The Ministry of the Interior will propose an increase of Finland’s refugee quota to 2,000 in the government’s budget negotiations, Interior Minister Maria Ohisalo (Green) has told Yle. Finland’s current refugee quota is 1,050 people. The quota system shares out refugees among EU member states according to a calculation basedContinue Reading
“If the Taliban stay here and form the next government, other countries will pay the price for it. That has happened before,” the young man said. Abdul* is one of at least 20 Finnish nationals who are trapped in Afghanistan amid a takeover of the country by the Taliban militantContinue Reading
Member of Parliament Ano Turtiainen, who was ejected from the Finns Party earlier this year, gathered enough signatures needed to launch a new political party in a single day. Turtiainen’s planned new party, Valta kuuluu kansalle (VKK), or “Power Belongs to the People” announced that it had crossed the 5,000-signatureContinue Reading
Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) has said that the government is to decide on the general guidelines of its so-called hybrid coronavirus strategy on Thursday, including the vaccine coverage target. Another key question, according to Marin, is when the epidemic level system can be abandoned in various regions once theContinue Reading
Finland’s government is making preparations to evacuate potentially dozens of Afghans who worked for the country during the lengthy military conflict in Afghanistan, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said. “There is a consensus in the government that they have a duty to help them,” the minister told Yle, adding thatContinue Reading
Finland’s Interior Minister and chair of the Green Party Maria Ohisalo has demanded that the government’s coalition partners make the necessary decisions on climate policy during budget negotiations scheduled for the autumn. This includes policies aimed at reducing the amount of emissions from agriculture, Ohisalo added, as Finland seeks toContinue Reading
Petteri Taalas, the Finn who leads the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), said on Monday that the world is on course to miss crucial climate change targets after the publication of the latest report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Global warming is a rather significant problem inContinue Reading
Police in Turku have launched a preliminary investigation into a mass brawl in the city’s port area on Sunday evening. Tabloid Ilta-Sanomat reported that a fight involving an estimated 20 people broke out in front of the Silja Line terminal at about 6.30pm. Police said they have received one criminalContinue Reading
Last July, nearly 50 unaccompanied children were relocated from Greece to Finland as part of a programme coordinated by the European Commission. Fifteen of them were placed in the Kotka Hybrid Unit for Minors on Finland’s southeast coast. The hybrid unit, established in Kotka a couple of years ago, isContinue Reading
The Union of Upper Secondary School Students has made an appeal to decision makers regarding rumours that the new school year may resume remotely due to the worsening pandemic situation. The independent, student-led group described a return to distance learning as “the worst thing that could happen.” Speaking on Yle’sContinue Reading