China suspicions, active kids, political clashes and Christmas decorations

Hello Insiders!

It’s been a little over a week now since I (along with more than 20 million other people) made a switch from Elon Musk’s X / Twitter platform, to Bluesky. Why? Well, the reasons are probably self-evident but there’s a ton of research about the rise of hate speech, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, homo-and-transphobia, misogyny and rampant conspiracy theories on X - and that doesn’t align at all with my own personal values. Nor do I suspect it matches the values of most reasonable people in Finland.

Not to mention Elon Musk’s dubious role in the recent US election! Plus, anyone can pay for membership to get their messages boosted on X, which is a tactic the far-right have been using to amplify their hate speech, while rational discourse is muted.

In short: there’s a diminishing return on the time invested in using X for me over the years. I haven’t deleted my account yet but just sitting letting it go dormant.

One tip for making the change: I moved the X app off the home screen on my phone and replaced it with the Bluesky app icon instead. It’s made it much easier to get into good habits of checking and posting on Bluesky.

And it seems to be working: I haven’t had a single abusive message in the last week on Bluesky - in contrast, when I checked briefly at Twitter there were some derogatory comments from a Finnish media commentator about me and two other journalists. So it helped validate my migration, and those haters are just going to end up yelling at themselves in an echo chamber of their own ridiculousness 😂 

You can find me on Bluesky @davidmacdougall.bsky.social and you can find Finland Insider on Bluesky as well: @finlandinsider.bsky.social. Please say hello!

But now, on with the news!

Inside the headlines

Cable. One story has really dominated this week, and been reported around the world as well, after two undersea cables in the Baltic were severed. Suspicion has fallen on a Chinese vessel, as the Financial Times’ Nordic correspondent Richard Milne reports:

“Yi Peng 3, a Chinese-registered vessel that was on its way from the Russian port of Ust-Luga to Port Said in Egypt, passed close to both the Swedish-Lithuanian and Finnish-German cables around the time each was cut on Sunday and Monday, according to data provided by maritime tracking group MarineTraffic.”

China. You might remember a few months ago Chinese authorities admitted one of their ships, the Hong Kong-registered Newnew Polar Bear was responsible for damaging the Balticconnector gas pipeline which goes between Finland and Estonia. They claimed it was a storm-related accident, but other researchers like The Economist’s Defence Editor Shashank Joshi have pointed out the many ownership and crew links of Newnew Polar Bear to Russia.

Unemployment. A new report from the Ministry of Economic Affairs this week forecasts that an expected recovery of the employment rate next year will be delayed by the labour market downturn in autumn 2024. Long-term unemployment is also projected to increase until 2026.

Be prepared. Updated national guidelines about how to be prepared for a crisis have been published this week. According to the Interior Ministry: “Situations that require preparedness include long power cuts, water outages, interruptions in telecommunications, extreme weather events, major accidents, and longer-term crises, such as a pandemic or military conflict.

“In addition to instructions, the guide contains information on hybrid and information influence activities, maintaining functional capacity, coping during crises, and helping others.”

Slush. The annual startup and tech and big business and investor event took place in Helsinki this week, attracting thousands of visitors. Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen has been singing its praises, saying that “human capital has always been the key to Finland’s success”:

Housing. The sale of new apartments in Finland has fallen to the lowest level in at least ten years. In the six-month period from April to October, 15.4% fewer deals were made than in the previous six months. Compared to the situation a year ago, sales fell by a fifth.

Active. A new report from the OECD this week finds that more children in Finland take part in 60 minutes of physical activity each day than any other country in Europe. Torille? Not so fast! Some Finnish researchers say they’re highly doubtful the survey reflects how lazy Finnish kids can be!

Football. The Finnish Football Association Suomen Palloliitto has parted ways with the men’s national team coach Markku Kanerva. The 60-year-old was sacked on Friday after a disappointing run in the Nations League, where the Eagle Owls - Huuhkajat - lost all six of their games, and scored just two goals while conceding 13.

Inside politics

Health. Finland’s right-wing coalition government survived a vote of confidence in parliament this week over its handling of social and healthcare issues. The interpellation motion was brought by the Centre Party and Liike Nyt - Movement Now - and the government won 98 to 70, with 31 MPs absent.

Refugees. The government is looking again at its new policies on accepting quota refugees from the UNHCR, a move the Interior Ministry says was ordered by PM Petteri Orpo after a negative response to the previous proposals. The backlash came when it was revealed that quota refugees would be selected based on their religion - with a strong preference for Christian women.

Clash. It wasn’t exactly ‘Clash of the Titans’ more like ‘Clash of the Dull Grey Men In Suits’ over at Yle’s A-Studio programme on Thursday when PM Petteri Orpo and SDP leader Antti Lindtman participated in some verbal sparring. Lindtman accused the government of ignoring the green transition, slashing education budgets and creating a climate of xenophobia with anti-immigrant policies. Orpo hit back saying “You misrepresent all the time, at almost every point.”

Mayor. Green local councillor Shawn Huff has thrown his name in the ring to be Vihreät’s candidate for Helsinki Mayor. Huff, the former captain of the Finnish men’s basketball team, joins MP Fatim Diarra, Atte Harjanne, and city councillor Otso Kivekäs in seeking the nomination, after the expected candidate ex-foreign minister Pekka Haavisto dropped out earlier this month. Vihreät will formally select their mayoral candidate in early December.

Huff was a candidate in the recent European Parliament election, and I interviewed him in the spring. You can read more about his political philosophy here:

Remote. Christian Democrat MP Päivi Räsänen seemingly broke parliamentary rules on Monday by participating in a committee meeting remotely from Israel. STT Finnish News Agency reports that this kind of activity is prohibited on security grounds.

Hot mic. Prime Minister Petter Orpo was caught in an unfortunate hot mic moment during question time in parliament on Thursday. He was asked by millionaire businessman, former TV show host-turned-MP Hjallis Harkimo to explain why he believed Finland’s economy would grow next year. “I can’t answer that,” Orpo muttered, in a comment that was clearly not meant to be picked up on his microphone. Oops!

Finland international

Nigeria. Authorities in Africa say they want to extradite a Finnish citizen of Nigerian origin, Simon Ekpa, after he was arrested in Lahti on terrorism charges. Ekpa leads a faction of an Indigenous group that wants independence for the state of Biafra.

Ekpa sits on Lahti city council for the National Coalition Party, and is facing charges of incitement to commit crimes with terrorist intent in August 2021. The National Bureau of Investigation says it is looking for four other men on terrorism charges too.

Somaliland. A Finnish citizen has been elected as President of Somaliland, a state not recognised internationally. Abdirahman ‘Cirro’ Mohamed Abdullahi got around 60% of the vote in the election, where one of his opponents Faysal Ali Warabe is also a Finn!

The new president got a message of congratulations from Suldaan Said Ahmed, the Finnish government’s Special Envoy for Peace Mediation in the Horn of Africa (and also the first Somali-background MP elected to Eduskunta).

And finally…

I’m probably not alone in thinking Helsinki is one of the most beautiful cities in the world during winter: when the snow is deep and crisp, the Christmas decorations are up, and lights are twinkling in every window. The folks at Vist Helsinki seem to agree, and they’ve had some fantastic photos and videos recently showcasing the capital as we get closer to Christmas. Take a look:

Thank you, kiitos, tack

That’s the end of this week’s Finland Insider newsletter. Thanks for reading to the end and as usual if you’ve got any story ideas, tips or comments just drop me an email directly at [email protected] 

Have a great week, and catch you next weekend!

David