Finnish foreign policy specialists are critical of a possible summit between the presidents of Russia and the United States, as they note the dangers of European issues being discussed only between the two former Cold War adversaries. The BBC is among many media outlets reporting on Monday morning that RussianContinue Reading
Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto (Green) has said that recent meetings between German and Russian leaders indicate that ongoing tensions in Ukraine could still be resolved through diplomatic means. The security situation in the region remains strained, with western countries expressing concern about an impending attack on Ukraine as RussiaContinue Reading
Asked in an interview on Yle TV1 on Wednesday morning why the Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) raised their level of internal security on Tuesday, Minister of Defence Antti Kaikkonen (Cen) said that, “Times are such that the Defence Forces are taking their own measures,” but denied that Finland is facingContinue Reading
Finland’s Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto says that there is still a chance for a diplomatic resolution to the Ukraine crisis. Finland will not send weapons to Ukraine as it faces the possibility of an invasion by Russia, says Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto (Green). Speaking on Yle TV1’s breakfast television showContinue Reading
The Baltic foreign ministers are preparing to travel to Ukraine amid Western concerns that Russia may invade its neighbor, Lithuania’s top diplomat Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Monday evening. “We have tentatively agreed with our Baltic colleagues (…) on our possible visit (to Ukraine) in the near future,” he told theContinue Reading
The chair of parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Mika Niikko (Finns), was forced to explain his comments on Twitter that appeared to contradict Finland’s foreign policy positions. He had suggested that French President Emmanuel Macron, or someone else, should state publicly that Ukraine would not join Nato. He soon deleted theContinue Reading
Stockholm: Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg and members of the Nordic country’s indigenous Sami community on Saturday protested against a possible iron ore mine in northern Sweden. The government is next month to decide whether to greenlight the controversial project led by UK firm Beowulf, which has promised to createContinue Reading
NATO must discuss European security issues with all allies, Estonian President Alar Karis said following a phone call with United States President Joe Biden and other heads of state of NATO’s Eastern European members on Thursday. “Estonia’s position is clear — NATO discusses the security issues of Europe, including thoseContinue Reading
Sign on Norway’s border with Russia reminds visitors not to pee towards country The area is popular with tourists on the Norwegian side who can see Russian side Those caught face a fine of 3,000 kroner which is almost equal to about £250 A new sign posted at Norway’s riverContinue Reading
Russian-speaking people in Estonia and Latvia live in the Russian world, writer and social anthropologist Erika Fatland writes in Norway’s largest daily Aftenposten. In an article entitled “Trapped in the Kremlin’s long shadows” (“Fanget i Kremls lange skygger”), Fatland says that thirty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union,Continue Reading