This week Finland saw a series of trade union actions protesting the government’s planned labour market policies and cuts to social welfare. As this week’s series of political strikes comes to an end, it appears that the strikers still have the support of the majority of Finns, according to anContinue Reading
Finnish troops will conduct local defence drills across the country at the beginning of next month, the Army announced in a press release on Thursday. The regularly held exercises will be held from 1-8 March, and will include the participation of conscripts, reservists, Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) personnel as wellContinue Reading
The Social Democratic Party (SDP), the largest opposition group in Parliament, plans to challenge the cabinet over what it calls “the labour market chaos caused by the government”. “The government is stubbornly sticking to its confrontational labour market policies and has so far refused all initiatives to resolve the situation.Continue Reading
Finland is sending its 22nd military aid package to Ukraine, the Ministry of Defence announced on Friday. In a press release, the ministry said the package would cost Finland around 190 million euros. The shipment will bring the total value of defence aid packages Finland has sent to Ukraine toContinue Reading
According to Jyri Häkämies, Director General of the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK), the impact of political strikes on Finland’s gross domestic product will rise to almost one billion euros if political strikes planned for next week go ahead as planned. Häkämies was interviewed on commercial TV broadcaster MTV onContinue Reading
The presidential candidate is in a registered civil partnership with Ecuadorian man Antonio Flores. One third of respondents to a survey conducted by the University of Helsinki said that they considered Pekka Haavisto‘s partner — an Ecuadorian man named Antonio Flores — to be a reason not to vote forContinue Reading
The terrorism case in the small town of Kankaanpää in the region of Satakunta, originally involved five suspected members of a neo-Nazi group. On 10 January, Deputy Prosecutor General Jukka Rappe charged two of the suspects with crimes committed with terrorist intent. The case marks the first time charges haveContinue Reading
Former Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin has joined the newly established International Task Force on Security and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, aimed at bolstering the country’s security position. The high-profile task force held its inaugural meeting on Tuesday, hosted by the Office of the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Besides Marin,Continue Reading
For the first time, the spouse of Finland’s next president will be of foreign origin. The spouses of both the National Coalition Party candidate Alexander Stubb, and his rival Pekka Haavisto (Green/independent) were born abroad. Stubb’s wife Suzanne Innes-Stubb is English and was born in Solihull. Haavisto’s partner Antonio FloresContinue Reading
More than 1,500 women have volunteered for military service, the Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) stated in a press release after applications for the summer 2024 cohort closed on 15 January. According to the FDF, this is the third highest number of applicants in history. Women have been trained for almostContinue Reading