending the Presidential Palace gala. MPs Teemu Keskisarja and Sheikki Laakso announced last week that they would forgo the traditional Independence Day reception to attend the 612 event in Helsinki.
THE PRICES of old dwellings in housing companies crept up by 0.4 per cent year-on-year in October, reveal preliminary data published by Statistics Finland on Thursday. The last time the prices of old dwellings rose on a year-on-year basis was over two years ago – in September 2022. The data indicate that the prices rose by 0.5 per cent in the six largest cities, with the change ranging from a drop of 1.9 per cent in Tampere to a jump of 6.0 per cent in Turku.
A GROUP of lawmakers and prominent foreign policy experts has launched a citizens’ initiative urging Finland to opt out of the Ottawa Convention, an international agreement banning anti-personnel landmines. The initiative was announced on X on Wednesday by Henri Vanhanen , a foreign policy expert who is set to join the staff of MEP Mika Aaltola (NCP) in 2025.
The Swedish People's Party (SFP) in Espoo has announced the formation of a multicultural committee aimed at engaging immigrants and non-native Finnish or Swedish speakers in local and national politics. The initiative, led by Joni AlWindi , seeks to foster dialogue between diverse social groups and encourage greater involvement from individuals with immigrant backgrounds in the democratic process, whether through public debate or standing as candidates in future elections.
THOUSANDS of protesters are expected to descend on Helsinki on Independence Day, 6 December, according to YLE. Heikki Porola , a detective chief inspector at Helsinki Police Department, told the Finnish public broadcasting company late last month that the 612 torch march is expected to draw roughly a thousand and the counter-protest roughly two thousand protesters to downtown Helsinki.
EVEN THOUGH interest rates on housing loans have fallen and the prices of old homes have seemingly started creeping up, Finns remain hesitant to invest in new-built homes, reports Helsingin Sanomat. Euribor 12, the most popular benchmark rate for housing loans in Finland, fell to an over two-year low of roughly 2.4 per cent last week.
HUS GROUP , the joint municipal authority responsible for providing specialised hospital care in Helsinki and Uusimaa, will lay off roughly 280 employees as part of the consultative negotiations it wrapped up late last week. HUS Group on Thursday said most of the lay-offs will target staff in administrative, support, and executive and managerial roles.
Teemu Keskisarja , a Member of Parliament from the Finns Party, has announced he will not attend Finland’s Independence Day gala at the Presidential Palace this year. Instead, he will speak at the controversial 612 event, followed by a torchlight march in Helsinki. Keskisarja confirmed his decision in an article published in the nationalist Sarastus magazine and on the website of the 612 association, which organises the event.
THE FINNISH FOOD AUTHORITY unveiled its new national nutritional guidelines on Wednesday, 27 November. The guidelines encourage a shift away from animal-based toward plant-based foods, with the recommended daily intake of vegetables raised from 500 to 500–800 grams and the weekly limit on the intake of beef, lamb and pork lowered from 500 to 350 grams.
THE PLANS of Teemu Keskisarja and Sheikki Laakso of the Finns Party to skip the Independence Day reception and attend the 612 protest march is “inappropriate” and “wrong,” according to Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP). Orpo on Monday indicated to Helsingin Sanomat that he has received information about the protest march from the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service (Supo).
