Finland votes, dead candidates, best coffee and baby names

Hello Insiders!

It’s a triple-whammy Sunday today because we’ve got the municipal elections happening all across the country; and at the same time there’s voting for the regional healthcare boards (everywhere except Helsinki).

And it’s also Palm Sunday today when Christians believe Jesus rode on a donkey into Jerusalem. In Finnish traditions little kids dressed as witches go knocking on doors today, waving pussywillow branches decorated with ribbons. Feel free to give them candy!

Also in this week’s Finland Insider newsletter: Finland’s foreign minister rushed to Washington to meet with Donald Trump’s closest circle. A strategic move, or does it look a bit needy?

Plus: The high speed train to nowhere; the MP breaking ranks over talking to Russia; the most popular baby names revealed, and crowning the country’s best cup of coffee.

All that still to come, but first this:

Election Day

🗳️ Since voting is already underway, there’s really not too much to be said about the elections until results start coming in later, once the polls close at 20:00.

🌐 According to preliminary data from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a total of 5,291 votes were cast in advance voting for the regional healthcare board elections at Finnish embassies and consulates abroad; while 8,310 votes were cast in the municipal elections.

🛳️ There were 180 votes cast on Finnish ships in the municipal and regional healthcare board elections too!

📊 Nationally, the Social Democrats and National Coalition Party are within touching distance of each other in the municipal election polls, with the Centre Party enjoying a modest revival compared to how they’ve fared in previous years. In Helsinki the Greens have fallen off the pace according to the latest polling numbers, with Kokoomus and Demarit pulling ahead with a clear lead.

But as we know, on election day there’s still lots of people who haven’t voted yet and that can still sway things.

👩‍⚕️ In the regional healthcare board elections what’s clear is that whichever party takes on the mantle of running social and health provisions in the various regions they inherit a mess which isn’t going to be fixed any time soon: and it’s not clear to me (or anyone else!) that one party or another has a silver bullet to fix the issues.

✏️ A new study this week by the Finnish Business and Policy Forum EVA finds that a majority of Finns still feel that municipal-level decision-making is somewhat far removed from them personally - but many people still believe they can influence things by voting.

Some 59% of Finns feel that the decision-making and administration of their own municipality are very distant. However, some 56% of Finns say they are interested in and actively follow the decision-making of their own municipality.

"Municipal decision-making has not been made easy to follow. Interest increases with age, education and status – this shows that following municipal politics requires resources," says Ilkka Haavisto, EVA's Research Manager.

✝️ RIP. At least seven candidates in today’s elections have died! They were selected to run in the municipal and/or regional healthcare board elections, their names were added to the ballots, but sadly they have now passed away. But don’t worry if you vote for a dead candidate: the votes the receive are counted in the vote total of the party, electoral alliance or joint list.

Inside track: Donald Trump, Russia and Ukraine

🇷🇺 Meeting. A National Coalition Party politician has come in for harsh criticism for talking directly with Russian politicians. In addition to being an MP, Pia Kauma is also the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, and it was in this capacity she says she met Russian delegate Konstantin Kosachev on Wednesday in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Kauma wrote on social media that she did not meet Kosachev on behalf of Finland or on behalf of Kokoomus. Kosachev is a member of Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party.

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) is not amused at the meeting, saying it “was not harmful in terms of content, but there is always a risk involved.” Kauma had told Orpo in advance about her plans and he instructed her to speak with the Foreign Ministry.

This story was first reported by the EU Observer news website.

🇺🇸 Washington. Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen (NCP) was in Washington this week to meet her American opposite number Marco Rubio. Ahead of her meetings with Trump Administration officials, Valtonen described the US as “an important ally and strategic partner for Europe.”

After their meeting, Rubio wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Finland has stepped up to help carry a larger share of the burden of European security and defense at a time when we are encouraging other European allies to do the same. I thanked Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen for her country’s commitment in this area, and for Finland's support to help realize President Trump’s determination to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

📺 Interview. Elina Valtonen gave an interview on CBS News to a friend of mine, Major Garrett. You can watch a clip of that interview here:

 🇺🇦 Elina Valtonen also met Donlad Trump’s Ukraine Special Envoy Keith Kellogg, who said afterwards: “Great in-depth security discussions with Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen. Brilliant and Finland is fortunate to have her and we are fortunate to have Finland as an ally.”

🏚️ Property. Parliament voted unanimously on Friday to block the sale of properties in Finland to non-resident Russian buyers. Minister of Defense Antti Häkkänen (NCP) said the broad approval of the issue was an important demonstration of national unanimity.

“I consider it very important and I feel great joy that the Parliament has so comprehensively supported this proposal, which aims to strengthen national security. This decision sends a clear message: we will not allow Finland to be undermined,” Häkkänen said.

🇺🇸 Exports. The US is still Finland’s single most important country for exports, according to the new deep dive report released by the Finnish-American Chamber of Commerce Amcham this week. Exports of goods from Finland to the US have doubled and exports of services have tripled over the past decade. Key export products include capital goods such as machinery and equipment, as well as products from the metal, forest and chemical industries.

Inside the headlines

🚄 Train. Plans to upgrade railway tracks as part of a one-hour high-speed train service linking Helsinki and Turku is on hold for the time being. Or is it? This week, Yle reported that the Minister of Transport and Communications Lulu Ranne (Finns) announced negotiations with municipalities over their part in funding the new train tracks were now being halted.

But not so fast! Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) told reporters that he had no information the project was about to collapse. Orpo said he believed that the project could still proceed. "The government program is in effect. Negotiations have continued between the municipalities. The matter will be discussed within the government next week," he told Yle in a Friday statement.

So that’s the end of the matter? Of course not! By Saturday morning, Ranne was contradicting the PM yet again by doubling down on her earlier comments, saying: “I ordered a suspension of the negotiations because, after months of talks, no solution had been reached that would have corresponded to the decision of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Policy.”

💰 Military. The government has earmarked €13.8 million to renovate and modernise barracks for Uusimaa Brigade troops. “The Uusimaa Brigade plays a central role in our defense, especially from the perspective of international cooperation,” says MP Henrik Wickström (SFP). “This investment is very welcome and shows that the Uusimaa Brigade is considered important,” he adds.

💊 Morning sickness. Green MP Alviina Alametsä is urging the government and Kela to expand the range of drugs used to treat morning sickness, which are approved for reimbursement.

📊 Polling. Never mind today’s elections - let’s look at a bigger national picture of parliamentary elections (which are not due again until 2027 but who knows if this government will last until then!) A new survey for public broadcaster Yle shows opposition parties SDP, Left Alliance, Centre Party and Greens have all gained, albeit marginally, while government parties NCP, Finns, Swedish People’s Party and Christian Democrats have either lost support or stayed level.

🚖 Taxi. Police in Helsinki carried out a surprise inspection of taxis in the capital on Friday and out of 46 vehicles they looked at, 30 of them had deficiencies.

👶 Names. What are the most common names for babies in Finland? For Finnish-speaking children Olivia and Oliver top the list; while for Swedish-speaking children it’s Olivia and Edvin; while for children speaking other languages it’s Sofia and Muhammad. That’s according to the latest data released by the Finnish Digital and Population Information Agency.

☕ Coffee. The winners of the best cups of coffee in Finland - in various categories - were unveiled at the Food Fair in Helsinki this week. Good Life Coffee Roasters won the best light roast with their Ethiopian Danche Washed coffee; and they also won the dark roast / espresso category with their Shyira Honey roast from Rwanda (which apparently has notes of berries and spices and reminded the judges of chocolate cake!)

And finally…

🇦🇺 Even far from home it’s possible to cast your ballot in Sunday’s elections and approximately 15,200km from home superstar Finnish DJ and producer Darude voted at the Finnish Embassy in Canberra, Australia this week:

Thank you, kiitos, tack!

🙏 Well, you made it all the way to the end. I salute your indefatigability!

There will be plenty of news, comment and analysis next week as the results of the municipal elections, and the regional healthcare board elections, become clear and it could mean some cities pass into new political hands. What’s yet to be seen is whether it is a ‘referendum on the government’ as some oppositions have framed it. Let’s take a closer look next week.

In the meantime if you want to get in touch with a story idea, a suggestion, scoop or just to say hello, then get in touch directly on: [email protected] 

See you next Sunday,

David