“They have really started to think about how to help Lithuania, Latvia and Poland in the face of this situation,” Asta Skaisgiryte, the president’s chief foreign policy adviser, told the public broadcaster LRT. “This is the first initiative, which is now being examined by the Interior Ministry and other institutions.”Continue Reading
The Finnish Defence Forces have cancelled a planned Independence Day parade in the city of Lahti on 6 December, citing the worsening coronavirus situation. Last year’s parade, which was scheduled to take place in Pori, was also cancelled because of the pandemic. Parade organisers had planned to include all serviceContinue Reading
The government met to hammer out measures to deal with rising case numbers, the vaccine situation and the unknowns surrounding the latest coronavirus variant. Members of Prime Minister Sanna Marin‘s (SDP) government gathered at the House of Estates in Helsinki on Tuesday afternoon to discuss strategies to improve the country’sContinue Reading
Around a quarter-of-a-million disposed medical masks have been collected under a recycling scheme in Tallinn, in the five months of the project’s operation. Ester Öpik, coordinator of Tallinn coronavirus prevention measures, said: “We have seen in all locations of the collection bins that people eagerly dispose of face masks inContinue Reading
The parliament on Tuesday passed the respective amendments to the Law on Social Insurance Pensions, with 98 votes in favor and 17 abstentions. “Low pensions are still a big problem for the country,” Social Security and Labor Minister Monika Navickiene told the Seimas before the vote. She expects that theContinue Reading
The government decided on Sunday afternoon to impose entry restrictions for people arriving from southern Africa, Interior Minister Krista Mikkonen (Green) announced on Twitter. As of 3pm on Sunday, Finland will restrict entry into the country for travellers who have been in Botswana, Eswatini (Swaziland), South Africa, Lesotho, Mozambique, NamibiaContinue Reading
The EU commission on Thursday recommended that the bloc’s vaccination certificate, which has allowed free travel of Covid-vaccinated Europeans, be valid only up to nine months after a second dose. “We propose a validity of nine months for the European anti-covid certificate and beyond this period, its validity would noContinue Reading
This year’s Independence Day gala, which was set to take place at Helsinki’s Presidential Palace on 6 December, has been cancelled. According to a press release (siirryt toiseen palveluun) from the President’s Office, the event has been called off due to the worsening Covid-19 situation in the country. A separateContinue Reading
Finland’s government will discuss the possible introduction of more restrictions aimed at curbing the recent uptick in Covid infections at a ministerial meeting early next week, Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) said on Wednesday. “The coronavirus situation is worrying,” Marin said. “It is now more important than ever that everyoneContinue Reading
The epidemiological situation in Lithuania is stabilizing, but it is not yet clear if the country is already past the peak of infections, Deputy Health Minister Ausra Bilotiene Motiejuniene has said. “We are in the third week of stable or not increasing numbers,” she told the public broadcaster LRT onContinue Reading