Banning burkas, the hockey Hall of Fame, Swedish crime gangs and expensive candy

Hello Insiders!

Another weekend, and another week of Finnish news to chew and digest! Thanks for the feedback on the last edition from several readers who got in touch, it’s great to hear from you. If you’ve got comments, suggestions or a story tip, please feel free to reach out directly to me at [email protected].

Coming up this week… Finnish politicians doing what they do best: finding solutions to problems that don’t really exist. There’s fresh political uncertainty in Turku and Helsinki ahead of next year’s municipal elections; a pessimistic outlook from Finland’s kids; and this year’s must-have Christmas advent calendar. ‘Tis the season!

All that still to come, but first this:

Inside the headlines

Wages. SAK, the umbrella organisation for Finnish trade unions, is calling for a 10% pay rise across the board. SAK’s goal is for the increase to be spread over two years. The first year's increase would be 6% and at least €150 per month. In the second year the goal would be a 4% increase and at least €100 per month.

Crash. A tram crash in Espoo left four people injured on Friday. The tram was coming to a halt at its final destination at the western end of the line in Keilaniemi when it apparently hit a concrete barrier.

Asylum. A trans woman who moved from America to Finland after being subjected to discrimination and sexual assaults, has died. MTV3 reports that Rynn Willgohs arrived in Finland in the spring and claimed asylum, but took her own life recently, while her application was being processed.

Future. Young people in Finland are more pessimistic about their future than they were previously. That’s according to the findings of a new study out this week from the Central Union for Child Welfare Lastensuojelun Keskusliitto. The research finds that only 55% of children and young people consider the situation for children to be good, compared to 71% in 2017, and 68% in 2021. (Note: Swedish-speaking Finnish children are more positive about their futures than Finnish-speaking kids).

Crime. Police unions across the Nordic countries have issued a joint statement saying that gang violence originating in Sweden has become a regional issue that they cannot solve on their own. The unions from Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland expressed concern that officers are increasingly unable to contain and prevent gang-related crime from becoming a shared Nordic problem.

Hockey. President Alex Stubb has been singing his father’s praises in The Athletic magazine, ahead of Stubb Senior’s possible inauguration to the Ice Hockey Hall of Fame for his work as an NHL talent scout. The president said of his dad, Göran, “he’s down to earth, he’s humble and he’s loyal to the max.”

Advent. With the festive season just around the corner (or maybe your Pikkujoulu season has already started?) you might want to be aware of the most popular advent calendar. According to both S-Group and K-Group, the CandyKing loose candy calendar is one of their big sellers this year, and contains all your favourite pick and mix sweets. But depending on the weight of candy inside, be prepared to dig very deep in your pockets to pay for it!

Inside politics

Burka ban. A group of MPs from the far-right Finns Party wants to ban burkas, and other head coverings worn by some Muslim women. Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said she would join 14 of her Finns Party colleagues in parliament to push for the ban - although conceded it was unlikely to pass during the life of this current parliament. The MPs benchmark other EU countries like France, Netherlands and Austria where a similar ban is already in effect.

Refugees. Although the government continues to deny it, Iltalehti got its hands on Interior Ministry documents this week it says show there is a policy in play to favour “Christians” when accepting quota refugees from UN agencies. There is also a desire from the government, Iltalehti’s documents highlight, to take 90% women and girls, even though United Nations High Commission for Refugees UNHCR guidance says that women and girls should make up 60% - 65% of quota refugees. Interior Minister Mari Rantanen (Finns) denied such a policy exists, saying on Friday “I'll be the first to state that we don't make these choices based on religion.”

Robbery. The Social Democrats have strongly criticised the government’s plans to increase the tax burden of pensioners, describing it as a “robbery” - although opposition parties are not putting on a united front when it comes to the plans with the Greens siding in part with the government’s position.

Helsinki mayor. Former foreign minister and three-time presidential candidate Pekka Haavisto has (surprisingly) ruled himself out of being the Green candidate for Helsinki mayor. Haavisto is apparently being tipped instead for a top international job with the UN in the Middle East. Green MP and Helsinki City Councillor Fatim Diarra has said she would put herself forward for the job instead. The Greens will make their formal decision in mid-December.

How does the Helsinki mayor vote work? Although there is no direct election for Mayor of Helsinki, the parties basically name their candidates for the job ahead of time, and the party with the most seats in the city council after the election gets to install their candidate for mayor.

Tampere mayor. Meanwhile in Tampere, MP Joakim Vigelius has been nominated as the Finns Party’s mayoral candidate. The Finns Party is currently the fourth largest group in the city council. Tampere has a Kokoomus mayor at present.

Turku politics. And there’s political turmoil in Tampere this week as 11 Left Alliance candidates have said they’re withdrawing their names from the party’s municipal elections list after it failed to select Elina Sandelin and Johannes Yrttiaho as candidates. The 11 renegade candidates say there are political reasons why Sandelin and Yrttiaho have been left out in the cold, and they’re not at all amused.

Finland international

Ukraine. You only have to whisper the word “Finlandization” quietly under your breath for the Finnish media, and politicians, to prick up their ears and go into overdrive. It’s a Pavlovian reaction at this point, and this week was no different.

After the period of WWII, “Finland found itself compelled to spend decades maintaining friendly and accommodating relations with its eastern neighbour and treading a sometimes precarious path of neutrality to preserve independence - a tactic known as "Finlandisation", Reuters helpfully explains.

On a visit to Paris this week, Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen firmly quashed any talk of a Finlandization model for Ukraine (something it is mooted that perhaps Donald Trump would like to impose on Kyiv).

"I'm against it (Finlandisation), yes,” said Valtonen. “Let's face it, Ukraine was neutral before they were attacked by Russia.”

"It's definitely not something I would be imposing on Ukraine. Definitely not as a first alternative.”

Brussels. There’s a fly in the ointment in Brussels when it comes to the confirmation hearings of Finland’s EU Commissioner-designate Henna Virkkunen (NCP). Helsingin Sanomat’s Jarno Hartikainen reports that the overall list of commissioner candidates has hit a political deadlock, especially with problems around the Italian and Spanish nominees, who would be vice-presidents like Virkkunen. Hartikainen explains: “The appointment of all six vice-presidents has now become a political package, and the fall of one candidate may lead to changes in the portfolios of the other candidates as well.”

COP29. Yes, it probably seems like holding a huge climate conference in a country whose economy relies on the petrochemical industry was deeply problematic… and you’d be right… but for better or worse COP29 has been going on in Azerbaijan this week (although getting a lot less media attention than previous iterations of the annual event).

Finland has again promised millions of euros to island nations fighting rising sea levels but NGOs have pointed out that Petteri Orpo’s government has slashed hundreds of millions of euros from environment budgets and funds to combat climate change. So there’s a stench of hypocrisy in the air.

Yle News writes: “A recent report by Finnish development NGOs calculates that the Orpo government is cutting climate funding by hundreds of millions of euros.

A large part of Finland's cuts are aimed at the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the most important financing channel of the Paris climate agreement. For example, poor African countries are using the fund to reduce emissions by replacing fossil fuels with clean energy.

According to the report, Finland is slashing its contribution from 100 million euros to 60 million, as announced by Foreign Trade and Development Minister Ville Tavio (Finns) a year ago.”

Ice breakers. Finland announced a cooperation deal on ice breakers with the US and Canada earlier this year, but there have not been any orders placed yet to actually build some ships. Could it all be put in jeopardy with the new Trump administration, as it looks to cut budget spending and turns more insular? Minister Ville Rydman (Finns) tells Helsingin Sanomat that it could be possible there is positive news about a ship order next year. Let’s see what Donald Trump and Elon Musk have to say about that…

And finally…

Christmas. Honestly, it’s never too early to think about Christmas, although in my house we have a strict policy that Christmas decorations don’t go up until after Independence Day celebrations are over. One holiday at a time, please! But still, if you’re planning ahead then the Visit Finland folks have a lovely look on Instagram of things to do and places to go this festive season. And they don’t even pay me to share their content!

Thank you, kiitos, tack!

That’s all for this week, thanks for reading all the way to the end of you made it this far. I salute your patience and fortitude!

The Finland Insider newsletter is back next Saturday, I look forward to connecting with you then!

David