OnlyFans, Iranian spies, burger blunders and motorway landings

Hello Insiders! 

It’s been a rough week domestically for Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) who has been criticised for his handling of the economy, his position on Palestine, and finds the four-party coalition government he leads getting pummeled in the polls.

Things can only get better, right? Well… the Finns Party leadership is finding it’s not so easy this week either, as they’re criticised by their own members for drifting too far to the right on economic policy - something which risks alienating rank-and-file working class voters they count on for support.

And if you’re the Social Democrats, well at the moment you can sit back and watch your biggest rivals make all sorts of mistakes. I feel like Demarit are doing well not really because of their own political success, but because of other parties’ disasters.

Anyway. This week in the Finland Insider newsletter I’ve got all the politics news you could want (and probably a little bit more!) Plus an OnlyFans sex scandal in parliament, Middle East diplomacy, and brand new football fashion.

All that still to come, but first this:

Insider briefing: Russia, Ukraine, and national security

🇺🇦 Ukraine. Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) was in Kyiv this week for talks on establishing closer energy and education cooperation between Finland and Ukraine. The two countries also established a joint civil defence agreement to help Ukraine expand its network of underground bomb shelters.

🎙️ Speaking to reporters in Helsinki today (Sunday), Orpo stressed the need for more international sanctions to force Russia into a ceasefire and peace talks.

🍔 And if you need any evidence to validate your belief that Petteri Orpo walks into one blunder after another… he was critcised by some parts of the Finnish media for visiting a Hesburger location in Ukraine and eating a burger (Hesburger is a Finnish burger chain with franchise restaurants in Ukraine). Critics said it was insensitive while Russian missiles rained down on Ukrainian civilians… the PM said it was important to show a sense of normal life and defiance in the face of Russian aggression.

⚡ Baltic Sea. The EstLink2 connection between Finland and Estonia will return to commercial use at the end of June, according to FINGRID. The undersea electricity transmission line was damaged on Christmas Day, and repair work started in May but has progressed faster than previously estimated.

🇨🇰 Charges. Meanwhile, three senior officers from the Cook Islands-registered vessel Eagle-S suspected of causing damage to the EstLink2 cable are still banned from leaving Finland, as the National Bureau of Investigation wraps up its initial investigation into the incident. The men - captain, first officer and second officer - are reportedly facing possible charges of aggravated sabotage and aggravated disruption of telecommunications traffic. The NBI report has gone to the prosecutor who will decide if there are any charges to be pressed against the men.

✈️ Top Gun. The Times reports on how NATO allies have been learning a trick or two from the Finnish Air Force when it comes to landing on unconventional surfaces. I guess anything’s a runway if you’re brave enough!

🥇 Tack. Former Finnish PM Sanna Marin (SDP) ex-Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto (Green) foreign ministry counsellor Petri Hakkarainen were awarded the Royal Order of the North Star for their “decisive contributions during the NATO process.”

“Their leadership has been of great importance for Sweden’s security and for the historic step towards Swedish membership in NATO” the citation from King Carld XVI Gustaf read. The awards were presented by Swedish PM Ulf Kristersson at the Swedish Embassy in Helsinki.

🇩🇪 Visits. President Alex Stubb met Germany’s new Chancellor Friedrich Mertz at his summer Kultaranta residence on Finland’s southwest coast this week for talks. “President Stubb and Chancellor Mertz discussed, among other things, European security, achieving a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, and the situation in the Middle East” the President's official X social media account noted.

📺 TV. And President Stubb gave an interview with CNN this week that made headlines, especially when he said Russia made a big mistake by invading Ukraine because it had strengthened European unity, encouraged Finland and Sweden to join NATO, and for underestimating the Ukrainian resolve to fight back. Watch the full interview here:

Inside the headlines

🎓 Students. Police across the country had to disperse crowds of school leavers who gathered to party on Saturday night with beer, loud music and fireworks in cities across the country. Public broadcaster Yle reports that in Helsinki and Oulu fights broke out when thousands of school leavers assembled, and police had to put out urgent requests on social media for parents to come and collect their kids when things got out of hand.

🇮🇷 Espionage. Watch out for Iranian spies! That’s the message this week from Finland’s Security Police Supo who came out for the first time to specifically name Iran as a country which actively targets Finland with espionage operations. Until now, Supo had only named China and Russia in this category.

📈 Budget. The government has submitted its second supplementary budget to parliament and it raises debt by another billion euros. This government came to power saying it would be lowering debt. With these latest proposals, net borrowing will rise to an estimated €13.2 billion for 2025 about a billion euros more than the government forecast last year.

💰 Economy. The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy Etla says that “Finland has weak productivity growth and weaker terms of trade development than other countries” a combination Etla describes as “worrying.”

✈️ Strikes. Finnair has cancelled 50 flights for tomorrow (Monday) after already cancelling 100 flights on Friday as the Finnish Aviation Union calls for more industrial action at Helsinki Airport. There could also be further flight cancellations on Wednesday this week.

⛵ Olympics. A Finnish sailor who competed at two Olympic Games has decided to switch teams and compete for another country instead. Sinem Kurtbay, who represented Finland at the Tokyo and Paris Olympics, will now be competing for Turkey, the other country where she has dual nationality. The sailor says she considers herself Finnish first and foremost, but thought her Olympic sailing days were over after Paris but got an offer from Turkey to compete on their team instead in the Nacra17 class boat, looking ahead to the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

⚽ Fashion. New home and away kits for the Finnish men’s and women’s national football teams were unveiled by Nike a few days ago. They’re… blue and white, rather obviously… and have some interesting sublimated designs. Take a look here.

Insider politics

📊 Popular. A new poll for Uutisuomalainen newspaper group found that almost 70% of Finns are dissatisfied with the performance of the current government.

✝️ RIP. Former Keskusta MP Esko Ahonen (not to be confused with former PM Esko Aho) died on Sunday. He passed away at home in Evijärvi after a short illness, aged 68.

💰 Economy. Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) wrote an editorial this week in praise of his government’s handling of the economy, saying (among other claims) that the government is achieving its policy goal of stabilizing the country’s debt ratio. But a senior official at the Ministry of Finance says the ministry didn’t make any such assessment. Oops! In response, Orpo said: “I stand behind what I wrote, and I stand behind the government's actions. My statement in question was open to interpretation.”

“Open to interpretation” is the key phrase here. The Ministry of Finance doesn’t interpret it the same was as the PM, and neither do the opposition (of course).

🤣😭You could almost hear the howling from the opposition and the PM’s own party at such a public blunder - and it’s not unfair to say that this government has put to rest the notion that Kokoomus is a safe pair of hands when it comes to handling the economy, especially when we look at indicators like debt levels and unemployment (rising, and, among the worst in the EU). To a layman like myself, Kokoomus are no better at handling the economy than any other party - and they’ve all managed to screw things up one way or another!

🔴 MP Aki Lindén (SDP) summed things up by saying: “It's starting to get painful to watch the Prime Minister's economic policy decisions.”

🌶️ Spicy! A senior Centre Party official has moved to a new role after Ilta-Sanomat reported that a spicy adult video posted to OnlyFans had been filmed in his apartment. The official, Jirka Hakala, has been a special adviser to Keskusta leader Antti Kaikkonen and previously he helped Olli Rehn in his bid for president.

👀 So what does the video show? Well of course I haven’t looked at it, but Ilta-Sanomat describes a 15 minute video where a woman does some light housework while scantily dressed, and then performs a sex act on a man whose face is not shown. In Hakala’s apartment.

It’s not clear whether Hakala is the man in the video, or even whether he knew the video was being taken in his apartment. Full disclosure: Like many other journalists covering Finnish politics I’ve dealt with Jirka Hakala fairly often in recent years in his different roles with Keskusta ministers, during the presidential campaign and working with the party leader’s office.

Insider international

🔫 Weapons. PM Orpo (NCP) told reporters in Helsinki on Sunday that he’s skeptical about any future arms deals with Israel. Finland has been exporting military materiel to Israel, and has a huge deal to buy Israeli weapons systems. But now the PM says “The Foreign Ministry makes its assessment of every arms deal. What we see happening in the Middle East now and how Israel is acting, of course, must have an impact. I don't see any justification for making new deals."

🇵🇸 Palestine. The PM is getting slammed for his government’s non-position on recognising Palestine as an independent country. The Social Democrats say it shows “weak leadership” when the government can’t come up with a clear position.

“The clock is ticking, but Prime Minister Orpo is fumbling around on a key foreign policy issue. Finland must be on the right side of history” says Demarit Parliamentary Group Chair Tytti Tuppurainen, who adds that ahead of a high level international meeting in New York later in June, “Finland is without a vision at international tables.”

🤔 As one politician pointed out this week, Kokoomus MPs have expressed at least four different positions on Palestinian statehood: Foreign Minister Valtonen says Finland will recognise Palestine when the time is right; Aura Salla says it should have happened a long time ago; Atte Kaleva says it should never be recognised, and Jukka Kopra says they’ve been considering what conditions would have to be met.

📊 Poll. A new public opinion poll commissioned by Yle this week shows 44% of Finns think we should recognise the State of Palestine, with 25% against and 31% unsure.

🇮🇱 Israel. Meanwhile Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen (NCP) has criticised Israel for an announcement that it planned to build more illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. “Settlements are illegal under international law,” Valtonen wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Creating deliberate obstacles to the two-state solution is unacceptable and runs counter to international efforts to advance peace.”

🇯🇴🇱🇧 Diplomacy. Valtonen also visited Jordan and Lebanon this week for talks on her Middle East diplomacy tour. In southern Lebanon she visited Finnish troops deployed on a UNIFIL peacekeeping mission, and in Beirut she praised the country’s development, saying “While the news from the Middle East over the past couple of years has been mostly heartbreakingly bleak, there have also been glimpses of hope. One of these has been the positive developments in the political situation in Lebanon.”

🇭🇺 Hungary. Finland joined 20 other EU countries to warn Hungary over “its continued violation of the EU’s fundamental values.”

“The rule of law is not a matter for negotiation. It is the basis of all EU cooperation. If we allow exceptions, we will undermine the credibility of the entire Union” said Joakim Strand (SFP), Finland’s Minister for European Affairs.

🇳🇬 A former local politician from Lahti has gone on trail facing terror charges. Simon Ekpa has been active in an independence campaign for the Biafra region in Nigeria, and Finnish prosecutors say he participated in a terrorist organisation and incited crimes for terrorist purposes. Although Ekpa did his campaigning online, prosecutors believe his actions broke Finland’s anti-terror laws.

Thank you, kiitos, tack!

That’s all for this week, and thank you for reading all the way to the end. I’m back next Sunday (hopefully a little earlier) with all the stories big and small to help you navigate and understand the world’s happiest country.

Bye for now,

David