Woke tofu, school perversions, Stubb praises Trump, and floorball demolition

Hello Insiders!

I know I say it every week, but this has been another busy busy week!

This week I’ve picked out some stories on immigration and residency which should be interesting if you’re a foreigner living in Finland and concerned about your status here, or what might happen in the future.

I’ve got a look as well at the Finnish exodus from Elon Musk’s toxic X social media platform; there’s new figures on unemployment; an MP speaks out about what it’s like to work in parliament; continued grim reading about the warmer winter weather and the impact of climate change (and green policies) on the Sapmi traditional homeland area.

There’s a new military support package for Ukraine; and new manifestos unveiled by the Finns Party and Christian Democrats; plus a phone call with the new American foreign minister, and to lighten the mood there’s some positive news on a television export, and a huge salibandy win.

All that still to come, but first this:

Inside the headlines

📉 Immigration. There’s been a record-high number of residence permit applications from employees, students and their family members, but despite this, the number of permits actually granted by authorities was lower in 2024 than it was during 2023.

That’s the headline about a slowdown in immigration from the latest Migri statistics which also show that labour migration to Finland has decreased due to the economic downturn - despite the “historically high” level of applications received. There has also been a significant decrease in the number of incoming applications for international protection (ie: asylum).

🎉 Celebrations. The leader of the far-right Finns Party leader Riikka Purra is cock-a-hoop about the slowdown in immigration (as you might expect!) "The slowdown in immigration growth can be considered a positive thing, especially in terms of the sustainability of public finances,” she said on Thursday.

😦 Criticism. Social Democrat Party Vice Chairperson Niina Malm says that it’s “unfair” the government is celebrating the decrease in immigration.

“In this situation, Purra is trying to direct the discussion to immigration so that the damage caused to Finns is not discussed,” she said, describing Riikka Purra as “Finland's Thatcher”.

🏠 Residency. The government has unveiled a proposal to make it more difficult for foreigners to get a permanent residence permit in Finland (see comments, above!) New amendments to the Aliens Act would mean applicants for permanent residency would have to live for six years continuously in Finland (instead of the current four years), demonstrate “sufficient skills” in speaking Finnish or Swedish, and prove a two-year work history.

🔫 Defence. Nordic Defence ministers met in Helsinki this week, under the Finnish chairmanship of the Nordic Defence Cooperation alliance NORDEFCO.

“In a time of increased uncertainty, characterised by Russia’s hostile behaviour and war of aggression against Ukraine, the Nordic Defence Ministers emphasise the importance of a strong and united Alliance and express their unwavering support for Ukraine and its people for as long as it takes” the ministers said in a statement.

🧨️ Boom. The Finnish government has given the green light to build a new plant to produce TNT explosives. The factory will be built in Pori, with an investment of more than €200 million.

👶 Children. A survey published by the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare this week found that as many as 87% of the parents who responded to the survey feel things are getting worse in Finnish society. Some 54% of respondents are concerned about the near future of their own family.

📺 TV. A hit Finnish television series is set for international release in the Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany. Yle’s “Queen of Fucking Everything” clocked up 8.3 million starts on the Areena streaming service in January, and tells the story of a middle-aged woman who is accustomed to the good life but falls on hard times and finds herself on the wrong side of the law.

🌡 Weather. Maybe you noticed already, but things are heating up in the Finnish capital with one of the warmest January temperature profiles in the 21st century, as our friend meteorologist Mika Rantanen details:

💚 Green. A new report authored by Amnesty International and the Saami Council is warning that climate change threatens the culture and existence of Indigenous Sámi people in two ways. First, through the direct impact on the environment of changing weather conditions and ecosystems; and secondly “through the increasing number of energy projects and resource extraction in Sápmi [the traditional Sami homeland area] in the name of ‘green’ development and ‘clean’ energy transition”.

📈 Unemployment. New research finds that the number of unemployed people who are highly educated is at a “record high.” A study for Akava Works found that at the end of 2024, more than 52,000 university graduates were out of work.

🅾️ Blood. The Finnish Red Cross says that more men are donating blood (and that’s a good thing!) The proportion of men among blood donors increased in 2024 to 45%, that’s up from 43% the previous year and up from 41% a few years before.

🏑 Salibandy. The Finnish women’s floorball team - a sport known as Salibandy in Finnish - have been demolishing the opposition this week at the World Cup qualifiers in Latvia. Their latest victims, by a landslide, were the UK team who fell 30-1 to the dominant Finns. But there is one small ray of light for the Brits, this game marked their first-ever goal against a Finnish team. So that’s something to be positive about, right?

Insider politics

➡️ Finns Party. The Finns Party was the first this week to publish its manifesto for the upcoming elections. And taking yet another leaf out of Donald Trump’s political playbook, Riikka Purra’s party says that “perversion” should be removed from school, although it doesn’t say exactly what “perversion” is.

“The basics in primary school - education, not perversion, a growing child needs more than tofu,” the manifesto says.

Purra told journalists at a Monday press conference that her party wants to “stop the madness” like restricting freedom of expression (sic) and stopping “wokeism”. She also said that schools shouldn’t be teaching children about gender identity or “men who give birth”.

“It is not a small matter. Especially when the brainwashing we oppose is directed at children and young people,” said Purra.

🥦 Vegetarians. Meanwhile Finnish MEP Sebastian Tynkkynen (Finns) has expressed his shock and outrage that he was invited to a student union event in Helsinki and then found out there was no meat being served on the menu, only plant-based dishes.

“This is just one example of how woke has accumulated a following over the past few years, sweeping through various institutions at a rapid pace,” the MEP felt he needed to say on X.

X Games. Once, twice, three time’s the charm! Social Democrat MP Timo Harakka (whose number is saved in my phone as “Timmy Magpie” - apols for my childish sense of humour!) has asked the government three times recently why they’re still using Elon Musk’s toxic X platform - formerly Twitter - for official communications.

Previously, PM Petteri Orpo has said that X is “a channel for international politics and diplomacy, where, for example, heads of state take a stand on current issues,” and claimed that it would “significantly reduce Finland’s international visibility and violate established international communication practices," if the government were to leave the X service.

Quite rightly, Harakka asked since when has X been this super important channel for international diplomacy which somehow is greater than, you know, traditional channels for diplomacy? He’s got a point there.

But now, on the third time of asking, Prime Minister Orppo has changed his tune and says the government is following “with particular concern the changes in X's editorial policy and the erosion of trust in it.”

Triggered. As you might expect, and right on cue, some far-right Finns Party MPs have reacted to this. Jani Mäkelä wrote on X (of course!) that “It is certainly not the Government's job to monitor with particular concern the changes in X's editorial policy and the erosion of trust in it;” while Finns Party MP Sanna Antikainen wrote “the Government probably has more important tasks than to silence X’s comments.”

The last word goes to the prime minister, who says “so far, no decision has been made to exit X. X’s worrying development is being monitored and platform usage is being continuously evaluated” which sounds to me like he’s leaving the door open for an eXodus, in the same way the German government recently said it was leaving X after Musk endorsed the far-right AfD party in upcoming elections.

Exodus. The University of Helsinki has become the latest Finnish institution to leave X and migrate instead to Bluesky. The university’s Director of Communications Taina Kyllönen says that X has been in decline for a while but another reason to leave it behind is how it has changed for the worse:

“We don’t want to promote a conflict-seeking conversational culture, nor do we wish to expose our researchers to offensive behaviour through our own posts,” says Kyllönen.

Exodus 2. Another notable Finnish departure from X this week has been Olli Rehn the current Governor of the Bank of Finland, former presidential candidate, ex-European Commissioner, and a senior figure in the Centre Party.

“I have decided to no longer post on X. I will communicate about monetary policy and economy on Bluesky and LinkedIn, so please come and join me there!” he wrote.

✝️ CD. The Christian Democrats unveiled a new political manifesto this week and their slogan heading into spring’s election cycle is “Without compromising on what is most important” (catchy, eh?) The party wants to promote local food procurement in municipalities; literacy for children including Finnish language lessons for very young immigrant children; new technologies to encourage remote working; more AI used in nursing work; and better integration services for immigrants.

✈️ Flights. The cost for Members of Parliament to fly back and forth from their constituencies to the capital - when they could have reasonably taken the train - is costing the taxpayers a whopping €650,000 per year according to the latest figures published by Ilta-Sanomat this week.

The newspaper looked at train connections and found that it is not always possible to get to meetings early in the morning - even if there are seven trains per day for example between Helsinki and Kuopio - and so MPs end up flying if they want to attend important work events.

Writing on social media, NCP MP Sinuhe Wallinheimo (who lives in Jyväskylä) said that if MPs were forced to take trains, “many provincial representatives would carefully consider whether to run for office or not. The train is not an option for everyone, even though I can use it myself, for example.”

🏛 Workplace. SDP MP Ville Merinen has again criticised the working atmosphere in parliament, likening it to a “hunting club” where old members prefer to cling on to past traditions instead of embracing change.

The MP, known as “Therapist Ville” due to his previous work as a nurse and psychotherapist, took sick leave in October and said at the time it was “the sickest work community” he had ever been in. This week he gave an update, and said many people had asked if things had changed since his sick leave. Unfortunately he said it has not improved. “It changed for a week. Then it turned to its old course” he wrote on Instagram.

Finland international

❤️️ Love Trump. Finnish President Alex Stubb has been praising US President Donald Trump, at a time when the American leader has been threatening to invade Greenland, impose tariffs on Denmark, and vowed to launch a trade war against the European Union.

Speaking to Finnish political journalists on Thursday, President Stubb said he was cautiously optimistic that Trump would succeed in bringing about peace in Ukraine.

“Personally, I think the only language Putin understands is tough language. And that’s exactly the language Donald Trump is using against Vladimir Putin right now. And I think that’s actually a good thing.”

But when it comes to the question of backing Denmark or the USA over Greenland, Stubb refused to directly support the Danes. He said that he didn’t want to comment on a hypothetical question on whose side Finland would take in public and diplomatically.

🇺🇦 Ukraine. Finland has announced a new military package for Ukraine, which has been welcomed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

🇺🇸 USA. Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen held a phone call with her new American counterpart Marco Rubio this week. Valtonen says the interests of the two countries are aligned in that they want to defend democracy, keep their countries safe and strengthen conditions for economic growth. “We have a broad shared agenda in the areas of security, technology and free markets,” she wrote on X.

🇮🇸 Iceland. In fact, Valtonen had a busy week of phone calls to her opposite numbers! She congratulated Iceland’s new Foreign Minister Thorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir as the pair discussed European security, transatlantic relations and Nordic cooperation (a standard trio of topics!)

🇮🇱 Israel. And Valtonen also spoke on the phone with Israeli’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar. “We discussed the importance of the full implementation of all phases of the Gaza ceasefire-hostage agreement. I raised the significance of humanitarian efforts, including UNRWA’s possibility to fulfil its mandate in the occupied Palestinian territory,” she wrote online.

Thank you, kiitos, tack!

Thank you for reading to the very end of the Finland Insider newsletter this week, and hopefully it added something to your understanding of what’s happening in the country - especially on politics which impacts people on a daily basis.

If you have any story suggestions, tips or scoops - or just want to say hello! - then feel free to get in touch with me directly on [email protected] I would love to hear from you.

Have a great weekend, and catch you next Saturday.

David