Eurovision misfire, banning Islam, TikTok latest and fatal helicopter crash

Hello Insiders!

Good afternoon Finland Insider readers and subscribers. It’s the morning after the night before when not one but two Finnish acts didn’t quite make it to the top of the pops at the Eurovision Song Contest in Basel, Switzerland. One of those acts had been tipped to win for many weeks, and the other act had high hopes for a big climax. So to speak.

Coming up in this week’s newsletter: Russian activity along the border; eagles killed by wind turbines; ice hockey victories; political intrigue; a TikTok update; children living in poverty; Finnair on strike; and I’ll introduce you to the politician who wants to ban Islam. Yes, that’s really something an elected Member of Parliament has actually said in 2025.

All that still to come, but first this:

Inside the headlines

🇪🇺 Eurovision. Finland was aiming for a win at the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final on Saturday night, and it was clear Erika Vikman expected to end up on top with her wild-eyed, maniacal performance in Basel. But in the end, she flopped to 11th place, never quite gaining enough traction from the professional juries or the public to climb into the top 10.

👍 Support. The Times noticed how President Stubb was quick to support Sweden’s Eurovision entry KAJ ahead of the contest final, but ‘snubbed’ Finland’s official entry Erika Vikman for being too racy.

📺 Audience. Some 2.6 million Finns - more than half the population - watched the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final on the Yle1 TV channel.

🎵 UMK. If you can’t get enough of Eurovision action then you’ll be pleased to know the date of next year’s UMK contest has already been announced: 28 February 2026 at the Nokia Arena in Tampere.

🚁 Crash. Five people have died following a mid-air collision between two helicopters near Eura Airport in the southwest of the country. The crash happened shortly after noon on Saturday near the town of Kauttua, with the wreckage falling in a wooded area some 700 metres from the Ohikulkutie road. Officials say a number of Estonian businessmen were among the casualties.

🇨🇳 TikTok. The saga of a new billion-euro data centre in Kouvola rumbles on. The big client for the new centre would be Chinese company TikTok and that has raised red flags for the Finns Party, which are the most hawkish in the government when it comes to China.

This week PM Petteri Orpo (NCP) said he didn’t think there were any obstacles to the deal going through, while Minister of Economic Affairs Wille Rydman (Finns) has raised the spectre that having such a prominent TikTok investment might annoy the Americans, or even give China access to banned Nvidia data chips which they would love to get their hands on but are currently prohibited from obtaining under tough US restrictions. The Finnish government has adopted a measured stance of: ‘America is our ally, and China is a trading partner’.

💽 I interviewed the Mayor of Kouvola, Marita Toikka this week, and she told me this was all “very positive news for Kouvola.”

“The investment will permanently increase the vitality of the city, we are particularly pleased with the new jobs and long-term impact of the investment on the economy and vitality of the entire region.”

🔴 I also spoke with the former Minister of Transport and Communications Timo Harakka (SDP) whose portfolio covered data centres. He said it was odd that such mixed messages would be coming from PM Orpo and Minister Rydman on whether the Chinese investment was welcome or not, but added:

“Obviously we are wary of any Chinese investments, but there are Chinese direct investments in battery factories in Finland quite recently, and that is not considered problematic.”

“We are always wary about China like we were always wary about Russia in the 1990s, and when we built data and phone networks with them we built them to be as robust as possible in case of cyber attacks from the east,” Timo Harakka said. “We are not blue-eyed. We are not naive. We are very wary and prepared for all kinds of things but it doesn’t mean the government should be panicking about this deal.”

🔵 On Thursday, Prime Minister Orpo said there needed to be a more coordinated approach to approving and overseeing data centre projects in Finland, starting with better communication between the various ministries which handle different aspects of these big deals.

I wrote about the issues surrounding this deal for The Times (£paywall)

✝️ Soldiers. The unidentified remains of 26 Finnish soldiers killed in the Winter War (1939-1940) and the Continuation War (1941-1944) were buried in a military funeral in Lappeenranta on Sunday, the Commemoration Day of Fallen Soldiers, public broadcaster Yle reports.

🚸 Poverty. One in ten children experienced material deprivation last year. The proportion has almost tripled in three years, and more than a fifth of children living in single-adult families experienced deprivation. That’s according to the results of a new study by Statistics Finland.

“Up to 96% of children who experienced deprivation lived in a household that could not afford a car, replacing broken furniture with new ones, keeping the home warm, or the internet,” says Kaisa-Mari Okkonen, Chief Actuary at Statistics Finland.

✈️ Flights. Finnair is warning that they’ll have to cancel around 110 flights tomorrow, Monday 19 May due to industrial action.

🔯 Holocaust. The government has done a u-turn and making the maximum penalty for denying the Holocaust two years in prison. Last autumn they were criticised for wanting to reduce the jail term to just one year.

🦅 Eagles. Did you know that 4 to 6 female white-tailed eagles collide with wind turbine blades each year in Finland? That sounds terrible! As a swooping bird of prey, the white-tailed eagle is prone to collisions with the rotating blades of wind turbines, and researchers at the University of Turku who revealed the high mortality rate for the first time say there are measures which can be taken to reduce eagle deaths.

🏒 Hockey. Finland has progressed well at the preliminary stage of the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships in Stockholm. This week they beat Austria and Latvia by margins of 2-1, and also beat France 4-3, and trounced Slovenia by a whopping 9-1. There was a loss to hosts Sweden 2-1 which had to have hurt but the Lions will be facing perhaps their toughest test yet against Canada tomorrow (Monday). The game begins at 21:20 Helsinki time.

Inside track: Ukraine, Russia, and national security

☎️ Talks. President Stubb had a phone call on Saturday with US President Donald Trump and on Sunday he spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss the situation in Ukraine.

“We could say that Zelensky is patient and President Trump is starting to be impatient, but in the right direction, that is, towards Russia," the president told reporters at a press conference in Tallinn, where he was attending a conference on Sunday.

👴 Reserves. The government wants to raise the upper age limit of its army reservists to 65. The move would add 125,000 troops to its wartime strength and take the number of reservists to one million by 2031. Military service is compulsory for men in Finland, while women can participate on a volunteer basis only.

💰 Debt. On Friday, the Grand Committee of Parliament unanimously approved a proposal to establish an EU security instrument to help pay for a huge defence package up to €150 billion which is supposed to boost the EU’s defence industry.

The financial tool can be used for joint defence procurement for EU countries to support Ukraine and means that there is now a possibility for EU countries to take on joint debt, something which the Finns Party had been absolutely against, until now.

🛳️ Navy. The Russian navy has started escorting tankers from its so-called shadow fleet through the Gulf of Finland. What could possibly go wrong?

🚁 Exercises. British Army Apache helicopters have conducted live fire exercises in Finland as part of Exercise Mighty Arrow 25. The exercise, designed to enhance NATO’s collective defence capabilities, involves British and Finnish forces working closely to improve interoperability and combat readiness.

🇷🇺 Build-up. New satellite images show a surge in Russian military activity near the border with Finland, analysts say. A significant increase in barracks, aircraft and other infrastructure were identified at four locations near the frontier, which would be a major staging ground for a potential Russian attack on NATO.

🇷🇺 Russia. Britain’s iNews reports: “Hundreds of Russian troops including battle-hardened units from Ukraine and suspected intelligence specialists have been deployed to the Finnish border in recent days as Moscow beefs up its military presence on Nato’s crucial eastern flank.” Read more here.

❄️ Icebreakers. To dominate the Arctic, US President Donald Trump needs ice-breaking ships, and Finland wants to help. The Nordic nation, with deep Baltic Sea experience, has made and designed more icebreakers than any other country.

⚖️ Legal. Amendments to Finland’s Aliens Act came into force this week, significantly strengthening the country’s immigration enforcement mechanisms. The new provisions expand the legal definitions of residence, extend the maximum periods for both detention and entry bans, and establish stricter consequences for individuals with negative immigration decisions.

ℹ️ Disinformation. Almost 60% of companies have already trained their staff to prepare for disruptions like cyber attacks or tackling disinformation. That’s according to a new survey carried out by the Turku Chamber of Commerce. But many company say they still need more guidance on these issues.

Insider politics

☪️ Islam. A Finns Party MP wrote on Facebook this week that Islam should be banned. Kaisa Garedew, who represents Central Finland, later returned to social media to say that what she really meant was “Islam (Sharia law) should be banned in Finland”. But too late, her first statement had already created a controversy (as she surely knew it would!)

Garedew was supported by her party’s leadership, with Finns Party Parliamentary Group Chairman Jani Mäkelä saying she was only exercising her rights to freedom of speech.

The other parties in the coalition government said they would raise the issue of Garedew’s comments but ultimately it doesn’t seem like anything came of it and no action was taken.

🔵 Parliament. The new Kokoomus Parliamentary Group Chairperson is Jukka Kopra, a fourth-term MP from Lappeenranta. Congratulations on the new (and very hectic) role!

🏛️ Leadership. The Chairman of the Swedish People’s Party Anders Adlercreutz says he is planning to run for another term in office, when his party’s summer conference takes place in Tampere next month.

“We now have two years until the next parliamentary elections. During these two years, we will develop our party together. We will work to make ourselves more visible, clearer, more attractive and more inclusive,” Adlercreutz says.

🟡 Finns. A former Finns Party Secretary Arto Luukkanen is planning to challenge Riikka Puura to be the next party leader at their summer conference next month.

👀 Commerce. Parliament should be looking into the work of the Central Chamber of Commerce, with the Social Democrats saying the work it does should be overseen by authorities because it is more of a political entity with close links to the National Coalition Party rather than being an independent think tank.

The Central Chamber of Commerce is regulated by the Chamber of Commerce Act and has statutory duties. However, the question has now arisen about how the organisation, and its leadership, can be so overtly active in politics when they’re supposed to act more like civil servants.

Demarit has accused the Chamber’s CEO Juho Romakkaniemi of “acting like a school bully.”

“The SDP believes that this situation is unacceptable. That is why we have decided to present a clear solution. We have made a legislative initiative that clarifies the position of the Central Chamber of Commerce in Finland. We propose that all of its statutory tasks be transferred to authorities,” says Demarit Vice Chairperson Niina Malm.

🔵 Committee. The National Coalition Party parliamentary group has elected MP Heikki Autto as the new chairman of the Defence Committee.

🔴 Helsinki. The Social Democrats have elected Johanna Laisaari to be their new Deputy Mayor of Helsinki. She was one of three candidates in the running for the job.

🟢 Baby. Green MEP Maria Ohisalo has been ordered to take bed rest by her doctor in the last stage of her pregnancy. The new baby is due in August but the ex-minister and ex-party leader wrote on Instagram that: “I'm trying to take it easy now so that the little one grows before birth and doesn't come to the other side prematurely.” Wishing all the best for Maria and a safe delivery of a healthy baby in a few months. Although knowing her work ethic, it will be no fun at all to stay off her feet!

Finland International

🇵🇸 Palestine. The Greens are urging the Finnish government to recognise Palestine as an independent state. “Silence is not an option,” said Sofia Virta, during a speech to the Vihreät Party Council.

“There is nothing that would justify silence or inaction in defending a people driven to the brink of famine, fighting for their lives on the battlefield. There is no answer to why humanity failed,” said Virta. She is also calling for “thorough and impartial investigations” into alleged war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza.

🟢 Meanwhile Green MP Inka Hopsu is demanding that the Finnish government take action to support the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. She says the situation there is already catastrophic, and Israel’s plans to take over Gaza threaten to further exacerbate the situation. “Finland and the EU must finally act and be on the right side of history,” she says.

🔴 Social Democrat Chairman Antti Lindtman has criticised the Finnish government's inaction in trying to resolve the Gaza crisis. He said that Finnish statements about the situation come “late all the time” and are “regrettably lacking in impetus” in relation to the tragedy. Lindtman said only Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen (NCP) was trying to do something constructive.

🇮🇱 Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen (NCP) said this week that everything indicates that Israel is using starvation and the prevention of humanitarian aid in Gaza as a means of waging war. In addition, according to the Foreign Minister, a forced transfer of the population appears to be underway - which is considered a war crime under international law. This is a much tougher tone from Valtonen than we’ve heard from anyone in the Finnish government on the situation in Gaza.

🇱🇧 Lebanon. Finnish peacekeepers came under fire in southern Lebanon on Friday. According to the Finnish Defence Forces, 17 Finns were travelling in four armoured vehicles together with French peacekeepers on the UN mission. The vehicles were stopped by a crowd, which threatened the peacekeepers and one Finnish soldier fired warning shots as shots were fired at them. They returned to base, and no injuries were reported.

🚆 Railways. The Minister of Transport and Communications, Lulu Ranne (Finns), says the government will explore opportunities to upgrade the country's railway track gauge to the European standard. At the moment, the Finnish railway tracks are 89mm wider than European tracks, a legacy holdover from being part of the Russian Empire. The government will have to make a decision by July 2027, and hopes the EU will be able to pay some of the huge costs involved in changing thousands of kilometres of tracks, and the trains which run on them.

Thank you, kiitos, tack!

🙏 If you made it this far you have consumed a lot of words, and a lot of stories in this week’s Finland Insider newsletter. Thanks! Although you probably need a stiff drink if you read it from beginning to end!

I’m back next Sunday with more essential news and analysis to help you navigate the world’s happiest country.

David