Finns flatter Trump, a political mystery, Kok on a boat, and a Eurovision decision

Hello Insiders!

Parliament is back in business for the spring session this week which means there’s a bumper section of political news and analysis and polling - especially with the elections coming up quickly in April.

This week in the newsletter there’s updates on some shocking crimes from last year; the latest info on a child who wandered across the border into Russia; details unfolding about a police suicide at the president’s house; the Finnish Air Force deployed to Iceland and yes it’s time to decide on Finland’s entry to the Eurovision Song Contest!

Inside the headlines

Police. Finnish Police Chief Ilkka Koskimäki revealed this week that four officers took their own lives over the last year. One senior officer shot himself while he was on duty guarding President Stubb and his family at their official residence in November. According to MTV Uutiset the officer was in the parking garage when he took his own life, and the president was informed immediately. President Stubb said on Friday that “The loss of a professional and respected colleague was a shock to Suzanne and me. We hope that the privacy of family and friends will be respected in this difficult situation.” MTV Uutiset also reports that another senior officer shot himself in Otaniemi, Espoo, earlier this week.

Crime. The government will introduce new legislation to toughen punishments for street gangs. The bill tightens the legislation so that committing a crime as part of a street gang can lead to a harsher punishment in the future. Using children under 15 as an instrument to commit crimes will be punished more severely as a crime in its own right, and crimes in which the victim is humiliated, for example by filming and spreading it online, will be punished more severely in the future.

Immigration. Finland’s Social and Healthcare Minister Kaisa Juuso (Finns) seemed to forget which party she belonged to for a hot minute this week, because she’s been saying that Finland needs more immigrants to fill jobs that Finns don’t want to do, and care for an ageing population. The Finns Party has for years sought to make Finland a less attractive place for immigrants to come and live, creating a hostile environment for foreigners and constantly highlighting all the negative aspects of immigration for the country.

Investigation. Police have wrapped up their preliminary investigation into the death of former ice hockey player, rights campaigner and reality TV star Janne Puhakka which shocked the nation last October. Puhakka, who was the first Finnish professional hockey player to announce his homosexuality, was killed last autumn and police suspect his ex-partner, Norwegian vet Rolf Nordmo of shooting him dead him after their relationship ended. The case will now be passed to prosecutors to consider any charges.

Attack. A court in Oulu has heard that Juhani Sebastian Lämsä was not criminally accountable when he carried out an attack on two children with foreign backgrounds in Oulu last June. Lämsä was given a psychological examination, which found he wouldn’t have understood the criminal implications of what he was doing when he stabbed a 12-year-old and then tried to attack a 14-year-old who managed to escape unharmed. Lämsä has a long history of involvement with neo-Nazi actitivies.

Stockmann. Iconic Finnish department store Stockmann is set to close its east Helsinki outlet at the beginning of August. The Itis shopping centre Stockmann has been open since 1992 and the closure will impact around 35 jobs. Stockmann has stores in Helsinki city cenre, Jumbo shopping mall and at the Ainoa shopping centre in Tapiola; as well as in Turku, Tampere, Riga and Tallinn.

Eurovision. Tonight’s the night when six Finnish acts compete at the annual UMK show in Tampere for your votes, and the right to represent Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest in Switzerland in May. There are some good songs but a reminder since it’s my newsletter, here’s my favourite: the classy and cool Goldielocks and her contemporary track ‘Made Of’ (no gimmicks required!)

Insider politics

Parliament. It’s the start of a new parliamentary term this week, with MPs back in parliament where the spring session was formally opened by President Stubb. In a speech, Stubb was careful to stress that he works in cooperation with MPs and the government after some criticism that’s he strayed close to the red lines which mark his areas of responsibility under the constitution, and areas which are the responsibility of parliament.

Stubb also managed to not mention Donald Trump by name in his speech (a Voldemort moment?) which some opposition politicians were critical about. Stubb did say:

“In foreign policy, recognising the facts is the beginning of wisdom. The foreign policy of our close ally, the United States, currently relies more on transactions than on multilateralism.”

Polls. A new set of opinion polls is out this week which either delights or horrifies party faithful (depending on which party you support!) The Yle surveys look at support for the parliamentary parties if the municipal elections and regional healthcare elections - scheduled for April - would be held now:

Municipal elections: The Social Democrats Demarit are currently projected to come out on top with 22.9% of the vote. The National Coalition Party Kokoomus would be second with 20.3%; the Centre Party Keskusta would be in third place on 18.4% while the Finns Party would fall back to fourth place on 10.8%. (After that, smaller parties: Left, Green, Christian Democrats, Swedish People’s Party, Liike Nyt all with 10% of the vote or less).

Regional healthcare boards: The Social Democrats would still be in first place here on 22% support; Kokoomus have 20.8%; Keskusta would earn 14.5% and the Finns Party would be on 12.9%. (After that, smaller parties in a different order to the municipal elections: Green, Left, Swedish People’s Party, Christian Democrats, Liike Nyt all with 10% of the vote or less).

More polls! It’s been a bumper week for polling at Yle who just produced their monthly look at how people would vote if there were parliamentary elections / a general election held right now. The public says: Social Democrats are first with 24.4% support, up 1.2 percentage points from last month. The National Coalition Party is in second place with 19.9% support, down very slightly from last month. The Finns Party is in third place with 15% support, down very slightly from last month. The Centre Party is in fourth place at 13.4% up 0.3 percentage points.

Kok on a boat. Kokoomus party faithful took to the high seas last weekend to launch their spring election manifesto. In his speech on board, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo urged supporters to hold their nerve on tough times in government:

“It is true that we live in economically tight and politically uncertain times. Cool judgment and a warm heart are now required from decision-makers and all Finns. We live in a time where we must dare to make decisions and reforms. Because if they are not made, tomorrow will be worse. This is how we, the National Coalition Party, have acted.”

Orpo again blamed all of Finland’s financial problems on the previous government, even though his government has not made significant inroads to unemployment, while growth has been slow to come, if at all.

Response. In an official response to the new programme, the Social Democrats have said that Kokoomus are the party of empty promises. “It takes guts to talk about responsible economic management when, under the Coalition Government, only debt and unemployment are increasing in Finland,” says SDP Deputy Chairperson Nasima Razmyar.

“Even before the parliamentary elections, the National Coalition Party promised that funding for social and health services would not be cut and that debt would be stopped. Less than two years later, these promises have already been broken. This is good to keep in mind when evaluating these latest promises,” she adds.

Book. The husband of Finns Party leader Riikka Purra has self-published a new book this week criticising the media for coverage of his wife’s racism scandal during the summer of 2023. Mikko Välimaa, who is an editor at Länsiväylä newspaper in Espoo, has re-framed events to paint himself and his family as ‘victims’ of the media, and says their summer holiday was ruined when journalists started uncovering the many racist and violent posts she wrote on a far-right blog run by current speaker of parliament Jussi Halla-aho.

Russia. There’s been a bit of a flap about Daniel Sazonov, the National Coalition Party’s candidate to be Mayor of Helsinki. This week Iltalehti published an article which says Sazonov has been writing for a Russian-language website (aimed at Russian-speakers in Finland) which “published anti-Ukrainian propaganda and has close ties to the Russian regime” the newspaper reports. The politician stopped writing for the website, he says, when it became clear they wouldn’t condemn the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

One advert described Sazonov as “our man on the Helsinki City Council” which he says refers to his Russian language skills. (Background: Daniel Sazonov's parents moved to Finland as Ingrian returnees from St Petersburg in the early 1990s. Sazonov was born in Helsinki and received Finnish citizenship when he was nine.)

Sazonov has hit back at the Iltalehti article, telling the newspaper: “I considered it important that Russian-speaking people in Finland be provided with correct and appropriate information about Finnish society, politics and the decisions made therein. The fact that the newspaper has become sympathetic to Russia is disgusting and underlines that the decision to stop writing for the newspaper was the right one. I have always been categorical that if something appears to have a link to Russian state actors, I will not have any dealings with those parties.”

Mayor. One more candidate has thrown his hat in the ring to be Helsinki’s next mayor. Millionaire businessman, MP Hjallis Harkimo is the founder of the Liike Nyt (Movement Now) party, and its only member of parliament. Writing on social media he says “I was born in Helsinki and have lived in the city almost my entire life. Now I am running for mayor of my hometown Helsinki with the theme of ‘Finland’s mayor’.  

But there’s a snag. Critics say that Hjallis is not a resident of Helsinki, which is a requirement for running for election. Harkimo lists his official address in the same Helsinki apartment building as his 30-year-old son Joel (who is a Liike Nyt city councillor), and Hjallis insists that he lives there as his primary residence while Sipoo is his second home. That’s being disputed by a National Coalition Party councillor Matia Pajula (he’s also an aide of foreign minister Elina Valtonen) who says “We don't need someone from Sipoo to tell us how Helsinki's affairs should be handled.” Ouch!

Mystery. There’s been a bit of a mystery in parliament in the last few days, after Left Alliance MP Pia Lohikoski wrote on Bluesky that she’d been in an elevator with a group of other politicians, who were “delighted with Elon Musk’s activities, how he has caused a stir in the name of destroying the administration.” Without naming any names (sadly) Pia goes on to say that “there is a group in Parliament who admires what is happening in the USA.” I wonder who it could have been? 🤔

Finland international

USA. Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen is the latest Finnish politician to flatter US President Donald Trump. In an interview with a Swedish newspaper, Valtonen said that Trump had analysed the situation in Ukraine well, and has shown how to bring Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table. “The Russian economy is not in very good shape, and President Trump knows how to take advantage of it,” Valtonen told Svenska Dagbladet.

Border. Finnish authorities have asked their Russian counterparts to return a 13-year-old boy who apparently wandered across the Eastern border from Finland into Russia at the end of January. Official information has been limited in this case so far, and the Finns haven’t revealed anything about the boy’s nationality or country of residence. A Russian website claims the boy is the son of Ukrainian refugees living in Finland.

Iceland. Finnish F/A-18 Hornets are now deployed at Keflavik in Iceland, carrying out patrols for NATO in Icelandic air space. The Finnish jets will be on quick reaction duties until the end of this month.

“I am really honoured for the opportunity given to Lapland Air Wing and the entire Finnish Air Force to lead, for the first time autonomously, a NATO Air policing mission working alongside and collaborating with our Icelandic counterparts” said Colonel Saku Joukas, Commander of Lapland Air Wing.

Last summer Finnish Hornets deployed to the Black Sea region for their first-ever NATO mission and I interviewed some of the Air Force personnel at that time:

Ukraine. If you’re a Finn who wants to volunteer to fight in Ukraine, the Foreign Ministry has published new guidance just for you. The dedicated web pages (in Finnish and Swedish) contain information about what the law says on fighting abroad, how to access consular services, what to do if you are injured, and what to expect if you become a prisoner of war.

Global. There’s seemingly nothing that keeps Finns awake at night more than worrying what other people think about Finland. This is manifested most regularly in Finnish media any time someone foreign says something about Finland, or wears a piece of Marimekko clothing or eats a bar of Fazer chocolate. Any celebrity will do, no matter how minor. (I’m joking… but only a bit!)

And to this end the Foreign Ministry has published a new report called “Finland through the eyes of others” asking people around the world their perception of Finland and the Finns.

The conclusions? Education, good governance, nature, equality and happiness are themes for which Finland is known around the world, while in 2024 international media visibility was particularly driven by NATO membership and security policy. “Despite the challenging global situation, the image of Finland has remained largely positive, but differences in the attitudes of different countries towards Finland have grown,” the report concludes.

Thank you, kiitos, tack!

That’s all for week 6 - the year is flying by so quickly, isn’t it?

Thank you for reading to the end. As usual if you have any story suggestions, tips or scoops you want to send - or you have a comment about what you’d like to see me cover in future editions of Finland Insider, then just send me an email directly to [email protected] 

See you next weekend!

David