Ghost ships, banning Halloween, hurricane winds and too much booze

Hello Insiders!

The newsletter is more regularly arriving on Saturdays now, instead of Fridays. That’s because I did a few experiments and a good number of subscribers open the emails and read Finland Insider on Saturday rather than on Friday. So let’s see how it goes for a while and if I have to make some other tweaks to deliveries I can do it as we go.

After an unusually mild October, winter has arrived bringing sleet, snow and dangerous driving conditions to many parts of the country - Lahti saw 19cm by Saturday morning, the most snowfall anywhere overnight. There were even hurricane-force winds felt for the first time in Finland, as Storm Lyly battered Rauma on the west coast on Friday evening. Hang on to your hats!

I’ve talked before about the political pendulum in Finland swinging from domestic to international issues and this week we are firmly back in international territory with the president on a state visit to China, the PM on Nordic Council duties in Iceland and meeting with Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy, while the Europe minister joined a chorus of voices speaking out about the situation in Georgia while even the former president and prime minister have been in the news for their (separate) work on European security issues.

Also this week I’ve got a look at a popular podcast, Indigenous architecture, security threats in the Baltic Sea, a religious storm in a teacup, banning Halloween, successful books, and how much alcohol Finns are drinking. Plus there’s plenty of news and analysis on what’s been happening in politics as well.

All that still to come, but first this:

Inside the headlines

Baltic security. Finland's Coast Guard says it has detected constant disturbances to satellite navigation signals in the Baltic Sea since April and in recent weeks has seen tankers spoofing their location data to cover up visits to Russia - a phenomenon known as a ‘ghost fleet’. The Coast Guard said the jamming, which it has detected increasingly since April in the Gulf of Finland, has led to ships getting lost at sea or losing their course. Finnish authorities have had to alert ships to stop them getting close to islands or shallow waters, Reuters reports.

Last week Interior Minister Lulu Ranne (Finns) pointed the finger at Russia, saying the government believes Moscow is behind the ongoing disturbances to satellite navigation and positioning systems used by ships in the Baltic.

US election. If Finns could vote in the upcoming US presidential election, only 10% of them would cast a ballot for Donald Trump. That’s the headline of a new survey out this week from the business and policy forum EVA. Democratic candidate Kamala Harris is the favourite of a clear majority in practically all demographic groups, the only exception being the supporters of the Finns Party and Christian Democrats who narrowly favour Republican Party candidate Trump.

Podcast. Meanwhile a podcast produced by public broadcaster Yle’s US correspondent Iida Tikka explaining US politics for a Finnish audience has become a runaway hit since it went online in September. So far it has attracted more than 700,000 plays.

Halloween. Christian Democrat MP Päivi Rässänen - she who is liable to brandish a bible in Parliament at a moment’s notice, given half a chance - has called for a ban on Halloween celebrations in schools because it might be too scary for some children. Instead, she wants to see schools organise a harvest festival where children “would learn to appreciate domestic agriculture, and at the same time join the tradition of a longer celebration in Finland.”

Religion. The city of Hämeenlinna has been ordered to pay €1500 to the mother of a child who was forced to take part in a school concert which ended up being religious in nature. The parent complained to the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman, who levied the fine. In Finland, schools are supposed to provide alternate activities for children who don’t take part in religious-themed events.

Books. Helsinki Book Fair attracted an all-time record number of visitors this week, with almost 98,000 people attending the annual event.

Celebrate. The invitations have already started going out this week for the annual Independence Day celebrations hosted by the President and First Lady on 6 December. The most significant change to the event this year is that veterans will be invited to their own, separate, celebration a few days earlier. While this was apparently done in consultation with veterans groups, there has still been quite a backlash in the tabloids, with many comments saying the veterans are being disrespected by being excluded from the main, televised, event. The theme of this year’s event is “Together".

Tourism. Should tourism architecture in Lapland take into account Indigenous designs, and local resources, when it is being planned and built? The President of the Sámi Parliament Pirita Näkkäläjärvi is urging developers to do just that. Winter tourism in Inari alone is expected to grow by 30% this year, and with a need for tourism to be sustainable, Näkkäläjärvi says more could be done to ensure tourism operators understand the rights of the Sámi people, and their culture.

Alcohol. Alcohol consumption has decreased in Finland, but many people still drink too much, according to new data from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare THL. Last year, men in Finland drank an average of 13 litres of pure alcohol; while women drank an average of five litres, Yle Svenska reports.

"Despite the fact that regular and risky alcohol use has decreased a little, it is still common to drink to get drunk," says THL's research professor Pia Mäkelä.

Insider politics

Report. A new report on polarisation in politics written by academic experts at the University of Helsinki has been shelved by a Finns Party minister because it is critical of the Finns Party and its supporters, Helsingin Sanomat reports this week.

Although the Interior Ministry refused to publish the report, the University of Helsinki went ahead, and wrote in the introduction: "It was communicated from the ministry that the report is too critical in relation to the Finns Party, and the text should be modified in that respect. The ministry's justification for this was that criticising the government and the parties it forms is not part of the ministries' tasks, and the impartiality of the civil service would be challenged if the ministry's publication criticised the party field or an individual government party."

Minister. Prime Minister Orpo has still to announce a new Minister of Environment and Climate to replace Kai Mykkänen who is the new Mayor of Espoo. As MTV Uutiset notes, the front-runners for the role are Mari-Leena Talvitie and Sari Multala: one will replace Mykkänen, and the other will be named Minister of Science and Culture until the end of the election period.

Jobs. But there are also other roles that Kokoomus is looking to fill from among its ranks: the next CEO of Kela when the position comes up in spring. There’s also a powerful role as the new head of KT (the advocacy organisation for local government and wellbeing services county employers). The outgoing Mayor of Helsinki Juhana Vartiainen (Kok) has applied for the position but MTV reports that a different Kokoomus insider, Mika Nykästä, is a favourite of party bosses. Either way, the role is decided by KT’s board which consists of 6 members of government parties and 8 members of opposition parties (and one civil servant).

Banking. Another job coming up is Chairman of the Bank of Finland. Incumbent Olli Rehn (Centre) is applying for a second term. The former EU Commissioner and Finnish presidential candidate is well respected within Kokoomus, and they could choose to support Rehn’s application - but they might ultimately decide they want their own inside man on the job, with MTV suggesting former Kokoomus PM Jyrki Katainen or outgoing Helsinki Mayor Juhana Vartiainen could have their names in the running.

Lots of political intrigue on the job front coming up in spring!

Incitement. A former Finns Party MP is being charged with three counts of incitement to ethnic agitation - the Finnish legal label for what other countries might call “racism”. Anu Turtiainen was a member of the Finns Party when he wrote an offensive tweet about the death of George Floyd, a Black man, in police custody in the US; and also for a social media post with a derogatory word for taxi drivers who have darker skin or a foreign background. After the posts were published in 2020, Turtiainen was expelled from the Finns Party group in parliament but went on to form his own ‘party of one’. He lost his seat at the last general election in 2023.

Finland international

Ukraine. Prime Minister Petteri Orpo was in Iceland last week for a meeting of Nordic leaders. Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy was also there and had a bilateral meeting with Orpo in Reykjavik.

“We discussed strengthening Ukraine’s air defense, supplying artillery ammunition, and investing in the production of long-range drones and missiles,” Zelenskyy wrote online. “I thanked Finland for its leadership in the Civil Protection Coalition, focused on building shelters.”

Moldova. Former PM Sanna Marin has published a new report in her role for the Tony Blair Institute, into the recent referendum in Moldova which saw a narrow win for the pro-EU side against a strong pro-Russian narrative. Marin calls it a “wake-up call”

“Firstly, it serves as a warning of the evolving nature of Russia's threat, and secondly, it acts as a reminder of the importance of EU expansion as a geopolitical tool,” she writes.

Europe. And former President Sauli Niinistö delivered a report ordered by the European Commission on how the resilience of European societies can be improved in the face of various interlinked crises. At a press conference in Brussels on Wednesday, EU President Ursula von der Leyen called for a “whole of society” approach to tackling preparedness; while Ninnistö cautioned that “threats don't stop at our borders, they cascade between the interconnected sectors of our economy”.

China. President Stubb was on a State Visit to China this week, where he said that Helsinki “values ​​a stable and constructive relationship” with Beijing.

Georgia. Europe Minister Joakim Strand (SFP) signed a joint declaration with other EU ministers on the situation in Georgia this week. “We are deeply concerned about the current situation in Georgia. International observers reported violations during the election campaign as well as on election day. We condemn all violation of international norms for free and fair elections.”

Israel. Finland’s Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio (Finns) says he is monitoring the situation in Israel, after the Knesset voted to ban the UN’s UNRWA organisation which helps with humanitarian relief for Palestinian people. “The goal should be for humanitarian aid to arrive comprehensively and without abuse,” Tavio wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

And finally…

The production of the first new Finnish F-35A jet got underway at a Lockheed Martin production plant in Texas. At the event, a component of the forward fuselage of the first Finnish F-35A fighter, designated JF-501, was signed. The JF-501 will be handed over to the Air Force at a rollout ceremony in the United States in late autumn 2025, after which the Air Force will deploy the first eight aircraft at Ebbing in the United States for the initial F-35 training of Finnish personnel.

Thank you, kiitos, tack

That’s all for this week, thanks for reading to the end. As usual, if you have any questions, comments, story ideas or scoops then please do not hesitate to get in touch with me directly by email: [email protected]

Catch you next Saturday,

David