Boycotting America, Eurovision sauna and another government immigration scandal

Hello Insiders! 

It’s been another week of busy international diplomacy with Finland’s senior leaders at the forefront of discussions on Ukraine, Russia, Donald Trump and the USA. And honestly I’m exhausted just reading that first sentence, but I’ll take a dive into it below and look at some of the issues bubbling under about Finland’s pending F-35 order worth a good €10 billion, security of supply on maintaining those aircraft (if they arrive…) and the growing calls for a boycott of US products.

Plus: As promised there’s more municipal elections coverage as we get closer to April’s election and some new opinion polling out this week which makes for good or bad news, depending on which party you support.

And of course everyone (and I mean everyone) in Finland seems to have something to say about Sweden’s Eurovision Song Contest entry, the ode to Finlandssvensk sauna culture Bara Bada Bastu. I can promise you some 🤪 takes on it including one government minister being asked by an esteemed elder statesman of Finnish journalism whether the “next logical step would be a federal union between Finland and Sweden?” I’m not even sure he was joking...

All that still to come, but first this:

Inside track: Ukraine, Russia and Donald Trump

🇺🇸 un/Realiable. Is the United States a reliable ally for Finland any more? That’s the question Helsingin Sanomat posed to members of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee this week, with mixed answers. Committee Chairman Johannes Koskinen (SDP) says he distinguishes between the whole country, and the actions of its current government. Deputy Chairperson Sofia Vikman (NCP) says she’s worried by Donald Trump’s comments on how Article V guarantees might only be extended to countries which spend a specific amount of money on defence. And Veronika Honkasalo (Left) says Trump’s words and actions have created “a really strong shadow of distrust over all of Europe and also over Finland."

💣 Nuclear. Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) told MTV Uutiset that he’s happy with a French statement on the possibility of extending its nuclear umbrella over a wider part of Europe. The PM also said: “When we have two nuclear powers in Europe, namely Britain and France, I think it is good to have a discussion about whether a European nuclear deterrent can be developed to meet the needs of NATO's European pillar. This is just a discussion, but I think it is appropriate.”

🔫 Exercises. Swedish newspaper Expressen claims the US has informed European allies it won’t be conducting joint training exercises with them any more. There’s been a steady stream of American military heading to Finland - mostly in the north - for training since Finland joined NATO but the Ministry of Defence said on Saturday they don’t recognise the scenario Expressen describes, and they don’t comment on rumours. Ouch!

🔌 Kill switch. Is there a secret “kill switch” built into American military equipment sold to European allies? The consensus from experts seems to be no. However one of the big security policy talking points this week in Finland has been around whether the Americans could withhold access to upgrades and spare parts for things like the new €10 billion F-35 fighters which Finland has purchased.

Security analyst Robin Häggblom points out that the development of the F-35s for Finland is a joint project with the USA, and also that Finland seems to have taken some steps to ensure continuity of operations by, for example, buying a server needed for upgrades rather than relying on the US server.

Foreign affairs analyst at Chatham House Minna Ålander confirms that in its F-35 deal “Finland also made sure that hardware maintenance and repairs can be made in Finland. The Finnish company Patria becomes a major producer of F-35 parts.”

However, Robin Häggblom does concede that “there obviously are several different issues where if the US actively is working against us, supporting the F-35 would become more problematic.”

🛩️ Risk. Of course, there’s still a risk that a Trump Administration could cancel the F-35 order citing a number of reasons: from Finland not spending enough of its GDP on defence, to Finland not buying enough American military equipment or a host of other reasons. But at the time of the F-35 order one of the considerations - and I don’t honestly know if we’re talking percentages, how big a consideration this was at the time - was the notion that buying the F-35s from the US (instead of buying the Swedish, Italian, Brazilian or European jets) would help grease the wheels of favouritism with the US Republican Party over a future NATO membership. That sounds cynical, but it’s how these things work. And it might have backfired anyway, given Trump’s precarious and shifting positions on NATO!

🇷🇺 Russia. Finland’s security service SUPO released a warning this week that when the war in Ukraine ends, Russia is likely to turn its attention elsewhere and Finland could be a target for “hostile activity.”

“The Western intelligence community’s view of the growing threat from Russia is very unified. As a country bordering Russia and a Baltic Sea state, Finland must prepare for the growth of Russian influence,” warns SUPO Chief Juha Martelius in the new National Security Review.

🏛️ During a plenary session of parliament this week there was lots of support voiced for Ukraine from across the political spectrum and you can read more here. However, one piece of criticism stood out from veteran Kokoomus politician Ben Zyskowicz who asked "Why is President Trump only pressuring Ukraine and, through very difficult means, has suspended arms aid to Ukraine? What has President Trump done to pressure Russia - Russia, which started this war with its attack, Russia, which has committed horrific war crimes?”

🔬 Education. Helsinki University says it’s not going to change what it does just to beg for research money from US sources. Responding to recent stories which highlighted how grants for research into anything the American government considers too liberal could be turned down, the uni said this week:

“The focus has been on topics and concepts related to climate change, the green transition and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) […] funding should not be sought at any cost, such as by removing certain words from research proposals under direct or indirect threat by the funder or a government.”

⛔ Boycott. You might have noticed on social media some calls for Finns to boycott US products. This is not something I’ve seen coming from the usual left or right fringes but from very sensible and moderate people all over the political map. Trump’s actions over Ukraine have clearly hit a very raw nerve among mainstream, usually mild-mannered Finns! What items would you add to this list?

⚡ Tesla. And continuing the theme, the three Left Alliance MEPs in Brussels - Li Andersson, Merja Kylonen and Jussi Saramo - are calling for a ban on sales of Elon Musk’s Tesla electric vehicles in the EU.

“Placing a sales ban on Tesla, owned by Elon Musk, who is fiercely opposed to workers' rights and shows his support for the far right, in the EU would be one concrete example of how Europe can respond to Trump's trade war and directly influence those close to him. Tesla sales have already collapsed in Europe, so a sales ban would come at a very good time,” says Andersson.

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Inside the headlines

🇨🇦 Business. Canadian shipyard Davie, which also owns a facility in Helsinki, has been given an order worth €2 billion to build a new ice breaker for the Canadian government. Construction will take place in Finland, before being completed in Quebec.

“To support the rapid delivery of the ship, Davie will capitalize on the expertise of Helsinki Shipyard, which was acquired by Davie in 2023 with the support of the Québec government. Helsinki Shipyard has built over 50% of all the world’s icebreakers,” the company said in a statement on Friday evening.

🛂 Immigration. The government is in yet more hot water over its immigration policies. This week the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman said the Immigration Ministry, headed by far-right politician Mari Rantanen (Finns) had tried to stop Muslim refugees coming to Finland.

“The government has seriously undermined the rights of asylum seekers and immigrants through several legislative changes” the Ombudsman said in a new report.

The Ombudsman highlighted just some of the legislative changes this government has introduced to create a ‘hostile environment’ for foreigners:

“The right of asylum seekers to apply for a work- or study-based residence permit has been removed, the reception allowance has been reduced, the length of residence permits for those granted international protection has been shortened, and a border procedure has been introduced. The Citizenship Act has been amended to extend the period of residence required to obtain citizenship, and the change had a particularly strong impact on people granted international protection, for whom the required period of residence was practically doubled.”

🟢 Response. The Greens have recently been involved in a no-confidence vote in Rantanen (she survived) and this week lambasted the government over the latest immigration scandal with MP Fatim Diarra saying: "This was a clear example of discrimination and racism practised by the ruling party. A minister is expected to behave in a certain way and fulfil his official duties. In this case, the actions of Interior Minister Rantanen have not met these conditions.”

🔴 Response. Social Democrat MP Nasima Razmyar says the report, and Rantanen’s actions, must be discussed by Parliament’s Constitutional Law committee.

The Interior Ministry says it is reviewing the report.

♀️ Women. Former PM Sanna Marin (SDP) was among thousands of people who joined a rally in support of International Women’s Day in Helsinki on Saturday. “Girls just wanna have funDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS” the lobbyist and author wrote on her Instagram account. An estimated 10,000 people joined the event, including former President Tarja Halonen (SDP).

International Women’s Day is of course the perfect opportunity for political parties to try and score some points! Kokoomus Vice President Paula Risikko said that women's participation in security and developing crisis resilience, whether as volunteers or in official roles, strengthens society as a whole.

“Women's presence and conversational skills help calm difficult situations, and they often have better opportunities than men to handle crimes against women and children in crisis areas,” says Risikko.

Meanwhile, the Social Democrats used the day to hit out at the government, saying they were trying to scrap the welfare state, which is the best protection for women in society.

“The government's policy is making women's working lives even more insecure. Making fixed-term contracts easier opens the door to pregnancy discrimination, and the wage gap law cements lower pay in female-dominated sectors. The abolition of adult education support, together with other weakening measures, makes it more difficult for women to change sectors and develop their own skills. It is incomprehensible that we will have to see how equality is still taking a backseat in 2025” says Helena Marttila, the chairperson of Demarit Women.

🚨 Threat. In its new National Security Review, Finland’s security intelligence service SUPO warns that the biggest terror threat to the country comes from individuals or small groups representing the far-right or radical Islam.

“In Finland, the most likely terrorist attack threat continues to be posed by individuals and small groups supporting far-right or radical Islamist ideology. The most likely attack is an attack on civilians in a public place, carried out with easily accessible means, such as a knife, vehicle or firearm.”

🇦🇽 Language. A new report this week finds that Swedish-speaking Finns often have to switch from Swedish to Finnish when they deal with authorities. The report, which is carried out every four years for the Ministry of Justice, found that many Swedish-speaking Finns still experience discrimination because of their language. According to the report, roughly a quarter of Swedish-speakers in Finland have at least once experienced discrimination because they spoke Swedish.

🌤️ Weather. We hit a new (and rather unwelcome) national heat milestone this week, as meteorologist Mika Rantanen notes. However cooler temperatures are about to move in again, so brace yourself for takatalvi - winter backlash!

🎵 Eurovision. You can’t help but notice that a group from Finland won Melodifestivalen in Stockholm on Saturday night. KAJ, a Finlandssvensk trio from Ostrobothnia who sings in their own dialect of Finnish-Swedish, will represent our Western neighbours at the Eurovision Song Contest in Basel, Switzerland, in May with their catchy accordion ode to sauna culture Bara bada bastu.

And the reactions in the media have been, at times, next-level crazy:

⭐ There’s “outrage” in Ilta-lehti that Yle did not show the Melodifestivalen final live.

⭐ Finnish entry Erika Vikman who wears leather chaps while she straddles a giant microphone and sings “I’m coming! I’m coming!” in German, passed on her congratulations to KAJ, but she won’t be happy that they’ve leap-frogged her in the betting odds.

⭐ There’s much glee at the apparent meltdown of pre-final favourite, and previous Eurovision winner, Måns Zermerlow who apparently threw a tantrum, and stormed out of the venue in tears when he was beaten into second place by the Finnish group.

⭐ There’s also praise that KAJ is the sort of fun entry an often-too-slick Sweden needs to shake itself up.

⭐ And one journalist who should know better (God, I hope he was joking but you can’t always tell with Finns) asked Minister of Nordic Cooperation Anders Adlercreutz (SFP) whether “the next logical step would be a federal union between Finland and Sweden?” Please let that be an attempt at humour, Marko Junkkari!

⭐ This is the first time Sweden has sent a Swedish-language entry to Eurovision since 1998. And fun fact the last time a song was sung in Swedish at Eurovision was at Baku in 2012 when Finnish entrant Pernilla Karlsson sang "När jag blundar" but did not qualify out of the semi-finals to the Grand Final.

🎤 More music. If you just can’t wait until the Eurovision Song Contest finals in May, then tune in to Yle this week for the Sámi Grand Prix, a singing and yoik competition which is being staged for the 35th time. It’s broadcast by Norwegian public television NRK and will be shown in Finland with Finnish commentary.

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Insider politics

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Candidates. Tuesday was the closing date for parties to pull together their list of candidates for April’s Municipal elections, and the regional healthcare board elections. The Finns Party found themselves with far fewer volunteers to be candidates than four years previously - down more than a third. But they’re not alone. The Social Democrats might have two more candidates for the regional healthcare elections, but they’ve got about a thousand fewer municipal election candidates. It looks like the Greens are running about 20% fewer candidates for municipal elections; while Kokoomus are down around 1500 candidates too.

📊 Polls. A new Yle opinion poll out this week shows the Social Democrats still the top party in the country when it comes to voting intentions with 22.8% support, but that’s down 1.6% from the previous Yle poll last month. The National Coalition Party remains in second place on 20% support while the Finns Party is up slightly at 15.4% support and the Centre Party continues a run of modest gains in support up to 13.7%.

Sick. Minister of Social Affairs and Health Kaisa Juuso (Finns) has gone on sick leave until April. I wish her a speedy recovery.

🗳️ Voting. Here’s a thought-provoking (or controversial) proposal from the Kokoomus Nuoret branch in Central Finland. They note that there is a lower age limit for voting and for standing in elections… so why shouldn’t there be an upper age limit too, of 80-years-old? I’ve argued before (and even asked a former president) why there is not a retirement age for politicians, as there is for pretty much every other job in Finland. Even Supreme Court judges have a retirement age, albeit higher than other civil / public service jobs.

The plan has been criticised by the national Kokoomus Nuoret organisation, and over the weekend the “grown up” Kokoomus party has strongly criticised (and rapidly distanced itself from) the idea.

"The idea of ​​limiting voting rights and eligibility to stand for election based on age is completely contrary to the thinking of the National Coalition Party and is an abhorrent idea,” Kokoomus says in a statement (but they do reject voting based on age for 16 and 17 year olds…)

I think in a high school or undergraduate politics/civics class this idea would make the ideal starting point for a discussion on political engagement!

Finland international

🌍 Tour. Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen (NCP) was on tour this week, swinging through London, Dublin and Belfast for a series of speaking engagements and meetings.

At Chatham House in London, she told the audience that “The Kremlin’s attitude does not diminish when fed, it only grows.”

🇦🇹 Valtonen has been busy doing more telephone diplomacy this week as well, chatting to her new Austrian counterpart. The government in Vienna was finally sworn in after a five-month process, and although Elina says there is “a strong and solid tie between our two countries”, Austrian parties were able to form a government without the involvement of the far-right, unlike in Finland…

And finally…

🇩🇰 Royals. King Frederik X and Queen Mary of Denmark were in Finland this week for their first State Visit, hosted by President Stubb and the First Lady. Amid the usual handshakes, gala dinners and visits to universities I found this fascinating description online about the Danish royal jewels which were worn for the first time in public in Helsinki 👑

“It was Queen Mary’s jewellery, not the gown, that drew the biggest spotlight during the [state] dinner. No wonder: she wore major pieces of spectacular heirloom Danish royal jewelry, some of which has never been worn publicly before.

The slim gold bandeau tiara that Mary wore for the banquet comes from the collection of Queen Caroline Amalie, granddaughter of King Christian VII and wife of King Christian VIII. Caroline Amalie was devoted to jewellery, and we can thank her for renovating the family’s crown jewel parures at the time of her husband’s coronation in 1840.” 💎 

Thank you, kiitos, tack! 

Another mammoth week of news so if you made it through to the bitter end here then pour yourself a lonkero, you’ve earned it!

As usual if you have questions, comments, thoughts, ideas, story scoops then feel free to get in touch with me directly at [email protected] and if you feel overwhelmed by too much news about politics, war, sanctions or Donald Trump then switch off, go out side, get some fresh air. Too much news can be bad for you!

In the meantime, see you next Sunday.

David