The Kuopio-based  Savon Sanomat  writes that Finland's new five-party coalition government, headed by Social Democratic Party chair  Antti Rinne , is expected to breeze through its first challenge from the opposition.
 The government's programme came in for sharp criticism on a floor debate on Tuesday and Wednesday. In the course of that debate the National Coalition Party, the Finns Party and the Christian Democrats each filed a motion of no-confidence.
 As this paper points out, the Finns Party is critical of moves by the government which it says will raise the costs of housing and motoring, while the National Coalition Party has come down hard on the cabinet's economic policy proposals and is demanding action  to improve employment .
 The government, which includes the SDP, Centre, Greens, Left Alliance and Swedish People's Party, commands 117 votes in the 200 member parliament. In addition,  Harry Harkimo , who is the sole MP of the Movement Now (Liike Nyt) group, has also announced his support for the government. The no-confidence vote is scheduled for early Thursday afternoon.
 Network services still down in Lahti
 Lahti's  Etelä-Suomen Sanomat  reports that network connections for the health and social services operations of the City of Lahti and the Päijät-Häme region have been suspended to prevent the spread of  malware that infected Lahti's public sector computer system  on Tuesday.
 According to the paper, the infection started with a single computer and spread to around another one thousand.
 Etelä-Suomen Sanomat tells its readers to expect significant disruptions in services at public healthcare centres and dental clinics. Clients of social services offices will also be impacted.
 Patients in need of acute care are being advised to phone health advisory services. Appointments already booked at healthcare centres are being handled, but officials say that some procedures may not be possible and will require a new visit at a later date.
 As of Thursday morning, computer-based patient records, laboratory results and x-ray images were unavailable, and the system of e-prescriptions was offline.
 Officials are as of yet unable to say how long the disruptions may last. Further information is to be made available on Friday.
 Impact of new rape law
 Turun Sanomat presents some  expert legal opinion  on what  newly proposed legislation  redefining rape may mean in the courts.
 If passed by parliament, the new rape law would be based on a lack of consent rather than threats or violence, as is the case now.
 Matti Tolvanen , Professor of Criminal Law at the University of Eastern Finland, told Turun Sanomat that he does not believe that redefining rape will lead to significantly more convictions. He pointed to the fact that it will not change the problem of evidence, that there are rarely eyewitnesses to rape and cases often come down to one person's word against another's. This is very difficult for prosecutors.
 Tolvanen added, though that while the change in the number of convictions may remain small, it will undoubtedly affect attitudes.
 "In the long run, the effect may be quite significant. The message to society is that individuals have the right to self determination and that must be respected," said Professor Tolvanen.
 Tolvanen also believes that the new law may lower the threshold for people to report rapes to the authorities.
 Budget threads
 Ask the average Finn where they got their latest summer apparel, and you're likely to hear something like, ”just past the sporting goods section, three aisles over from the frozen fish counter".
 The capital daily Helsinki Sanomat reports on  a fresh survey  by the Finnish Commerce Federation showing that the most popular place for people in Finland to buy clothing is at hypermarkets and discount retailers.
 The survey, carried out in March-April of this year found that first place was held by Prisma chain hypermarkets where 34 percent of shoppers said they had purchased clothing over the past year. In second place were the Tokmanni discount stores and in third were Citymarket chain hypermarkets.
 Swedish-based clothing retailer Hennes & Mauritz came in fourth.
 HS points out that instead of fashion sense, the main criteria for Finnish shoppers is price. Finnish households spend less on average on clothing and footwear than most EU consumers.
 In addition, according to  Terhi-Anna Wilska , a professor of sociology at the University of Jyväskylä specialised in consumerism, the hypermarket phenomenon probably reflects the ageing population. The older one gets, she says, the more comfort takes precedence over fashion.
 What Finnish consumers say they are looking for when they shop for clothes is comfort, practicality, and outfits that can be worn in as many different settings as possible.


The Länsi-Uusimaa district court has convicted local politician and former MTV3 news anchor  Seppo Huhta  on charges of ethnic agitation over Facebook posts he wrote in 2016.
 In the posts, the alternate Espoo city councillor, who is said to be a member of the Blue Reform, called for Muslims to leave Europe and declared that they are not suited to civilised countries. The court also found that in the posts, which were written between January and February in 2016, Huhta used derogatory language to refer to Muslims and Somalis.
 The court convicted the former  Finns Party  member for writing what it deemed to be slanderous and abusive posts about Muslims and Somalis. It found that although Huhta’s intention was to present views that were critical of immigration and migrants convicted of criminal offences, he should not have slandered entire ethnic groups in the manner that he did.
 The court said that the comments constituted hate speech, were generalisations, and could generate contempt and hostility toward Somalis and Muslims.
 Defendant: Opinions based on political convictions
 The former television personality said his intention was to use the posts to criticise immigration policy and said that he shared opinions that were based on his political convictions.
 On the subject of his comments about crimes committed by immigrants, Huhta said that he was only referring to individuals found guilty of criminal activity. He described his language as colourful and said the terminology he used was commonplace.
 "Although the use of language was in part inappropriate, the intention was only to highlight injustices and to stir up interest in the matter in the manner that he had learned as a journalist," court documents said of his defence.
 The court ordered the defendant to pay a 40-day fine, which represents a total of 400 euros. He was also called upon to delete several Facebook posts put up in 2016.
 Huhta still has the option of appealing the verdict, so the sentence is not yet enforceable.
 Questions over party membership
 According to the website of the city of Espoo, Huhta is a deputy councillor representing the Blue Reform, which split from the Finns Party in 2017.
 However in May, Blue Reform vice president  Tiina Ahva  denied that Huhta was a member of the party.
 "Huhta is not and has never been a member of the Blue Reform," she wrote in an email at the time.
 During municipal elections in 2017, the ex-news reader lost his seat as councillor and became a reserve. He was a previous chair of the Blue Reform’s Espoo chapter.


Finland's Greens elected  Maria Ohisalo  as the party's new chair in their party congress in the western city of Pori on Saturday. The freshly-appointed interior minister was voted into the position unanimously.
 In her acceptance speech, Ohisalo emphasized her responsibilities as interior minister, saying the office was at the "core of fundamental human rights", as it is responsible for police operations, border control and immigration.
 "I'm not frightened of trolls and I'm not afraid of Nazis," she said, perhaps foreseeing future conflicts with the largest opposition party in Parliament, the anti-immigrant Finns Party.
 The new Greens chair said that the fights against climate change and poverty were the most important political objectives.
 "We must combat climate change in a way that gets everyone on board. The bill cannot be paid by only those who are already having troubles making ends meet. I want to build a Finland in which the societal safety net works," Ohisalo said.
 As a  PhD-level researcher of poverty , Ohisalo suggested she plans to use her knowledge and experience to address increasingly inequality in Finland.
 "I know what poverty in this society is. I have lived it, I have seen it and I have researched it," she said.
 Haavisto's critical support
 Outgoing chair  Pekka Haavisto  – Finland's foreign minister as of early June – said in his speech that the Greens are now a cornerstone of Prime Minister  Antti Rinne 's five-party coalition.
 "This is the greenest government programme in history. If there are any parts of the agenda that deviate from the Greens' own manifesto, it may be due to the fact that four other parties were  in attendance at the House of Estates ," he said.
 In his parting address to the congress, Haavisto also called to mind the party's situation last autumn, when then-chair  Touko Aalto  stepped down from his position due to health reasons and public support for the Greens of Finland began to fall. Maria Ohisalo briefly filled in for Aalto until a new chair could be elected, but said she was unavailable to continue as chair, despite her clear popularity.
 As the party's two-time presidential candidate and one-time chair in the mid-nineties, Haavisto agreed to step into the role temporarily, promising to secure election victories in the parliamentary and EU elections in the spring.
 He proved good on his word, after  the Greens won a record 20 MP seats in April  and  two MEP seats in May . If Brexit becomes a reality, the party will also gain a third MEP seat – giving Finland's Greens as many seats in the European Parliament as the country's centre-right National Coalition Party.
 History in the party wings
 34-year-old Maria Ohisalo was named Finland's new interior minister in June, after the Greens' historic victory at the polls earned her a first-term seat in parliament.
 Even though she had been unsuccessful in earlier attempts to gain a MP position, the doctor of social sciences had been busy behind the scenes, serving as the party's youth wing chair in 2013-2014 and as deputy chair of the party since 2015. She has also held a seat as a representative of the Greens on the Helsinki City Council from 2017 to 2019.


Speaker of the Finnish Parliament  Matti Vanhanen  has announced on Facebook that one of his kidneys was removed in hospital on Friday and that the operation went well.
 The former Centre Party chair and prime minister said a decision was made to remove the kidney after two tumours were discovered in it during a scan in preparation for his upcoming heart surgery.
 The newly-appointed Speaker said already in April that he was scheduled for heart surgery in August.
 He said he would probably return to work in about a month, as he has a speaking engagement planned at a Paasikivi Society seminar in the southern municipality of Anjalankoski, and he has committed to be a part of the Finnish PEN panel discussion during the annual SuomiAreena public debate forum in Pori.
 The two deputy speakers of parliament will continue to stand in for Vanhanen during his absence.
 News of Vanhanen's kidney surgery was first reported by the tabloid Iltalehti.


President of the Federal Republic of Germany  Frank-Walter Steinmeier   arrived in Finland on Sunday to attend the 7th annual Kultaranta talks, a two-day round of foreign policy debates arranged at Finnish President  Sauli Niinistö' s summer residence in Naantali. This year’s theme is how Finland will cope in a changing world.
 Before the summit got underway, Niinistö took questions form the press.
 Reporters asked whether Finland’s foreign policy priorities would shift with  Pekka Haavisto  of the Greens  taking over the post of foreign minister .
 The president said he didn’t see any major changes on the horizon. “But it’s of crucial importance that we talk more about the situation of women and girls,” the president said.
 Niinistö did not want to comment on the possible repatriation of  Finnish women and children  stuck in the Al-Hol camp in Syria, a topic which has made headlines in Finland in recent months.
 “Like the previous government and  current [interior] minister said , it’s a very multifaceted issue, and I’d like to leave discussions on this matter to a later date when the government has made its position known.”
 Journalists also asked Niinistö if Russia’s  Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project  posed a security threat for Finland.
 Niinistö responded that Germany’s phase-out of nuclear power would leave a large supply to fill. “From a security policy perspective, it’s difficult to understand why a second pipe is a risk when one already exists."
 With Finland set to take over the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union on 1 July, media representatives wondered if Finland planned to use its position to highlight the  situation in eastern Ukraine , parts of which are under Russian-backed separatist rule.
 “This issue is and will stay on European agendas,” replied Niinistö, failing to offer more details.
 The annual summer security summit, established in 2013, gathers analysts, experts, diplomats and academics to discuss current security and foreign policy issues.
 The two-day event continues on Monday when panelists will include Prime Minister  Antti Rinne  and Finns Party chair  Jussi Halla-aho , among others.
 The main discussions of the summit are available on  Yle Areena , with Sunday's event broadcast in English.


Reforms made to laws regulating Finland's taxi industry have led to  higher prices  and other problems, according to Minister of Transport and Communications,  Sanna Marin .
 Marin said the taxi reforms rolled out last year have led to justified criticism, making the comments on Yle's morning television show AamuTV on Wednesday.
 "The law has worsened [people's] access to taxis, the prices have gone up and there have been big problems with Kela taxi rides," Marin said, referring to taxi journeys provided by the country's Social Service Institution.
 "There are also question about the grey economy and people's safety," she continued.
 Last July, Finland rolled out  broad reforms to the taxi sector , which deregulated the once heavily regulated industry.
 The reforms, carried out under then-PM  Juha Sipilä  and transport minister  Anne Berner , were among the previous administration's most controversial efforts.
 Last summer's changes re-introduced a number of new  players  in the taxi sector, including ones like ride sharing firm  Uber, which was temporarily banned  from operating in Finland.
 Now, the newly-elected PM  Antti Rinne  administration has said that the reforms need alterations in order to improve safety and to combat the grey economy.
 Work already started
 On Wednesday, Marin said that government is re-examining taxi laws on the books and looking to make adjustments where possible.
 "The work has already begun and the topic has been clearly stated in the government programme," she said.
 The Taxi Drivers Association recently suggested that all taxis should be fitted with obligatory taxi fare meters, which would enable tax authorities to clearly see information about every paid trip.
 "[Making taxi meters obligatory] could be a part of a larger whole, but I cannot yet say which area of taxi regulation would be most important because we have not begun preparations," Marin said.
 The Rinne administration's government programme also noted that Kela's paid taxi scheme needs to be re-examined.


Jussi Halla-aho  said the decision by the Ministry of Education and Culture this week to  terminate government funding for the Finns Party's youth wing  over an  offensive tweet  would be the chapter's death knell.
 “My view is that cancelling and recovering funding is an unreasonable action over one silly tweet. There’s reason to appeal the decision – and if needed – take it to court,” the chair of the populist party posted on Facebook.
 The youth wing was to receive a total of 115,000 euros, and the ministry will now recover the 57,500 euros that it already paid. The Ministry of Education and Culture terminated this year's government funding of the Finns Party's youth wing for violating the objectives of the Youth Act.
 Halla-aho: Decision was political
 “This decision will in effect end the youth wing’s activities and bankrupt the organisation. It’s clear that the youth chapter can’t pay back the 57,000 euros it has already received,” Halla-aho explained.
 The youth wing of the populist party had come under fire for a racist tweet they posted and later deleted from their official account — it depicted a dark-skinned family accompanied by the text, "Vote for the Finns Party if you don’t want Finland’s future to look like this."
 The Finns Party chair said the ministry’s decision was politically motivated and that withdrawing funding was a tool to limit political opponents, though he also acknowledged that the youth wing had brought the situation on itself.
 Earlier this month, Finland's  Non-Discrimination Ombudsman , Kirsi Pimiä,  stated  that the youth wing was suspected of unlawful ethnic harassment.  Helsinki police also launched a preliminary investigation  into the matter of the tweet, which the youth wing deleted, calling it "ill-advised" and "thoughtless" after facing a backlash.
 Jussi Halla-aho and a number of other politicians from the party have been  convicted of online hate speech  over the years.


Finland will not intervene to collect  Finnish citizens stranded at the Al-Hol refugee camp in Syria , including 11 women and 33 children.
 The government said it would not evacuate Finnish citizens from the camp when queried by the opposition Finns Party and National Coalition Party during Parliament’s question hour on Thursday afternoon.
 “We have no plans of using consular services to bring these people to Finland,” said Prime Minister  Antti Rinne , adding that the government will seek a solution to the situation that balances moral, ethical and security concerns.
 Foreign Minister  Pekka Haavisto , however, pointed out that citizens returning from the camp on their own would be allowed back into Finland. The government said it would seek help from international aid agencies to determine whether any of the Finnish citizens at the camp were seriously ill.
 Finns Party parliamentary group chair  Ville Tavio  said Finns in the camp posed a security threat to Finland and said any children there should be taken out of parental custody.
 Dealing with returnees
 Rinne said MPs shouldn’t insinuate that the Finnish women in the camp have committed crimes ahead of any official investigations.
 MP  Sari Essayah  of the opposition Christian Democrats claimed the women had supported their Isis partners, making them complicit to any possible crimes.
 “Not one EU state has collected its adult citizens from the camp,” added long-time National Coalition MP  Ben Zyskowicz .
 The Al Hol refugee camp accommodates 74,000 people, 90 percent of whom are women and children, according to the Finnish Red Cross.


Chair of the immigration-sceptic Finns Party  Jussi Halla-aho  says he has terminated his membership in  the nationalist organisation Suomen Sisu , according to the daily Helsingin Sanomat.
 The disclosure came as the paper interviewed the immigration hardliner about his links to so-called ethno-nationalists, among whom the Finns Party youth wing and Suomen Sisu count themselves.
 According to HS, ethno-nationalists use a definition of Finnishness which emphasises genetic factors. Additionally, Finnish news agency STT noted that many ethno-nationalists ascribe to the view that "Finnish people mainly comprise the descendants of the groups that settled in Finland in prehistoric times."
 On its website, the group says that it "supports the preservation of national states and European heritage", among other things.
 Halla-aho had been an honorary member of the group from 2000, according to his own reckoning. However the Finns Party chair was reticent about his reason for leaving.
 "I don’t think I’ll comment on that issue," he told the paper.
 No challengers to Hall-aho's leadership
 When HS pressed him on whether or not he resigned before or after  he became party leader in 2017 , Halla-aho said that it was after his election. However he stressed that his instalment as chairman was not related to the decision to quit the organisation.
 Halla-aho is set to continue to hold the reins of the party, as no one has stepped forward to challenge his leadership at the party's annual congress, which begins in Tampere on Saturday.
 The chair of Suomen Sisu is Finns Party MP  Olli Immonen . He  made headlines back in 2015  when he called for a "fight against the nightmare of multiculturalism". A police investigation later found his comments  did not constitute a criminal offence .
 The party's third vice chair, MP  Juha Eerola , had also been a member but he left in 2012.
 The group had previously declared an intention to set up a network of local chapters to serve its growing membership. It currently has around 15 regional organisations.


Katri Kulmuni , a second-term MP from Finnish Lapland, has become the second candidate to announce a bid for the post of Centre Party chair.
 In September, the party is to elect a new leader to replace current chair and former prime minister  Juha Sipilä .
 Now one of the party's deputy chairs, Kulmuni was sworn in as Minister of Economic Affairs three weeks ago. She threw her hat into the ring for the leadership at a press conference in Helsinki on Wednesday, saying that "exceptional situations call for exceptional solutions".
 Kulmuni is a 31-year-old from Tornio on the Swedish border in southwest Lapland. She was the northern electoral district's most popular candidate in April's parliamentary election, garnering more than 8,000 votes.
 Before being named as minister, she had held no major posts beyond chairing the Finnish Delegation to the Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region. She has a master's degree in social sciences.
 Eyes on finance ministry
 So far the only other candidate for the post is MP and Defence Minister  Antti Kaikkonen , former CEO of the scandal-ridden Finnish Youth Foundation .  Mikko Kärnä , another second-term MP from Lapland, says he is seriously considering a run for the post.
 Kulmuni indicated that if elected she would be interested in becoming finance minister, the party's weightiest portfolio in the new cabinet, now held by  Mika Lintilä .
 "I think it is sensible and logical that power and responsibility are in the same place, so the party chair should also be the finance minister," she said.
 Kaikkonen, seen by many as Sipilä's choice as his successor, was widely expected to become finance minister but was instead named to the defence portfolio.
 Sipilä quits after 7 years
 Sipilä has led the party since 2012, during which time its popularity soared and then crashed, with a stunning collapse of support in this spring's parliamentary election. Nevertheless the party continued on into the new government coalition, with five ministers out of 19 in the cabinet. Sipilä said he would not become a minister and would step down from the party leadership,  becoming a backbench MP .
 Two other Centre politicians mooted for the post have said they will not run: deputy chair and Minister of Science and Culture  Annika Saarikko  and the leader of the party's parliamentary group,  Antti Kurvinen .
 The Centre has had two female chairs in its 113-year history, former prime ministers  Anneli Jäätteenmäki  and  Mari Kiviniemi , but neither served for a full legislative term.
 The Centre, formerly known as the Agrarian League, has scheduled a party conference for 7 September in the southeastern city of Kouvola.


Finnish Prime Minister  Antti Rinne  has announced that he plans to march in the Helsinki Pride parade on Saturday.
 A celebration of sexual minorities, Pride Week began on Monday, featuring nearly 100 events across Helsinki. Last year the march drew nearly 100,000 people to the city centre.
 "I am sure that this year even larger numbers of Finns will be marching in the Helsinki Pride parade on Saturday. I will also be there, as the first Finnish Prime Minister to participate. The world is not ready, but we are heading towards an increasingly equal society - together," Rinne wrote in an open letter published Thursday.
 "I am old enough to have lived at a time when the Criminal Code still discriminated against sexual and gender minorities. Now in 2019, it seems unbelievable that in 1971 homosexuality was still a crime, in 1981 it was considered a disease, and it was as late as in 1995 when discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation was prohibited," the PM's statement continued.
 "No honour" in treatment of sexual, gender minorities
 "It is hard to even imagine how this sounds to young Finns in their early twenties. However, it was important to spell this out because it shows that the world is indeed changing for the better," Rinne stated, adding that change can only happen with the help of people.
 "Sexual and gender minorities have a proud history, but there is no honour in how they have been treated. Not in Finland, not in the world. Sexual and gender minorities have come a long way, and the road has been much too rocky. Along the path towards equality there has been a lot of inappropriate and unjust treatment, discrimination and fear,"  Rinne stated .
 The Helsinki Pride parade begins at Senate Square on Saturday 29 June around noon, from where the colourful procession will march through the city centre towards Kaivopuisto park.


Social Democratic MP  Hussein al-Taee 's sick leave will continue until 21 July, according to the politician's assistant.
 Al-Taee has been on an extensive sick leave since shortly after he was elected in April, following revelations about  inflammatory comments  he made on social media several years ago.
 The first-time Social Democrat (SDP) MP found himself at the centre of controversy  after confirming  he had made derogatory comments about Jews, Somalis, Sunni Muslims, and homosexuals on Facebook in 2014.
 His aide  Matti Sadeniemi  told Yle that the MP was not available for interviews or comments.
 The SDP parliamentary group has said it plans to address the matter of al-Taee's social media comments after he returns from sick leave.


Chair of the immigration-sceptic Finns Party  Jussi Halla-aho  says he has terminated his membership in  the nationalist organisation Suomen Sisu , according to the daily Helsingin Sanomat.
 The disclosure came as the paper interviewed the immigration hardliner about his links to so-called ethno-nationalists, among whom the Finns Party youth wing and Suomen Sisu count themselves.
 According to HS, ethno-nationalists use a definition of Finnishness which emphasises genetic factors. Additionally, Finnish news agency STT noted that many ethno-nationalists ascribe to the view that "Finnish people mainly comprise the descendants of the groups that settled in Finland in prehistoric times."
 On its website, the group says that it "supports the preservation of national states and European heritage", among other things.
 Halla-aho had been an honorary member of the group from 2000, according to his own reckoning. However the Finns Party chair was reticent about his reason for leaving.
 "I don’t think I’ll comment on that issue," he told the paper.
 No challengers to Hall-aho's leadership
 When HS pressed him on whether or not he resigned before or after  he became party leader in 2017 , Halla-aho said that it was after his election. However he stressed that his instalment as chairman was not related to the decision to quit the organisation.
 Halla-aho was re-elected chair at the party's annual congress, which began in Tampere on Saturday. He ran unopposed as no challengers emerged to take him on. He later said that he did not want the party to depend on one individual.
 However the congress did usher in a shake-up in other leadership positions as  Riikka Purra  was elected first vice chair. She is a political scientist and first-term MP from Kirkkonummi.
 Meanwhile another Suomen Sisu member  Simo Grönroos  beat a field of 12 contenders to be elected party secretary and replace long-term office-holder  Riikka Slunga-Poutsalo , who opted not to stand for re-election.
 This year's congress was more modest in scale than the previous event that elevated Halla-aho in 2017. Back then the convention attracted 3,000 attendees, compared to 1,300 this year, of whom 1,000 were eligible to vote.
 The chair of Suomen Sisu is Finns Party MP  Olli Immonen . He  made headlines back in 2015  when he called for a "fight against the nightmare of multiculturalism". A police investigation later found his comments  did not constitute a criminal offence .
 The party's third vice chair, MP  Juha Eerola , had also been a member but he left in 2012.
 The group had previously declared an intention to set up a network of local chapters to serve its growing membership. It currently has around 15 regional organisations.
 Edit: Updated at 5.15pm with initial results of voting in Finns Party leadership elections.


As Finland takes over the presidency of the Council of the European Union, Prime Minister  Antti Rinne  represents the country at a special meeting of the Council in Brussels on Sunday evening.
 The heads of state or government will continue their talks on nominations for the EU's top posts.
 Those talks began in May and continued at the June Euro Summit held in the Belgian capital 10 days ago, but failed to reach any decisions. That was Rinne's first EU meeting as premier, having been sworn in two weeks earlier.
 Sunday's meeting begins at 7pm Finnish time and is expected to last far into the evening. EU leaders may also hold a breakfast meeting on Monday.
 EU leaders are to choose a European Commission President candidate, European Council President, Foreign Affairs representative and European Central Bank (ECB) president. They are all to take office this year.
 All nominees for the five-year posts must gather the backing of least 21 of the 28 EU leaders as well as a majority in the European Parliament, which is scheduled to meet on Tuesday.
 Liikanen, Rehn among top candidates
 Finland has been pushing the names of two former European Commissioners,  Olli Rehn  and  Erkki Liikanen , as candidates for the Central Bank job.
 Rehn, 57, now Governor of the Bank of Finland, was previously European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs and a Finnish Centre Party economic affairs minister.
 Liikanen, 68, formerly EU Budget Commissioner, has also served as Bank of Finland Governor and as finance minister representing Rinne's Social Democratic Party. Earlier this year, a Reuters poll suggested that Liikanen was the most likely compromise candidate for the ECB presidency.
 France and Germany have also put forth strong candidates for the position,  François Villeroy de Galhau  and  Jens Weidmann . However France has recently held the post, and if one of those countries nabs the plum post of European Commission President, they would be unlikely to also get the banking job. That would improve the chances of the Finnish candidates.
 Meanwhile Rinne has named another former SDP finance minister,  Jutta Urpilainen , as Finland's next European Commissioner, the country's first woman on the EU executive.
 For the European Commission presidency, the Netherlands'  Frans Timmermans  and Germany's  Manfred Weber  have been mentioned as possible candidates, as have France's  Michel Barnier  and  Christine Lagarde  and candidates from Bulgaria, Romania, Lithuania and Croatia.
 Finnish presidency starts Monday
 The candidate chosen by EU leaders' meeting must still be approved by a majority of member states' parliaments.
 Since 2014,  Jean-Claude Juncker  of Luxembourg has held that post while Poland's  Donald Tusk  has been European Council President.
 Finland's six-month stint in the rotating presidency of the European Council begins on Monday. Members of the European Commission will visit Helsinki on Thursday and Friday to meet with Finnish officials including President  Sauli Niinistö .
 16.40: corrected Timmermans' nationality.


A fresh Yle party approval survey conducted by pollster Taloustutkimus has shown declining support for the Social Democratic Party led by Prime Minister  Antti Rinne . Backing for the party declined by 1.3 percentage points to 16.1 percent after  the new SDP-led administration publicised its four-year government programme  at the beginning of June.
 That level of voter support places the SDP in third position behind the Finns Party and the National Coalition Party, which appear to be already reaping the benefits of being in opposition.
 The nationalist Finns Party remains the country’s most popular political force with 19.7 percent voter backing, while the NCP has 16.8 percent – the parties are separated by nearly three percentage points, still well within the poll’s margin of error of +/- 1.9 percentage points.
 Taloustutkimus research director  Tuomo Turja  said that the Finns Party is clearly the most popular group among workers, but is also faring well among entrepreneurs.
 "The Finns Party is gaining on the National Coalition Party as the largest business [–friendly] party," Turja commented.
 Challenges to coalition cooperation
 Government parties occupy rankings from fourth to seventh place in the survey. The Greens remain stable in fourth place with 14.3 percent backing. However there appears to be no reprieve for the Centre, led by interim chair  Juha Sipilä , which has seen voter approval erode from one poll to another.
 The latest Yle survey puts support for the party at just 11.7 percent, down slightly by 0.7 percentage points from a previous barometer. It is a record low for the party that once held the reins of government.
 According to Turja’s reading of the numbers, the Finns Party in particular has gobbled up support from the limping Centre. At the same time many Centre backers are undecided about where to pitch their tents.
 "Many that voted Centre in the recent parliamentary election cannot say at this time which party they support. It seems that the Centre’s participation in government has to some extent confused their support base," Turja said.
 During government formation talks, the Centre and the Greens appeared to be on opposite sides of the fence on a number of issues,  such as immigration policy . The pollster speculated that the Greens’ continued expansion is likely to challenge cooperation between the two parties.
 The agrarian-background Centre is now  looking ahead to leadership elections  in September in the hope that a new chair will help revive the party’s fortunes in voter polls. The frontrunners in that contest are currently Economic Affairs Minister  Katri Kulmuni  and Defence Minister  Antti Kaikkonen .
 Left Alliance chipping away at SDP support
 Another junior government partner, the Left Alliance, posted the biggest gains in this poll to record 8.8 percent voter backing, an increase of one percentage point on the last poll.
 Turja said that the Left Alliance has managed to attract support from the groups of voters who appear to have soured on the SDP.
 "I interpret this as inter-governmental [movement]. Some of voters choosing between the SDP and Left Alliance have opted for the Left Alliance this time," he pointed out.
 In spite of slight changes in the level of support for the five government coalition parties, overall support for the bloc remains largely the same as during the general election. Total voter backing for the administration now stands at 55.5 percent, compared to 55.7 percent gathered during the election.
 Taloustutkimus interviewed nearly 2,500 voters between 5 June and 2 July for the poll.
 Yle’s political barometer will take a break during the summer vacation and will return during the autumn parliamentary term, when voters will likely be evaluating the performance of both the government and the opposition.


A citizens' initiative calling for a total ban on fishing nets in habitats used by the endangered Saimaa ringed seal has gathered more than 50,000 certified signatures in just three days. Having met that threshold, the proposal must now be considered by the Finnish Parliament.
 The initiative was set up on Wednesday and proposes a year-round ban on the use of fishing nets in a bid to protect the rare seals, which are unique to the Saimaa lake system.
 Currently a partial ban in the area prohibits the use of fishing nets from mid-April to the end of June. At least four  seal pups have drowned  since  the ban was lifted  last week.
 The ringed seal population dropped to as few as 100 a few decades ago, but thanks to conservation efforts – including the springtime ban on fishing nets – their numbers have rebounded to an estimated 400.
 Some 80-90 pups are born in the Saimaa lake region every year but the biologists estimate that as many as 60 young seals die annually.
 This past spring forest management agency Metsähallitus counted a total of 67 live pups, which is fewer than in recent years, but  weak ice conditions  on the lake prevented a complete population assessment.


Finnish politician  Alexander Stubb  has told the STT news agency that he might be interested in joining the race for the Managing Director position at the International Monetary Fund, also known as the IMF.
 Stubb, who served as Finland's prime minister in 2014-2015, said that his position as Vice-President at the European Investment Bank will finish at the end of 2019, and that he is still interested in an international appointment. The EIB is an international financial institution, with EU member states as its shareholders.
 Finnish media channels have also speculated that Bank of Finland Governor  Olli Rehn  and European Commission VP  Jyrki Katainen  (also a former prime minister, serving before Stubb from 2011 to 2014) may also be interested in the post.
 The IMF's current managing director,  Christine Lagarde  from France, was nominated by the European Council to succeed  Mario Draghi  as President of the European Central Bank on 2 July.
 Together with the World Bank, the IMF plays a central role in the management of balance of payments difficulties and international financial crises in the world.


A month after taking office, Finnish Foreign Minister  Pekka Haavisto  has been asked to negotiate on behalf of the European Union in the Sudan crisis.
 On Wednesday, Haavisto is to begin an eight-day tour of the Red Sea region, starting in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. There he will hold talks with Ethiopian and African Union leaders.
 The following day, he will travel to Khartoum, where he is to meet members of the Transitional Military Council and the opposition Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) among others.
 Last week the FFC reached a power-sharing deal with the military ruling council after a week-long standoff over the army’s role in the transition. Under the deal, the FFC is to name the country’s next prime minister.
 On 16-18 July Haavisto is to visit Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAR. After his trip, Haavisto will brief the 28 ministers in EU's Foreign Affairs Council.
 Broad experience in region
 Federica Mogherini , the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has mandated Haavisto "to reach out, on behalf of the European Union, on both the situation in the country and on how the international community can accompany Sudan on its transition path," the Finnish Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday afternoon.
 "Thanks to his experience in the region, in particular in Sudan with both the EU and the UN, Minister Haavisto will explore how the EU can best support Sudan in its path towards democracy, respect for human rights and stability," the ministry quotes Mogherini as saying.
 Haavisto served as EU Special Representative for Sudan and Darfur in 2005-07 and as Special Advisor for the UN Assistant Secretary-General in the Darfur Peace Process in 2007, along with other EU and UN missions.
 At home he has previously been an environment minister, Greens chair and second-round presidential candidate.
 While he is away, Helsinki will host a meeting of EU environment ministers, hosted by Finland's Minister of the Environment and Climate Change  Krista Mikkonen , also of the Greens. The two-day meeting gets underway on Wednesday evening at Finlandia Hall.
 The conference is part of Finland's six-month EU presidency term, which began on 1 July.


Leading daily Helsingin Sanomat starts the day with news of  Kela launching an investigation into the possibility of providing a year-round study grant for university students .
 Ilpo Lahtinen  from the state-owned benefits administrator admits that it is unfair that the financial security of one segment of the population is cut off for certain months, as "every group of society needs to be able to get by throughout the year".
 A letter from the union of university students last week brought up the fact that  university students are not entitled to a summer holiday in practice  because if they cannot secure a summer job, they have to attend classes through the summer in order to qualify for the study grant. Study grant eligibility has also been capped at 48 months and so collecting the 250 euros per month through the summer eats away at this total, creating stress and forcing students to rely more heavily on student loans.
 Lahtinen says that if there is political will, the study grant cap could be increased to 60 months. This would provide 12 monthly payments for five years, the time in which university students are expected to attain a master's degree in Finland. He stresses that the proposed change has to be analysed thoroughly before it can be taken into use, however, as the apparent solution to one problem could end up creating a string of new ones.
 One-third has faith in new coalition
 The Joensuu-based newspaper Karjalainen reports on a new Kantar TNS Gallup survey that found that  35 percent of respondents judged the ability of Prime Minister  Antti Rinne 's left-leaning government to run the country for the next four years as "very or somewhat good" . A similar percentage had their doubts, and the rest wouldn't say one way or another.
 This measure of confidence is six to eight percentage points weaker than that enjoyed by the centre-right coalition formed by Rinne's predecessor  Juha Sipilä  after taking office in 2015 in a matching survey.
 The Municipal Development Foundation-commissioned poll suggested that people's trust in the Rinne coalition nevertheless outweighed their trust in the opposition, as only 28 percent of respondents agreed that the parties leading the opposition have the "competence to take care of Finnish affairs and offer the government political alternatives".
 Balancing books as a school subject
 The tabloid Iltalehti carries the results of another survey assessing Finnish residents' opinion of teaching basic financial skills as a part of the core curriculum.
 The IROResearch poll, commissioned by the Finnish Foundation for Share Promotion, found that  80 percent of respondents agreed that basic money management principles should be a compulsory subject in Finnish schools . The most important topics respondents suggested should be covered included everyday money use, saving, investing and sustainable consumption. A full 94 percent of respondents said that budgeting and the everyday use of personal money streams were skills that every Finnish residents should master.
 In exchange, respondents were most willing to cut back on religion/ethics instruction, with one-quarter ready to sacrifice some Swedish language instruction and one-fifth prepared to arrange fewer art classes.
 Bank of Finland board member  Marja Nykänen  tells IL that Finland needs to come up with a national financial education strategy like the kind recommended by the OECD. "After this step, we could better enhance and coordinate financial literacy."
 Valuable paintings resurface
 And Finland's other major tabloid Ilta-Sanomat finishes today's review with a story on  two oil paintings from the celebrated Finnish artist  Helene Schjerfbeck  discovered in the estate of a Tampere dentist .
 An auction will be arranged to sell the works, with "Reading Girl" expected to fetch 250,000 euros and "Yellow Roses" another 200,000 euros.  Pirkka Lehtinen-Sillanpää , the deceased, indicated in her last will and testament her wish that the proceeds of the sale of the paintings - which have been out of the public eye for 50 years - be donated to charity.
 "It is rare to come across top finds like this in estates. The owner was a real art lover, as there were several other major works in her collection," auctioneer  Jukka Takala  tells IS.
 Helene Schjerfbeck  (1862–1946) is best known for her series of self-portraits and a painting entitled " The Convalescent ".
 This past Saturday,  The Guardian in the UK ran a lengthy story  on "Finland's Munck" ahead of a major exhibition of Schjerfbeck's work at the Royal Academy of Arts opening 20 July in London.


Prime Minister  Antti Rinne  met on Friday with relatives of Finnish women and children living at the al-Hol refugee camp, established in northeastern Syria for family members of Islamic State (IS or Isis) combatants. There are an estimated 40-50 Finns at the camp.
 Also taking part in the meeting were Foreign Minister  Pekka Haavisto , Interior Minister  Maria Ohisalo  and Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services  Krista Kiuru .
 "I heard the relatives describe the conditions of those at the al-Hol camp. I told them that the Finnish state has been working hard to find a solution to the situation," Rinne said in a statement afterwards.
 The meeting was part of the cabinet ministers' fact-finding process regarding the situation, according to the Council of State. Last month, a couple of weeks after taking office, the new premier told Parliament that there were "no plans to use consular services to bring these people to Finland".
 Supo responds to criticism
 In an Yle interview on Wednesday morning, Professor  Martin Scheinin  criticised the Finnish Security Intelligence Service (Supo) for labelling all the Finns at al-Hol as a security threat. Scheinin is Professor of International Law and Human Rights at the European University Institute and a former UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism.
 Later that day, Supo denied that it is evaluating those who left the Isis territory and are now at al-Hol as one group, but rather that each case is being considered separately.
 "According to current information there are about 10 Finnish women and about 30 children at the camp," the agency said on Wednesday. Previously officials have said there were 11 women and 33 children there.
 "An immense challenge"
 IS family members were evacuated to al-Hol earlier this year when the extremist group lost the last of its territory.
 The Finnish Red Cross (FRC) said last month that the camp held some 74,000 people, 90 percent of them women and children. An estimated 10,000 are foreigners.
 The UN has called on western countries to help bring their citizens home from the remote desert camp near the Iraqi border. The International Red Cross recently described conditions there as "horrifying".
 Eight FRC aid workers are among the staff of a 30-bed Nordic field hospital that opened at the site last month.
 "More than 64,000 people have come to the al-Hol camp since December. More than half of these people are children. The bearing capacity of the camp has already been exceeded, and trying to meet people’s needs is an immense challenge," the FRC's head of international disaster aid,  Tiina Saarikoski , said last month.
 On Thursday, a German court ruled that three children and their mother, originally from northern Germany, must be located and repatriated from al-Hol.


Minister of Social Affairs and Health  Aino-Kaisa Pekonen  told local news conglomerate Uutissuomalainen on Saturday that a no-strings-attached basic income model would not be a part of the government's social welfare overhaul.
 Pekonen said that while her party, the Left Alliance, supports basic income for citizens regardless of their means, it is unrealistic that the scheme will be pushed through during one government term, especially with regard to the current economic situation.
 When MPs return from their summer break in early September they will revive discussions on revamping Finland’s social safety net, which will include deciding whether a possible basic income model would be means-tested to alleviate financial burdens or designed as a cash benefit given to everyone, no strings attached.
 "It’s an enormous question that divides a lot of parties. The current administration isn't even unanimous on universal basic income," Pekonen told Uutissuomalainen.
 Initial findings from Finland's  two-year basic income experiment  that concluded at the end of 2018 found that giving 2,000 unemployed people 560 euros tax-free every month did not increase participants’ employment, but recipients did report higher perceived wellbeing than that of those in the control group.


The discussion around politicians blocking critics on social media is heating up in Finland.
 Earlier this week a federal court in the United States ruled that President Donald Trump couldn't block his critics on Twitter because his account was seen as a public forum, a virtual town hall where citizens can engage with his comments.
 That same discussion is now developing in Finland, where media researcher  Jukka-Pekka Puro  said representatives of the Left Alliance and Greens have engaged in the most blocking of followers due to the high volume of inappropriate messages they receive.
 "I get that users will block accounts sending particularly aggressive messages. But it's not always easy to determine where to draw the line," Puro said.
 At the end of 2017, former Greens chair  Touko Aalto  blocked Centre party MP  Mikko Kärnä  for what Aalto called inappropriate comments.
 "Parliamentarians usually engage in civilised discussions online since they have to get along on the job. But that’s not to say that they have to put up with everything," communications professor  Pekka Isotalus  from the University of Tampere explained.
 Democratic participation at stake
 Problems arise from a democratic standpoint when powerful politicians prevent people from participating in public discussion by blocking users.
 In October 2018 Chancellor of Justice  Tuomas Pöysti  ruled that then-premier  Juha Sipilä  had the right to block users from his Twitter account because it was his personal and not official government account.
 Greens chair and Interior Minister  Maria Ohisalo  meanwhile unblocked newsstand tabloid Ilta-Sanomat’s editor-in-chief  Ulla Appelsin  from her Twitter account after taking up a ministerial post this spring.
 Media researcher Puro said politicians need to be able to withstand criticism.
 "The more powerful a politician, the more carefully they should weigh the decision to block someone," he explained.
 Puro said the time may be ripe for a non-politically aligned organ to issue social media blocking guidelines for elected officials.
 However in the future, political discussions may shift away from Twitter and onto Instagram due to the platform's popularity with young people, according to Puro.


Finnish President  Sauli Niinistö  meets on Sunday with his French counterpart  Emmanuel Macron  in Paris as the country celebrates its national day, known as Bastille Day.
 Finland is represented in the traditional military parade on the Champs-Élysées, along with the other countries that have joined the French-led European Intervention Initiative.
 Four service members from the Finnish Defence Forces are marching in the parade, carrying a Finnish flag, along with some 4,000 others.
 The EII plan, proposed by Macron two years ago, is intended to boost European defence cooperation. So far 10 EU countries have signed on, including the UK, Germany, Estonia and Denmark. Finland, the only non-Nato member,  joined last November .
 Talks and lunch
 After the procession Niinistö will join a lunch hosted by Macron and meet with him one-on-one.
 The two met in Helsinki last August during Macron's  official visit to Finland  and again in Paris last November during commemorations of the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War.
 France's national day commemorates 14 July 1789 when a crowd stormed the Bastille Fortress to release political prisoners. Although only a few people were being held, it was key event in the French Revolution.


Foreign Minister  Pekka Haavisto  will brief the EU's Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) in Brussels on Monday. He will report to fellow foreign ministers on the situation in Sudan and neighbouring countries, which he  visited last week , negotiating as an EU envoy at the request of foreign policy High Representative  Federica Mogherini .
 Haavisto will also outline Finland's foreign and security policy priorities during its EU Presidency term over the next six months.
 “One of Finland's objectives is to enhance EU participation in conflict prevention and mediation, to prevent and combat hybrid threats, to strengthen the EU Arctic policy and to put climate change mitigation at the core of such policy. Finland also strives to ensure that respect for international law and the promotion of universal human rights, democracy and the rule of law will be at the forefront of the entire external action of the Union,” Haavisto said in a statement.
 The FAC will discuss the situations in Iran, Iraq, the Central African Republic and Sudan as well as migration issues.
 Iran situation "explosive"
 A Foreign Ministry statement describes the regional situation involving Iran as "explosive", and urges "all parties [to] focus on easing it".
 Ministers will discuss the future of the tottering Iranian nuclear deal, formally titled the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and encourage Tehran to stick to it despite the US pullout from the deal.
 The ministers will discuss a payment channel called the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), set up earlier this year by France, Germany and the UK to ease trade with Iran. It finally became operational in late June.
 The aim is to support the nuclear programme agreement by facilitating trade in key humanitarian items such as food and medicine. The ministry says Finland is still considering whether to join INSTEX. Russia has also expressed interest in joining.
 Later this week Haavisto is to visit Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAR.
 In 2005-07, Haavisto served as EU Special Representative for Sudan and Darfur and as a UN Special Advisor in the Darfur Peace Process. He also led UN Environmental Programme teams in the Balkans and Romania.


A citizen's initiative to reform Finland's mining law has received 50,000 signatures, meaning that the proposal now qualifies for consideration on the parliamentary floor.
 The initiative seeks to make major changes to Finland's Mining Act which came into effect in 2011.
 "On the local level, municipalities should have a better opportunity to have a say about land use in their area," says  Jukka Leppänen , chair of the Pro Heinävesi movement and one of the two authors of the initiative.
 He says the reformed law should also do more to protect valuable nature sites and waterways, as well as make provisions to ensure that more of the benefits stemming from minerals found in Finnish soil are returned to the municipalities and state.
 The citizens' initiative also demands mining companies be required to demonstrate sufficient collateral up front for dealing with any potential environmental damage, for example.
 "If we could create a fund system, for example, that would make it easier to clear up environmental accidents," Leppänen says.
 The reform bid also calls on MPs to change the process by which mining permits are granted. As the law now stands, parties can be granted operational permits before they have been cleared for permits associated with Finnish laws on environmental conservation. If the amendments included in the citizens' initiative are approved by Parliament, companies would in future have to secure an environmental permit first.
 "It feels as if there were clear, substantial mistakes in the renewed 2011 Mining Act, despite that fact that most of it hasn't even been executed yet in practice," Leppänen said.
 "Triumph of democracy"
 Just one week ago, Leppänen was unsure that the initiative would meet its 50K signature target within the six-month limit.
 "Support levelled out for a bit, but then we launched an effective social media blitz that got people on board. I feel a deep sense of gratitude. This is a triumph of democracy, in a way," he said.
 Finland introduced citizens' initiatives to the lawmaking process in March 2012.
 The new form of direct democracy allows one or more Finnish citizens to propose the amendment or repeal of existing legislation. If 50,000 Finnish citizens sign on with their support within six months of submitting the proposal, the Finnish Parliament is then obliged to discuss it in plenary session.


The shortlist of nominees for the International Monetary Fund's (IMF's) next CEO has been narrowed down to four names, with the Bank of Finland's current Governor,  Olli Rehn , among the top candidates, according to the New York based financial newspaper the Wall Street Journal.
 The other shortlisted candidates are the former Dutch Minister of Finance  Jeroen Dijsselbloem , current President of the Eurogroup and Portuguese Minister of Finance  Mario Centeno , and the current Spanish Minister of Economy and Business  Nadia Calvino .
 The London based Financial Times, however, reports that former Finnish Prime Minister and current vice president of the European Investment Bank,  Alexander Stubb , is on the shortlist of candidates, probably instead of Dijesselbloem.
 The paper also reports that a previous favourite to land the top job at the IMF, current Governor of the Bank of England,  Mark Carney , is now no longer being considered for the position.
 The IMF's current CEO,  Christine Lagarde , will relinquish the role to take over as President of the European Central Bank.
 The shortlist of candidates will be discussed at a meeting of European G7 finance ministers in Chantilly, France.
 According to the Wall Street Journal, Rehn's candidacy is likely to receive more support from northern European countries, including Germany, while Centeno and Calvino are more popular in the south.
 Dutch Minister Dijsselbloem's suitability for the role has been questioned by southern European countries, after he refused to apologise for comments he made during the Eurozone crisis which suggested that crisis-hit countries had splurged their money on "drinks and women."


MP  Hussein al-Taee  of the Social Democratic Party will end his sick leave on Sunday. Al-Taee went on leave in May  following the backlash that arose surrounding inflammatory comments  he had made about homosexuals, Jews, Somalis and Sunni Muslims on Facebook several years earlier.
 At the time, al-Taee apologised for the posts and said he no longer held those opinions.
 When al-Taee went on sick leave in the beginning of May, SDP parliamentary group chair  Antti Lindtman  said that the leave was related to the uproar that had been caused when the MP's old Facebook writings surfaced.
 Al-Taee was hospitalised during his sick leave.
 Al-Taee is to take part in a political panel discussion at the Faces Festival in Karjaa, western Uusimaa, on 28 July along with Foreign Minister  Pekka Haavisto  and  Mika Aaltola , programme director of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs.


Finnish Foreign Minister  Pekka Haavisto  says recent interference with safe passage in and around the Strait of Hormuz should be globally condemned.
 "It is extremely concerning when one of the world's most important sea routes is exposed to activity akin to piracy," he said.
 The minister's comments refer to the  seizure of the Stena Impero oil tanker , sailing under a British flag, which was boarded and captured by Iranian forces on 19 July.
 It was later revealed that the  tanker was seized by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in retaliation for the British seizure of an Iranian tanker , intercepted on 4 July in Gibraltar on suspicion of smuggling oil to Syria in breach of European Union sanctions.
 British authorities claim a  second tanker  was also seized on Friday. Iran said the vessel was boarded because it was involved in an accident,  an explanation Britain rejected .
 In an earlier incident in mid-June, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also accused Iran of being behind attacks on two other oil tankers in the strait. Iran denied the accusations.
 "Diplomacy is needed"
 Haavisto said that it is in the best interests of countries like Finland who are dependent on world trade to defend the freedom to navigate and condemn attacks on ships. He said the incidents were clearly meant to attract attention, obstruct shipping in the waters off Iran and make maritime traffic unsafe.
 The Finnish foreign minister said that the most important thing at the moment is to secure the safety of the crew on the captured vessel and proceed along diplomatic channels.
 "This is also the position of the British foreign office," Haavisto said.
 Haavisto pointed out that the European Union has been in support of a constructive and peaceful policy with regard to Iran. He considers it unfortunate that the US abandoned a 2015 nuclear deal between world powers and Iran, which had been negotiated for 12 years.
 "But Iran has now started to pose a threat and exceed the agreed-upon uranium limits, which is even worse," he said.
 "EU must stand united"
 Britain has told its ships to avoid entering the strait for the time being, and  France  and  Germany  have joined Britain in condemning Iran's activity.
 A third of the world’s liquefied natural gas and almost 20 percent of total global oil consumption passes through the strait between Iran and the Arabian peninsula, making it a highly important strategic location for international trade.
 "If maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz is hampered and vessels begin to seek out alternative routes, it will greatly impact not only Iran but also the other countries in the region. The EU must stand united behind the principle that freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz is preserved, and that no ships from EU member states or any other country fall victim to these kinds of attacks," Haavisto said.


Leadership of the Russian Federation seriously considered selling the Republic of Karelia back to Finland in 1991, according to an  interview  with former Russian deputy foreign minister  Andrey Fedorov  in the Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat. The territory in question, located beyond the eastern border of Finland, was ceded to the Soviet Union during WWII.
 In opposition to his earlier statements on the matter, however, Fedorov now told the paper that the Finnish government was never informed that such an option was even on the table.
 In July of 1991, it had been 18 months since the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Soviet Union had crumbled and newly appointed President  Boris Yeltsin  struggled to hold the Russian Federation together.
 His fledgling government compiled a list of territories with nationalist factions that could potentially rise up and demand autonomy or create border disputes. The Republic of Karelia was included due to what was perceived as rising insurgency in the area, Fedorov told the paper.
 Later that same year, the state coffers of the former USSR were running low. At this juncture, Yeltsin and his team went to so far as to calculate a 15-billion-dollar asking price for the ceded territory, Fedorov said, with the aim to possibly offer it to Finland.
 Adjusted for inflation, the modern-day equivalent of the price that was settled on by the Russian authorities is 22.5 billion euros.
 Contradictory statements
 This is not the first time Fedorov has gone public with his claims. The former deputy minister of foreign affairs first spoke of old Russian designs to sell Karelia in August 2007.
 At that time, he claimed that then-Finnish President  Mauno Koivisto  and Foreign Minister  Paavo Väyrynen  were aware of unofficial discussions on the matter, but now he told the paper that the deal was never revealed to anyone outside of Russia.
 "The discussions in the Russian government were held behind closed doors," he told the paper in 2019.
 Väyrynen has also said he has no recollection of ever discussing the matter with Russian officials.
 Fedorov said the Russian Federation decided later, in 1994, that the so-called " Karelian question " was officially closed.


Main daily Helsingin Sanomat’s climate correspondent  Piia Elonen  goes  "under the surface"  of the Baltic Sea around the Finnish archipelago to witness at first hand the devastating effects climate change and eutrophication are having on the sea water as well as plant life and fish. The biggest problems, according to HS, are caused by eutrophication, which occurs when water becomes overly enriched with minerals and nutrients - much of which comes from agricultural runoff. This in turn creates oxygen-depleting levels of algae, ultimately spreading “silent death” along the bottom of the sea.
 The article describes the problems facing the "wonderful, miserable, unique, vulnerable" Baltic Sea; from the "greenish yellow porridge" on the beach to the slimy green algae that obscures the view to the seabed. Canoeists and sailors have begun to steer clear of the Archipelago Sea in July, according to HS, and fish caught there may not be suitable for consumption by children or pregnant women.
 The Baltic Sea is however "beautiful in its own special way, and worth saving," and efforts to conserve the sea have been ongoing since the 1974 signing of the Convention for the Protection of the Baltic Sea. The problems, however, are becoming further exacerbated by climate change and the time for action is now, the paper’s climate correspondent concludes, before it is too late.
 Fresh scandal for embattled politician
 Many papers report on the continued troubles of Social Democratic Party politician  Hussein al-Taee , who has only just  returned to work from sick leave after controversial comments  he had made on Facebook several years ago about homosexuals, Jews, Somalis and Sunni Muslims came to light.
 Now a fresh storm is brewing, as a report by tabloid Iltalehti accuses al-Taee  of falsifying or “at least embellishing” his educational information on his LinkedIn page  and on the parliamentary website.
 According to the paper’s investigation, the Iraqi-born politician claimed to have completed two Master's Degree programs at the University of Warsaw: one in Leadership, and another in International Relations and American Studies. However, the university confirmed to the tabloid that al-Taee never completed either of these courses. The univerisity confirmed that the MP did receive a degree from the institution for a 2016 thesis on the role of Iraq's pension system in supporting stability and growth of the country.
 Furthermore, the paper reveals that al-Taee’s claim to have received a diploma in ‘International Relations and Diplomacy’ from the University of Lincoln in the UK was also not corroborated by the awarding university, which instead has a record of al-Taee studying International Management.
 IL report that al-Taee’s LinkedIn page was updated after they began their investigation, and the paper asked the politician to explain how and why this happened in an email exchange on Monday.
 “I have not been active on LinkedIn, so my profile information was incomplete and inaccurate,” al-Taee told the tabloid.
 'Cartoon Oscar' for Finnish artist
 Turku daily Turun Sanomat reports on the success of local cartoonist  Max Sarin , who was awarded two Eisner awards - often known as the Cartoon Oscars - at the Comic-Con event in San Diego.
 According to TS, Sarin and his fellow cartoonists  John Allison  and  Julia Madrigal  won in both the 'Best Continuing Series' and the 'Best Humor Publication' categories for their comic series  Giant Days . Sarin and his co-cartoonists' victory was made all the more impressive by the fact that they beat comic book heavyweights DC’s  Batman  and Marvel's  The Immortal Hulk  to the prize for 'Best Continuing Series,' according to TS.
 Sarin has been working on Giant Days since 2015, which follows the fictional lives of three university students; Susan, Esther and Daisy. Max Sarin


Finland's employment rate increased only very slightly during the first half of this year and currently stands at 72.4 percent, according to revised figures published by the national statistical institution Statistics Finland.
 The number crunching agency reported that Finland's unemployment rate currently stands at 6.5 percent.
 The employment rate measures the share of employed people in the population aged 15-64, and the statistics take account of seasonal and random variations in the employment situation over the course of the six month period.
 Government's target is 75 percent
 The total number of people employed in Finland in June was 2.6 million, and the current employment rate is a slight increase on the rate recorded in June 2018, of 71.7 percent.
 Statistics Finland also reported that there were 16,000 fewer unemployed people in June than during the same month last year.
 The rate of employment in Finland is constantly tracked, and it has been seen as a key measure of the success or failure of each government's employment initiatives.
 The previous government led by  Juha Sipilä  achieved its target of a 72 percent employment rate  at the end of last year . The current government has set itself a target of 75 percent, a goal which has been seen as challenging given the current slow rate of economic growth.
 Prime Minister  Antti Rinne  announced at the government and social partners' employment seminar in June that the 75 percent employment rate  target  is the government's primary objective for all economic activities.
 "If necessary, decisive action will be taken to achieve this objective. No options are excluded," Rinne commented at the time.


Main daily Helsingin Sanomat reports on the  continued increase in support for the Finns Party , as the latest poll of voters reveals that 20.7 percent of Finns would vote for the populist party. This represents a 1.5 percentage-point increase in support since the last survey in June, and firmly cements  Jussi Halla-aho ’s party’s position as the most popular political party in Finland, the paper writes.
 According to HS, support for the Finns stood at just 7.8 percent one year ago, meaning the party has managed to more than double its popularity over the course of the last 12 months.
 HS quotes  Sakari Nurmela , research head at pollster TNS Kantar, as saying that such a rise is unprecedented in recent Finnish political history, but Nurmela appeared cautious about the future outlook for the Finns Party.
 "A rapid rise has previously been followed by a decline in support. It will be interesting to see in which direction their support develops this time.”
 The paper also reports on a slight dip in backing for the government coalition led by current Prime Minister  Antti Rinne , which now stands at 55.3 percent, down from 56.1 percent one month ago.
 Commuting for work in Lapland
 Lapland daily Lapin Kansa reports on  the job situation in the northern territory , where the number of unemployed jobseekers stands at 12 percent, almost twice the national average. According to the paper however, the unemployment rate is falling and there are plenty of jobs available - as long as people are prepared to travel.
 "Lapland is going through a good phase. Unemployment is falling in municipalities and long-term unemployment has also declined. The labour market is driving forward," the paper quotes  Tiina Keränen , the manager of the local public employment TE-offices, as saying.
 Keränen cites the number of open positions currently available to jobseekers in Lapland as evidence of the turning tide. Over 1,700 new job openings were created during the month of June, and a further 1,200 were added to the mol.fi government job search website in July.
 While jobs may be available, their location may present a challenge, according to Lapin Kansa. Like many others in her profession in Lapland, local teacher  Marika Kumpula  says she has to commute long distances to work. Kumpula will soon take up a post in Kemijärvi, a two-hour round trip from her home in Rovaniemi, but is positive about the commuting life.
 "Teaching different schools provides an insight into different ways of working," she tells the paper. "I like smaller communities, because the schools are more communal."
 "Dream come true" for Tampere student
 Tabloid Iltalehti reports on the  success of a Finnish video game player  at the inaugural Fortnite World Cup, played over the past weekend at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.
 Lassi "Belaeu" Kallio  represented Helsinki Reds, the e-sports wing of the HIFK sporting outfit, and walked away from the tournament with a cool 100,000 US dollars in his pocket after just six hours of game-playing. The 22-year-old psychology student told IL that playing in the Fortnite World Cup was a "dream come true" but that his success is down to dedication and hard work.
 "Professionals need to be good at everything. In professional gaming, there is a big emphasis on the mechanics of playing, but also combining it with smart, planned techniques at the same time," Kallio told the tabloid.
 Kallio is the latest in a string of professional Finnish video game players to achieve success on the world stage,  as the popularity of e-sports continues to flourish in Finland .


Finns Party MEP  Teuvo Hakkarainen  violated Finland's Election Funding Act when he failed to make a statutory declaration of his election funding for  European Parliament elections  held in May this year.
 The deadline for making the financial declaration expired on Monday 29 July.
 Hakkarainen is the only election candidate who failed to provide an electoral funding declaration.  Ida Schauman  of the Swedish People's Party, also violated the Electoral Financing Act by submitting her disclosure after the deadline had passed. All other MEPs elected to the European Parliament submitted their statements within the designated time frame.
 Hakkarainen told Yle that he had forgotten to make the declaration due to his busy schedule.
 "I missed it [the deadline] because there has been so much going on. There is not much to declare," the MEP said.
 Ida Schauman said her announcement was late due to technical reasons.
 "I sent the notice in time, but for some reason it didn't arrive. Then I had to do it again," she explained.
 There is no penalty for failing to comply with the Election Funding Act, but if the declaration is still not submitted despite reminders from authorities, the National Audit Office may issue a fine.
 Politicians' electoral funding declarations can be found on the National Audit Office's  website .
 Teuvo Hakkarainen informed Yle that he made the election declaration when contacted on Tuesday afternoon.


Prime Minister  Antti Rinne  has signalled that from 1 January next year he will follow up on  a pre-election pledge  to roll back  a deeply unpopular "activation" scheme  that essentially penalises unemployed jobseekers who are unable to find work.
 In an Yle interview, Rinne said that his administration would at least eliminate the element of the so-called activation model that  cut jobseekers’ unemployment benefits  by 4.65 percent if they were unable to find work, earn money as entrepreneurs or provide proof of training during a three-month evaluation period. He added that there is also a possibility that the entire system would be axed.
 "I don’t believe that it has produced a single new job. It has been a benefits cut that has increasingly pushed people toward [reliance on] income support. This will be addressed," Rinne declared.
 Rinne told Yle that aspects of the programme that have had a positive impact on employment could be preserved. He pointed to the system of regular interviews of unemployed persons as one example of a useful addition. He said that government working groups are currently trying to determine the employment impact of the activation system.
 The PM explained that legal issues have slowed down dismantling of the model. He added that it would not be enough to tackle the benefit-cutting aspect of the system and said that the administration preferred to deal with all possible reforms with a single legislative proposal.
 "It could be that in the final analysis we would water down [jobseekers’] obligations in some way. That would allow us to get rid of the benefits cut," he noted.
 Tinder setup for wage subsidies
 The government is expected to bring new, fast-acting employment-boosting measures to budget talks due to begin in the autumn. It has also asked labour market organisations to submit proposals that would help it meet job creation and employment targets, but Rinne stressed that it has not imposed any empirical targets for them.
 Rinne said that one idea that the new administration is mulling is a proposal that would make it easier for individuals to apply for wage subsidies.
 The system would involve rolling out an online service in which unemployed jobseekers could apply for a wage subsidy that is equivalent to the labour market subsidy. At the same time, employers would be told whether or not they are able to hire an employee using the wage subsidy. The result would be a kind of wage subsidy Tinder service.
 "Bringing these people together would simplify the process and could create tens of thousands of new jobs," Rinne speculated.
 The government’s goal is to get at least 60,000 people into jobs and to raise the employment rate to 75 percent during its four-year term. The entire government programme is largely predicated on improving  the current employment rate of around 72 percent . However economists have expressed caution over  slowing economic growth  and bearish employment prospects.


The governor of Finland’s Central Bank  Olli Rehn  has announced the withdrawal of his  candidacy for nomination as the European candidate  to lead the International Monetary Fund, the IMF.
 "The job is extremely meaningful and motivating. At this stage I am withdrawing from the vote so that we may achieve a broad consensus on a European candidate and also secure international support for them," Rehn said in a tweet on Friday afternoon.
 On Friday, EU finance ministers began voting to nominate a candidate from the continent to compete for the top job at the international financial institution.
 Apart from Rehn, a former EU commissioner, other frontrunners in the contest included  Jeroen Dijsselbloem , the Dutch former head of the Eurogroup of EU finance ministers and the Bulgarian economist, politician and another former EU commissioner  Kristaline Georgieva .
 Two other candidates, Spanish finance minister  Nadia Calviño  and  Mário Centeno , a Portuguese economist and current Eurogroup chief bowed out of the race earlier on.
 The outgoing head IMF chief, France’s  Christine Lagarde  is leaving the institution  to become president of the European Central Bank , the first woman to hold the position.
 Based in Washington, the IMF will stop accepting applications for the position on 6 September.


Christian Democratic Party chair  Sari Essayah  has been diagnosed with breast cancer, the party organ KD-lehti reported on Saturday. Essayah was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer at the end of July.
 The second-term MP will be on sick leave for two weeks to receive acute treatment for the disease. According to KD-lehti, Essayah is also mulling stepping down as party leader.
 "[My] treatment for breast cancer will begin on Monday. I will have to consider the future of my chairmanship," Essayah said during a meeting of government coalition partners at parliament on Saturday.
 The Christian Democratic Party currently holds five seats in the Finnish parliament. The party’s annual congress is scheduled to take place in Oulu at the end of August.
 Time "to think about the chairmanship"
 The former MEP was  the unanimous choice to succeed  long-time leader  Päivi Räsänen  as head of the CD in 2015 but may now step aside to make room for a new chair.
 "I wanted to make this known as soon as possible so that party organisers would have enough time to deal with the situation and to give people enough time to think about the chairmanship. It’s still so fresh that apart from my family circle, most people are hearing about it for the first time now. I would like to thank everyone for their expressions of support and especially for their prayers of intercession," Essayah said in a statement issued by the party.
 The retired race walker added that she hopes to return to parliamentary work when the autumn session opens in September and to otherwise be involved as far as her treatment allows.
 Edit: Updated at 2.36pm to clarify that the Christian Democrats have five seats in parliament and to correct the statement that it is a member of the five-party government coalition.


Finnish police are currently examining inflammatory comments from three members of parliament, after requests to investigate the legality of the public remarks were submitted to the authorities. The newspaper Helsingin Sanomat (HS)  reports  that preliminary stances on the matter are expected from the police and prosecutors in the coming week.
 The first investigation request concerns  Facebook posts  from  first-term  Social Democrat MP  Hussein Al-Taee , who admitted several weeks ago to writing text that was disparaging of minorities in 2011-2012.
 Inspector  Pekka Hätönen  from the Helsinki Police now told the paper that Al-Taee's dated comments may still be made subject to a criminal investigation. The National Bureau of Investigation had earlier stated that the police would not begin an investigation into the fledgling MP's old posts, but the Helsinki Police have since reconsidered the statutes of limitation with regards to the case.
 Ethnic agitation is a crime in Finland. The law defines it as a person who makes available to the public an expression of opinion or another message where a certain group is threatened, defamed or insulted on the basis of its race, skin colour, birth status, national or ethnic origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation or disability.
 The maximum time within which legal proceedings may be initiated for suspected crimes of this nature is five years after the event.
 HS reports that the authorities are now reconsidering an investigation request because it could be construed that a suspected ethnic agitation crime could conceivably continue for as long as the posts are on display.
 Al-Taee has publicly apologized for his remarks.
 Comments on Pride, immigrants as alien species
 The second investigation request being considered by the police concerns tweets from former interior minister and current Christian Democrat MP  Päivi Räsänen  on Helsinki Pride 2019.
 Räsänen  criticized the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland's decision  to defend the rights of sexual minorities by signing on as an official partner in the event.
 Räsänen tweeted that she found it regrettable that "sin and shame" had been elevated as a source of pride. She included a still photo of New Testament verses which speak of "vile affections", among other things
 On 4 August, Räsänen posted on Twitter that she had not been told about any investigation requests, and heard about it for the first time in the media. She also said that "she has faith that it is still allowed to quote the Bible" in Finland.
 The third request for police investigation centres on a statement from Finns Party MP  Juha Mäenpää , who gave a speech on the floor of the Parliament in mid-June in which he equated immigrants with alien or invasive species.
 Freedom of expression in the Finnish Parliament is exceptionally broad. Even so, HS writes that things would get complicated if Mäenpää's remarks are found to meet the criteria of suspected ethnic agitation by the police and prosecutors.
 If the authorities reach this conclusion, the paper writes, the case would proceed to the body's constitutional law committee.


Finland’s revamped primary school curriculum will be fully put to the test when this year’s crop of first graders begin school. Unlike their peers before them, students starting school will receive all their instruction on the basis of a new national core curriculum approved in 2014,  writes largest circulation daily Helsingin Sanomat .
 The paper interviewed  Jukka Rantala  of Helsinki University, a professor of social education, who said that the curriculum may appear to some eyes to be quite vague. This, he noted, is deliberate.
 "Municipalities create their own curricula and many schools even create their own on the basis of the curriculum’s fundamentals."
 Helena Thuneberg  of Helsinki University’s Centre for Educational Assessment CEA has conducted international comparisons of national core curricula and described the new syllabus as important.
 The  new syllabus focuses on skills development , which is part of a global trend in education, HS writes. The OECD has identified 12 important 21st-century skills, such as critical thinking, media literacy, leadership and initiative.
 The daily notes that the Finnish curriculum lays down seven broad areas of expertise that correspond to the OECD ideals. They include thinking and learning, cultural competency, self-care, multi-literacy, information and communications technology competence, working life skills and entrepreneurship as well as participation, empowerment and building a sustainable future.
 "You can read between the lines and see the OECD skills set there," Thuneberg commented.
 An estimated 61,600 youngsters in Finland begin primary school on Thursday. It will be the first day of 8,512 hours of classroom instruction leading to the completion of their basic education in the spring of 2028.
 Bid to ease transition to primary school
 Meanwhile the Oulu-based daily Kaleva also focuses on education, covering a government proposal to  bundle pre-school with first- and second-grade education  to ensure a smooth transition to primary school for young learners.
 Kaleva picked up the piece from news consortium Uutissuomalainen, which reports that Education Minister  Li Andersson  has not yet provided details on how the possible reform might be implemented.
 According to Kaleva, Andersson said the option to flexibly merge pre- and early primary school instruction would be especially important in less populous municipalities with smaller class sizes.
 "During these early years in particular, there are already large discrepancies in pupils’ competence due to natural development. Additionally, some may have special developmental difficulties," Andersson noted.
 As a result, the paper writes, the aim of the proposed reform is to reduce the level of difficulty some learners experience adjusting to school. Currently, about 100 children annually postpone starting school.
 Ample salaries for top public servants
 Tabloid daily Iltalehti has been diving into public records and crunching the numbers to report that Finland is  spending upwards of 500,000 euros every month  on the salaries of state secretaries and ministerial aides.
 According to the daily, government parties, the Social Democratic Party, Centre, Greens, Left Alliance and the Swedish People’s Party agreed during coalition formation talks on a total of 15 state secretaries and 69 special aides. In Finland, state secretaries assist ministers with political steering and planning work.
 The prime minister would have seven special assistants, while ministers also doubling as party leaders would be assigned five and other ministers would have three aides. IL reports that Prime Minister  Antti Rinne ’s state secretary  Raimo Luoma  currently earns 12,780 euros monthly (without a phone benefit) while other state secretaries' pay packet is 9,834 euros.
 The paper also noted that four ex-MPs who were voted out of the parliament in elections in April will earn nearly 10,000 euros a month for the next four years in roles as state secretaries.
 They are the Greens’  Olli-Poika Parviainen , now state secretary to Interior Minister  Maria Ohisalo ;  Tuomu Puumala , a former Centre Party MP, who is now Science and Culture Minister  Annika Saarikko ’s state secretary; Centre parliamentary group state secretary  Kimmo Tiilikainen  as well as ex-SDP parliamentarian  Pilvi Torsti , right hand toSDP Labour Minister  Timo Harakka  .
 So far some 15 state secretaries and 62 special aides have been named to the cabinet.


The five-party government led by prime minister  Antti Rinne  has seen voter approval rise for the first time since it took office, according to a new Taloustutkimus survey for Yle.
 The poll shows that the administration has been buoyed by rising approval for the Greens. The Centre led by outgoing chair and ex-PM  Juha Sipilä  also saw signs of regaining some voter intentions during the survey period.
 "Combined support for the government parties is now 57 percent. The administration has a mandate to govern," said Taloustutkimus research chief  Tuomo Turja . A  poll by daily Helsingin Sanomat at the end of July  put support for the government coalition at 55.3 percent.
 The pollster noted that although party polls have seen wild fluctuations in recent years, support for the largest opposition parties has remained constant over the past few months. The right-of-centre Finns Party remains the party the largest proportion of electors say they’ll vote for if an election were held now, with 19,6 percent of popular sentiment. This level of  support has more or less held steady  for the past couple of months.
 The National Coalition Party, which is also now in opposition after having been in government since 2007, also appears to have cemented its level of voter backing, recording 16.8 percent approval in the latest poll. Reading the numbers, Turja said that the Finns Party has claimed the mantle of the country’s largest workers’ party, however support from the business sector declined in the last survey. The NCP meanwhile, managed to boost its approval among the business class.
 Greens wake sleeping voters
 Turja noted that among the five-party coalition, the Greens were able to rouse sleeping voters among its own ranks and also poached some backing from the Left Alliance and the NCP to post 15.1 percent voter approval.
 The Centre shift the tide of its slow decline to post an improvement of 0.9 percentage-points and finish the poll with 12.6 percent support.
 "It’s now reached rock bottom but it’s still there. Baseline support for the Centre appears to be around 12 percent," Turja observed.
 Turja added that after t he party’s election drubbing  followed by its confusing decision to join the government, some voters have returned to the fold. He noted that the slight rebound was driven by backing in its traditional strongholds.
 In addition, a look at weekly polling for the party showed no indication that its imminent leadership election was affecting levels of support.
 All of the movement in party approval scores were well within the poll's margin of error, +/- two percentage points.
 SDP support generally down in summer
 The downward slide in approval for Rinne’s SDP that began after the election also appears to have halted. Voter backing for the party stood at 16.3 percent in the latest survey, the same as in June.
 However the numbers suggest that the party suffers from a seasonal summer slump in the polls. Yle surveys from 2013 to 2017 indicate that the party always scores its lowest ratings in one of the summer months.
 Turja said that for some reason during the summer the party’s message fails to reach core supporters – blue- and white-collar workers – which was also the case in July this year. He added that the decline has taken place in key SDP territory such as western Finland and in provincial centres.
 In 2016 Rinne explained the decline in support by saying that during the summer, then-government ministers had greater opportunities for publicity because of their work. That hypothesis no longer applies now that his party is in government.
 Turja said that the new poll shows a typical post-election trend.
 "During summer [overall] party support begins to fall, it’s close to 80 percent after elections and now it’s around 71 percent," he noted.
 "After elections people are active about sharing their party affiliation, but I believe that during the autumn voters will be more uncertain."
 The pollster predicted greater movement in party support during the autumn after a quiet summer. Taloustutkimus interviewed 2,451 respondents between 8 July and 6 August for the survey. Nearly 1,750 of them revealed their party affiliations.


NGOs working to combat gambling addiction are calling for public health experts to be appointed to the board of the state-owned monopoly gambling operator Veikkaus. The non-profits say that the organisation focuses too heavily on making profits at the expense of reducing  problem gambling .
 Moreover, expertise on the drawbacks of excessive gambling plays "a very small role" on the Veikkaus board, according to  Inka Silvennoinen , a division manager of Peluuri, an NGO that helps combat  problem betting .
 Another grassroots organisation, the Finnish Association for Substance Abuse Prevention or Ehyt, called for Veikkaus to adopt a board composition similar to that of the state-owned alcohol monopoly retailer Alko, which typically has public health experts. According to executive director  Juha Mikkonen , the Alko board includes director general of the National Institute of Health and Welfare THL  Markku Tervahauta  as well as  Kirsi Varhila , a senior officer from the Social Affairs and Health Ministry.
 "It would be preferable for the Veikkaus board, management and administrative bodies to also have expertise in preventing harmful gambling," Mikkonen declared.
 Sirpa Paatero , the minister responsible for government ownership steering, said that the administration would review the issue of board membership in the gambling firm during the autumn.
 "I think it’s important that we consider this aspect when subsequent board members are selected," Paatero said by way of response.
 Veikkaus recently came under intense scrutiny and heavy criticism for  a radio advertising campaign that appeared to encourage frequent gamblers  to indulge the habit.
 Four politicians on Veikkaus board
 In addition to representatives of the business community, the Veikkaus board also comprises four politicians – unlike many other state-owned enterprises. They are MPs  Ilkka Kanerva  of the National Coalition Party and  Jutta Urpilainen  of the Social Democratic Party, as well as state secretary  Tuomo Puumala  of the Centre Party and former Finns Party MP  Raimo Vistbacka.
 Paatero noted that the decision to appoint the four politicians to the board was made during the previous administration led by Juha Sipilä, when Veikkaus merged with slot machine firm RAY and the horse racing and betting operation Fintoto.
 However she did not indicate whether or not the new government would be revisiting the politicians’ board appointments in autumn. She said that her understanding of the appointments was that they would bring a societal perspective to board deliberations.
 Veikkaus board members earn a monthly fee of 2,000 euros and an additional 600 euros for each meeting they attend. Some other large state-owned enterprises pay board members similar kinds of fees.
 NGOs have pointed out that Veikkaus managers’ salaries are tied to the firm’s profits as well as the growth of online gambling, while reducing problem gambling is not similarly rewarded.
 According to Peluuri’s Silvennoinen, pay incentives do not recognise corporate responsibility in any way, but focus on profit financial performance targets.
 Paatero also pledged to examine the system of performance incentives.
 "It’s important to have performance targets to ensure that Veikkaus functions well, but it would be good to see whether or not they include responsibility for problem betting rather than euro-based results," she commented.
 Minister: Good reason for cabinet oversight
 The non-profit organisations also suggested that like Alko, ministerial oversight for Veikkaus could be transferred to the social and health affairs ministry. The prime minister’s office is currently responsible for monitoring the performance of the gambling firm.
 "If we consider that Veikkaus’ main mission is to prevent problem gambling, it could raise the question of whether or not ownership steering should lie with the social affairs and health ministry, which is responsible for work combating the dangers of excessive gambling," Mikkonen pointed out.
 "Alko is governed by the health ministry because the state-owned company has a specific function that is related to public health," he added.
 However the minister said that the merger of the three gambling organisations meant that specific ministries were still responsible for allocating Veikkaus profits. The Education and Culture Ministry determines funding distribution for sports, youth and culture programmes, while the health ministry handles allocations for social affairs and health, she noted.
 "This is why it was seen as better that overall ownership steering would be in three places, because there is no justification for oversight to lie in the same functions that manage funding distribution," Paatero explained.