President Pride, Finnair food, immigration restrictions and a football snafu

Hello Insiders

Good evening, I hope you had an excellent weekend and you’re ready for the week to come. Don’t worry, Juhannus holidays are almost upon us, not long to go now!

In this week’s newsletter there’s a political milestone as the Sámi Parliament Act cleared it’s last big hurdle before heading to a full vote on the floor of parliament later this month. And it’s summer party conference season which means lots of news emerges from the Greens and Kokoomus this weekend.

Also in this week’s newsletter I’ll take a look at Baltic Sea security, a new call to tax this rich, Finns Party insiders pointing the finger of blame for their recent loss in support, and a football snafu that will bring a guaranteed smile to your face, and criticism from the far-right as President Stubb and the First Lady are unveiled as the patrons of this year’s Helsinki Pride celebrations.

All that still to come, but first this:

Inside track: Russia, Ukraine, the US and national security

💰 Defence. Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) says discussions are underway about how Finland could increase its defence spending to 5% of GDP by 2030. He made the comments at the Kokoomus summer conference on Saturday, echoing remarks made by Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen (NCP) a few days earlier.

🟢🔵 Clashes. The Greens have been involved in a bit of an argument with Kokoomus this weekend about defence spending. Their party chairperson Oras Tynkkynen said that the government’s defence spending plans tie the hands of future governments. “I don’t know when decisions in Finland have been made so hastily and on such flimsy grounds.” However, Green party leader Sofia Virta says that she’s not opposed to increasing defence spending, and tried to play down any rift with the government’s line by saying:

“The Greens believe that security and defense capability must be taken care of in all situations. There is hardly a difference of opinion with the National Coalition Party on this. We Greens do understand the need for increased defense spending in these times. It is precisely because of this need that it is important that we find a parliamentary solution together as to where the money would come from.”

But Kokoomus MP Jarno Limnell hit back at the criticism from the Greens, saying it was “part of the democratic debate and should be taken seriously, but security cannot be based on wishful thinking. It must be based on preparedness.”

🇫🇮 Border. Parliament approved the Border Security Act this week by a vote of 168-29. The controversial legislation allows Finnish authorities to turn away anyone who shows up at a border post coming from Russia. Supporters of the legislation say it’s an important tool to counter Russian hybrid tactics which could mean they flood the border with people falsely claiming asylum, and means that the border can be shut at any time. However critics of the legislation say that genuine asylum seekers will be penalised, and this goes against Finland’s international treaty obligations.

☎️ Telephone. President Alex Stubb held separate phone calls with US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday:

⚓ Baltic. NATO’s annual BALTOPS war games got underway this week, with a flotilla of ships setting sail from port in Germany on Thursday. The Finnish minelayer Hämeenmaa is taking part along with other NATO navies.

🌊 Security. The NATO exercises come after Russia said its own military would start escorting those so-called ‘ghost ship’ or ‘shadow fleet’ vessels through the Baltic. I wrote about it today for Fox News, asking whether this new Russian escalation can cause problems in the relatively narrow Baltic Sea. You can read the whole article here:

⚡ A new report published this week by the OECD concludes that Russian hybrid warfare tactics could have an impact on Finland’s economy: “An escalation of hybrid warfare in the form of cyber-attacks and infrastructure sabotage remains a key risk to investor confidence and trade.”

🇬🇧 Britain is to send military officials to Finland to support the country as it faces a build-up of Russian troops on its eastern border, according to the iNews website.

🚛 Military. Finland has inked a statement of intent along with Sweden, Norway, Lithuania, Estonia and the Netherlands to explore a potential joint procurement of CV90 armoured infantry fighting vehicles.

👭 Ladies. A new survey finds that 70% of women in Finland are prepared to defend the country’s borders, in one way or another. While only 23% would be prepared to take up a weapon, some 61% said they would defend human rights and equality, while 44% said they would defend the country in a non-violent way against an armed attack.

Inside the headlines

🇵🇸 Vandalism. Who splashed pink paint up the front entrance of the Ministry of Defence in Helsinki in the early hours of Saturday morning? A pro-Palestinian group has stepped forward to take responsibility for the vandalism.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Government ministers attended mandatory anti-racism training this week. The session was long overdue, and was made compulsory after a number of racism controversies involving government ministers from the far-right Finns Party made headlines around the world in summer 2023. “I don't know if I really learned anything," said Interior Minister Mari Rantanen (Finns).

✈️ Planes. Union strikes continue to hit Finnair, with more industrial action forecast for 11th, 17th and 19th June. But one obvious impact of the strikes is catering on board flights. At an online forum, some users complained this week about the quality of what they were offered: citing a business class flight from Helsinki to Brussels (a route on which Finnair enjoys a lucrative monopoly…) where passengers at the front of the plane were offered a solitary Elovena chocolate bar instead of the three course meal they might have been expecting. There is some cautious good news: it looks like a tentative deal might have been reached.

🌈 Pride. President Alexander Stubb and First Lady Suzanne Innes-Stubb have been announced as the patrons of Helsinki Pride celebrations this year - and there was, of course, an immediate backlash from some quarters. Finns Party MP Onni Rostila says the move “demonstrates poor judgment” on the part of the president. Helsinki Pride Week takes place from 23 to 29 June.

🛃 Immigration. The government unveiled new plans this week to put new restrictions on foreigners who want to become permanent residents. Under the new scheme, someone would have to earn €40,000, have an advanced degree, or speak a high level of Finnish or Swedish to apply for a permanent residence status after four years. Applicants will also have to live in Finland longer than now, before being eligible to apply.

🏛️ Parliament’s Constitutional Affairs Committee has given the green light for the long-delayed Sami Parliament Act to now go forward for a vote of MPs. The Act formalises the relationship between the Sami Parliament in Inari, and the Finnish State: and this draft of the legislation takes into account areas where Finland has been criticised by the United Nations for violating the rights of Indigenous Sami people. Parliament could vote on the Act later this month.

🚔 Missing. Police have searched the Ostrobothnia home of a family of 10 who have been missing for a year. It’s a case that’s caught the imagination of the nation, as more details about the case are unearthed. An international wanted notice has been issued for the parents: authorities say that seven children were placed in care but they believe the parents took them without permission from the care home or courts.

📺 Yle. Finland’s public broadcaster Yle is going through another round of redundancies, part of the biggest cuts to the service in its 100-year history. It is understood that 14 jobs will be erased at this time, with up to 40 people in total leaving through early retirement and voluntary redundancies.

🦻 Deaf. The Finnish Federation for the Deaf is warning that cuts to services mean that deaf people are not able to be treated equally or access services like hearing people. “Service shutdowns and cuts have significantly weakened the equality of deaf people who use sign language - inequality is still high, especially in regional services,” the organisation says.

⚽ Balls. Finland’s men fell to a 0-2 loss against the Netherlands on Friday in a Euro qualifiers match at the Olympic Stadium.

🤦‍♀️ Snafu. And the coach of the women’s national team made a bit of a snafu when she called up Stina Ruuskanen for a Nations League game against Serbia. Unfortunately for the coach, Stina is a 51-year-old who last played for Finland almost 30 years ago. Instead, 23-year-old defender Nanne Ruuskanen should have received the call-up but the error was noticed to late to include her in the team. Oops!

Insider politics

📊 Polls. A new public opinion poll this week showed the Social Democrats are still the most popular party in Finland with 25.1% support; but the National Coalition Party has closed the gap a little and are now sitting on 21.5% support. The Centre Party remains in third place on 14.1% support and the far-right Finns Party has lost half of their support from the 2023 general election.

Trade Union groups inside the Finns Party have openly blamed decisions around cutting benefits for unemployed or economically disadvantaged people, as the key factor for such a dramatic loss of support. They would like party leader Riikka Purra to distance them from the National Coalition Party in this regard.

🟢 Vihreät. The Greens have been holding their summer conference in Hämeenlinna this weekend, and the headline story is that chairperson Sofia Virta has been re-elected for a second term in office. She was running unopposed.

🗳️ She told Iltalehti that her aim was to regain the seven seats her party lost at the last general election in 2023, and be in a position to join the next government after the 2027 parliamentary elections, but cooperation with the Finns Party was not possible. Virta also said her party wouldn’t get support from voters that don’t share the same values: “We certainly won't quickly get voters from people who believe that women and men don't need to be equal” […] “They probably shouldn't vote for us. And they don't need to vote, because then we would have quite a big value conflict.”

⚖️ And Virta has been in court this week, as the plaintiff in a case against her ex-husband who is accused of aggravated defamation against Virta and her new partner.

🔵 Finns already have reason to be optimistic, and the reforms made by the government are already starting to be strongly reflected, for example, in companies' plans. That’s the message Prime Minister Petteri Orpo delivered this weekend at his party’s council meeting in Helsinki. “I have recently been criticized for being overly optimistic about growth. I am happy to be criticized for that," the PM said.

🏛️ Vote. The government survived a vote of no-confidence by a margin of 92-71 on Friday. The interpelation was brought by opposition parties, and critiqued the four-party coalition government’s handling of the economy.

🔴 Economy. The Social Democrats say the government had a lucky escape after avoiding closer economic scrutiny from the EU. Oulu MP Tytti Tuppurainen says: “However, that does not mean that the government’s economic policy has been successful or has received recognition. In reality, the room for manoeuvre in public finances is very narrow and the revenue base is being eroded by the government’s own actions. This is not a sustainable policy, but the government’s actions reflect a right-wing ideology.”

Insider international

🇮🇱 Blocked. Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen (NCP) has blocked the sale of a disused petrol station near MIkkeli in eastern Finland to an Israeli woman, on the grounds of national security.

🇨🇳 Blocked. And a Chinese man has had his request to buy property blocked. The area is next to the Rovajärvi military training area in Lapland that will be used by NATO forces. In both cases the Ministry of Defence couldn’t rule out the possibility that Russia was ultimately behind either of the attempts to buy properties.

🇯🇵 President Alexander Stubb and the First Lady Suzanne Innes-Stubb are currently on a working trip to Japan. The First Lady previously taught English in Japan and recorded a video saying a few words in Japanese. The couple are accompanies on their trip by a delegation of Finnish businesses, and will visit Hakui, Tokyo and Osaka during the visit.

Thank you, kiitos, tack

If you made it to the end of the newsletter this week, I salute you! Thanks for being a loyal reader.

I’m back next Sunday with more headlines and deadlines, so until then, have a great week.

David