Summary: Finnish exports rose fastest outside the EU, while non-EU imports were down – except from the US.

Refined oil products led the way as Finnish exports rose in late spring, as the value of goods exported from Finland was up six percent year-on-year in May, the Finnish Customs said on Monday.
 According the customs board's preliminary calculations, products sent abroad during the month were worth 5.7 billion euros.
 Imports were also worth 5.7 billion euros, indicating a more modest rise of two percent since May 2018.
 Over the first five months of the year, exports were up by five percent while imports inched up just one percent from the January-May period last year.
 Finland was running a relatively small trade deficit of 10 million euros in May, and 90 million euros for the first five months of the year. Those numbers were much larger a year earlier: 250 million euros in May 2018 and more than a billion euros in January through May 2018.
 Pricier oil products
 The biggest driver of export growth in May was a rise in the value of refined oil products.
 Majority state-owned oil company Neste, which bills itself as "the world's largest producer of renewable diesel refined from waste and residues", has refineries in Porvoo and Naantali, as well as two overseas.
 Meanwhile there was slower growth in foreign sales of industrial machinery and equipment, while vehicles and forest product exports were flat.
 Exports of chemicals and electronic devices were mostly down. Metal exports edged up slightly after bumper sales in May a year earlier, while pharmaceutical sales perked up.
 Brisker sales outside the EU
 Sales to other European Union states rose by five percent in May, while imports from the EU were up four percent. Exports outside the EU were much brisker, climbing by nine percent, while imports from non-EU countries shrank by one percent.
 For the January-through-May period, exports to EU countries grew by three percent while those outside the EU rose twice as fast. Meanwhile five-month imports from the EU were up by three percent, contrasted with a decline of two percent from the rest of the world.
 Exports to China and Britain dipped in May, but rose to all other major trading partners, especially Russia and the United States. Imports from Sweden sagged, while those from other main trading countries were mostly unchanged. The exception was imports from the US, which rose significantly compared to a year earlier.

Oil leads Finnish export surge in May


Summary: The union proposes a voluntary scheme that could be made obligatory for men and women if there aren't enough volunteers.

Finland's conscripts' union ( Varusmiesliitto ) has suggested changing the country's obligatory military service so that women could also compelled to join up if there are not enough available conscripts.
 Around 12,000 new recruits from across the country began their  first day of conscription  with the Finnish Defence Forces on Monday, but only males are forced by law to serve or to carry out alternative civilian service.
 Young women can also sign up, but entirely on a voluntary basis.
 The topic of adding females to Finland's conscription scheme has heated up in recent months, and the union announced its official position on the matter on Monday.
 It said the system should be updated and also include women in the future.
 The chair of the conscripts' union,  Matias Pajula , said that the current lack of enthusiasm for enlisting among young people shows that many think the current male-only system is unfair.
 Pajula pointed to a study published by the Advisory Board for Defence Information (ABDI).
 In past generations, conscription has widely been seen as a rite of passage, but the ABDI noted a decrease in enthusiasm for conscription among men under the age of 25.
 ABDI is a permanent parliamentary committee which "monitors general preparedness for crisis situations and emergencies in society and studies the related needs with a special focus on communications," according to the Ministry of Defence.
 "We think the decrease [in enthusiasm] is caused by many thinking that the conscription system is unequal," Pajula said.
 Voluntary, if there are enough volunteers
 The union suggested that military service should include volunteer members from a specific age group, regardless of their gender.
 One of the side effects of making such a change would mean that members of the Jehovah's Witnesses religion would not likely be compelled to serve in the military, which has been an ongoing debate for decades.
 In February, Parliament  overturned a law  which allowed male Jehovah’s Witnesses to skip military or alternative civilian service without penalty. The exemption, dating from 1987, has been considered problematic from a constitutional standpoint. Now, male members of the religion must carry out military or civilian service or face the consequences, which may include prison.
 "We believe conscription should apply to everyone. However, Jehovah’s Witnesses would not necessarily be compelled to serve, if there are many volunteers," Pajula said.
 But, if there are not enough volunteers, the Defence Ministry would still be able to make military service obligatory. The union also proposed that both physical and psychological screenings be carried out earlier in the process than they are now, when prospective recruits are called on to serve.
 Pajula said that a system similar to the union's proposal is working well in Norway, for example.
 "The conscripts' union does not support a model that is entirely voluntary. We propose a voluntary system that can be made obligatory if there aren't enough volunteers," Pajula clarified.
 Pre-service screenings
 "The screenings during call-outs would ensure an individual's suitability and motivation to serve before enlisting. There are many who are unwilling to serve at the moment, and that isn't good for the [conscript] or for society," Pajula said.
 The union chair added that an equal conscription scheme would improve the position of women who serve.
 "The idea of women in the military is still considered out of the ordinary. An increase in female soldiers would improve general attitudes," Pajula said.
 According to a recent survey on the topic, most people in Finland appear to be  against including females  in the conscription scheme.
 However, that poll also found that younger people were more open to the idea, with 41 percent of people between the ages of 15-24 saying that young women should carry out some form of national service.
 But the conscripts' union chair said he was sceptical about such an approach.
 "I don't think it is necessary to force national service obligations for a certain period of time on an entire age group. I'd rather see young people advance in their careers and studies," Pajula said.
 Last month, Defence Minister  Antti Kaikkonen  requested an analysis of the topic of female conscription. One of his proposals is for  young women to perform a couple months of compulsory civilian service  which would complement the current system.
 But Kaikkonen has said he does not support obligatory military conscription for women.
 _Yle News' podcast All Points North discussed the topic of female conscription with  three experts last month. _

Conscripts' union calls for voluntary military service scheme


Summary: The Social Affairs Minister said Finland must first decide whether the cash benefit would apply to everyone.

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 everyone, 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.

Minister: No-strings-attached basic income "unrealistic"


Summary: Police in Central Finland encountered an unprecedented lawnmower situation.

Police in the southwestern province of Pirkanmaa handled a first-of-its-kind case this past weekend, when officers were notified of the theft of a robot lawnmower from the garden of a house in the town of Ikaalinen.
 The owner noticed that the machine had been stolen sometime between Saturday and Sunday, and called the police. When officers arrived, the owner informed them that the mower's GPS tracking system showed that it was located in the town of Mänttä-Vilppula, more than 100 kilometres away.
 When police went to check the address provided by the GPS locator, they found the robot grass-cutter on the terrace of a house.
 "There were some people inside the house, and two of them admitted to having stolen the mower," Central Finland Police Department said in a statement.
 Constable  Heikki Järnström  added that there is no record of any similar crime having occurred in Pirkanmaa.
 "We are not aware of any series of thefts at least," Järnström said.
 The price of a new robot lawnmower in Finland is usually between 1,000 and 3,000 euros. The devices are often equipped with a GPS tracking system as well as an alarm and PIN code lock to deter thieves.
 The city of Tampere has been using GPS-assisted lawnmowers, and has warned people - including would-be thieves - not to touch or attempt to lift or otherwise interfere with the robots.
 "If the mower is raised from the lawn, its alarm buzzer starts to ring and the blade stops," according to a city press release from last year.
 Furthermore, the robot lawnmowers have a limited area in which they operate, so they are useless to thieves, the city's release added.

Robot lawnmower thieves thwarted by GPS


Summary: One-fifth of the EU's carbon emissions come from road traffic, and the environment minister wants to change that.

The Finnish government has plans to reduce carbon emissions by allowing urban municipalities to charge road congestion fees, according to Finland's Minister of the Environment and Climate Change,  Krista Mikkonen .
 Currently, exceptional road or congestion tolls aren't legal in Finland, but Mikkonen said the recently-elected government plans to change that.
 "The government programme states that urban areas should be able to charge fees if they wish," Mikkonen, a Greens party member, said.
 Preparation of a bill on the matter is set to be carried out by various ministries, but the minister was unable to say when it would be ready.
 However, she emphasised that government needs to find ways to reduce emissions, in light of the continuing rise in traffic volumes as well as emissions.
 One-fifth of all carbon emissions in the EU were generated by vehicular traffic, according to the European Environment Agency.
 In Finland, road transport accounts for about 17 percent of emissions, with nine percent coming from passenger transport, seven percent from road freight and the remaining nine percent from personal vehicle traffic, according to Statistics Finalnd and the Finnish Environment Institute Syke.
 Finland has pledged to halve the 2005 emissions levels by the year 2030 - and by 2045, all of the country's vehicles should be emissions-free.
 Story continues after photo.
 Finland's Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Krista Mikkonen. Emmi Korhonen / Lehtikuva
 Mikkonen noted that congestion fees implemented in Sweden in recent years have played a major role in cutting emissions.
 "Congestion has decreased, the popularity of public transport has increased and the air quality has improved," she said.
 Sweden's capital Stockholm, for example, charges fees for vehicles driving in and out of the city on weekdays during the hours of 6:30 am - 6:29 pm. Drivers are charged between one to two euros for each passage in or out of the city, depending on the time of day. The total of fees drivers must pay each day is a maximum of around six euros, according to the city's public transportation system.
 Helsinki's commuters
 Up to 40 percent of the vehicles on Helsinki roads on any given day arrive from outside the city limits.
 Some people from just outside of the Helsinki area - like the mayor of Kirkkonummi, Tarmo Aarnio  - is not pleased with the idea of congestion fees. The rural seaside community lies on the western border of the greater Helsinki region and over the decades has become a commuter suburb to the city.
 Aarnio said that the implementation of congestion fees would weaken the competitiveness of regions around the capital, saying that travelling by car is essential to many residents in the area.
 Meanwhile, opposition MP  Heikki Vestman  of the National Coalition Party said that congestion fees would hurt commuters on low incomes.
 He said it would also hurt the vitality of the entire Uusimaa region, saying the fees would affect the overall attractiveness of living in the area.
 The joint authority of Helsinki Region Transport (HSL) has reported that implementing congestion fees would increase the costs for drivers who regularly commute into the city by 700-1000 euros per year.
 Where should the fees go?
 The joint authority's chair,  Suvi Rihtniemi , said congestion fees would likely have a broader impact than simply lowering carbon emissions.
 "In the background [implementing congestion fees] would primarily result in a reduction of emissions, but it would also cause a reduction in traffic, which would also result a reduction in a road investments funding,"
 In any case, Rihtniemi said that funds from any eventual tolls should go towards road infrastructure investments.
 "The money should not flow to the state's bottomless treasury," she said.
 Minister Mikkonen said getting more people to use public transport would indirectly reduce the environmental costs of the use of vehicles, but also reduce the costs of owning a car. She suggested that the congestion fee funds could be directed towards further developing public transportation systems.
 "People would then have real options from which to choose," Mikkonen said, noting that there is still a good deal of consideration to be done before any action is taken.
 Edited 9 July 2019 at 10:57 am to clarify that one-fifth of carbon emissions in the EU were generated by vehicular traffic was according to the European Environment Agency, and added details about Finland's vehicle traffic emissions.

Government eyes congestion fees in Finland's cities


Summary: A heated debate on student livelihood, 'No Drone Zone' signs incite complaints, and Bad Bad Boy assists police.

Daily Helsingin Sanomat asks and attempts to answer a question that was the subject of intense discussion on social media in Finland this past weekend:  is student life harder than ever before ?
 According to HS, the online debate ignited when a statement last week from the Finnish Student Union queried why students were the only members of society not entitled to a proper rest or holiday pay.
 Responses to the statement varied, HS reports, from those who argued that student life is tougher than it ever has been, to those who believed modern students don’t know how lucky they are.
 The paper cites a 2016 survey of students conducted by Finland’s Student Health Care Foundation (YTHS) which found that a growing number of students reported feeling their living situations were very limited and uncertain, with over 50 per cent spending more than half their income on housing.
 The article further outlines that, in Finland, a university student is entitled to a study grant of 250.28 euros per month. In addition, the student can raise a student loan of EUR 650 per month and receive a general housing allowance.
 “If a student takes advantage of a student loan, the student's income is generally higher than ever in the 50-year history of the student support system,” HS quotes Responsibility Planner  Ilpo Lahtinen  from Social Insurance Institution Kela's study support group as saying.
 No English, please
 Turku daily Turun Sanomat reports that  signs written in English only have been deemed illegal and must be replaced , after complaints were made to the Parliamentary Ombudsman. However, adding both Finnish and Swedish to the signs may leave no room for the original English.
 The signs, which appeared in parts of Helsinki and in the southern coastal town of Naantali, informed people that the areas were “No Drone Zones” and the use of English only was justified by the fact that the areas were popular with tourists, the paper reports.
 An investigation by Ombudsman  Petri Jääskeläinen  ruled that the signs were in breach of Finland’s Language Act, which states that official communications must be made primarily in Finnish and Swedish. The ruling further found that symbol notifying a drone ban accompanied by English language text would not necessarily be understood by a person who does not know what a drone is, or does not speak English.
 However, fitting all three languages onto the sign is proving a challenge, and Turun Sanomat quotes  Jukka Hannola  of the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom, formerly Trafi) as saying that the English text may have to be sacrificed.
 “Of course, all three languages are the goal, but the signs are different sizes. If the font size would become unreasonably small, we will have to be satisfied with just Finnish and Swedish,” Hannola tells the paper.
 'Bad Bad Boy' helps police
 Tabloid daily Iltalehti reports of the  surprising scene that greeted a shopper in Helsinki , when she stumbled upon a police car getting a “shower” from an eight metre high statue in the Helsinki district of Jätkäsaari.
 The concrete statue, entitled ‘Bad Bad Boy’, is a water fountain built to give the impression of a young boy ‘urinating’, which the enterprising police used to clean their windscreen - as can be viewed from the video accompanying the article.
 The art piece was designed by Finnish sculptor Tommi Toija and previously stood at Helsinki’s Market Square before being moved to Jätkäsaari in 2015. The water within the sculpture is heated, and can therefore be used to clean windscreens even in the cold depths of winter, Iltalehti reports.

Tuesday’s papers: Tougher student life, illegal English signs, and a window-washing statue


Summary: Decreasing membership is the main reason behind the growing financial challenges facing the Lutheran Evangelical church.

An increasing number of Lutheran Evangelical parishes in Finland are reporting financial losses, according to an article by the Uutissuomalainen newspaper group. Last year, every second parish in the country reported a negative financial result, compared with just one-third of parishes in 2015.
 The primary reason for the financial challenges is the decreasing number of members, as 70 percent of the church's income is generated by member-paid church taxes.
 However, the combined results of each of the parishes show a net gain for the last financial year, with the balance sheet recording an overall surplus of over 700,000 euros.
 Total income was almost 1.1 billion euros, but if the parishes of Helsinki were removed from the tally the income accrued would amount to only 13.7 million euros.
 "This shows the polarisation effect, where urban areas are growing and the rest of Finland is waning," said  Pasi Perander , Chief Financial Officer of the Church Board.
 At the beginning of 2019, 69.7 percent of Finns belonged to the Lutheran Evangelical Church, which is a significant drop from the 85 percent of Finns who were members of the church in 2000.
 There are two main reasons for the reduction in membership; fewer parents choose to  baptise their children into the faith , and  more people are leaving the church than joining it .

Half of Lutheran parishes in Finland report financial loss


Summary: The man behind the ambitious rail project plans to sign a letter of intent with China Railway Group Limited this week.

The Finland to Estonia  undersea rail tunnel project  led by businessman  Peter Vesterbacka  has taken a step forward.
 He announced Tuesday that his firm, Finest Bay Area Development, is planning to sign a letter of intent with China Railway Group Limited (CREC) to carry out the project.
 CREC specialises in major railroad projects with expertise in underground drilling, according to Vesterbacka.
 "We plan to sign a letter of intent with China's CREC, the world's largest building company, this week," he said.
 The construction giant has reportedly drilled and constructed more than 18,000 km of railway tunnels in China.
 "The expertise is there," Vesterbacka said.
 Finest Bay Area Development's current partners - construction firm Ains Group (A-insinöörit), consulting and engineering company Pöyry as well as construction firm Fira - will continue to participate in the project.
 €15 billion from China
 The price tag for the project is around 15 billion euros, which would largely come from a  funding deal with a Chinese investment firm . About 12.5 billion euros of the overall cost would go towards construction.
 Drilling and constructing the tunnel will take an estimated six years, and the undertaking has been estimated to amount to 20,000 person-years of labour.
 The head researcher at market research firm Taloustutkimus,  Pasi Holm , said the employment impact estimate sounds about right.
 "The estimate of 20,000 person-years in Finland is the likely estimate, and 6,000 person-years for Estonia's part, is reasonable," Holm said.
 However, Finest Bay Area Development's tunnel project from Helsinki to Tallinn is not the only one of its kind, as the Finnish state is also planning a public sector tunnel effort.
 But Vesterbacka's says his private sector project is ready to be realised as soon as the various legal paperwork is in order, because it already has funding, while the public sector has not yet secured financing for its plans.
 Timetables to hold?
 Vesterbacka has previously said his goal is for the 100 km tunnel to be ready by the end of 2024, by which time trains would shuttle between the capitals in around 20 minutes.
 "The letter of intent with the Chinese construction giant is remarkable, since the project can progress within the planned timetable," Vesterbacka said.
 Vesterbacka noted, however, that China would not have a decision-making role in the project, despite that both the investment and construction firm are both based in China.
 CREC is owned by the Chinese state, while the investment firm Touchstone Capital Partners is privately held.
 Investors from Nordic and European countries are also involved in the project.
 There has been some controversy in Finland over where the trains would begin their sub-sea trips. Helsinki officials have aimed for the railway to begin at the city's Central Railway Station, while Vesterbacka has plans for it to start at Keilaniemi in the neighbouring city of Espoo - site of the headquarters of his former employer, gaming firm Rovio.
 An  environmental impact study  of the project is underway, which will also examine how it could affect the economic area.

Helsinki-Tallinn tunnel set to ink deal with Chinese construction giant


Summary: The man is the sixth to be convicted in a case involving eight suspects and a single underage victim.

The Oulu District Court sentenced  Hassan Mohamed Mohamud  to four and a half years in prison on the charges of aggravated child sexual abuse and aggravated rape. The offences were committed on three separate occasions between July and October last year at two different hotels in Oulu.
 As in the previous cases, the court found that the crime was further aggravated by the age difference between the defendant and the victim, and that the defendant had taken advantage of the girl's interest in him. The court also ruled that the defendant should have been aware of the victim's limited decision-making ability, which was a sign of the victim's young age and vulnerability.
 The defendant and the victim had initially met online and kept in contact through the Kik messaging application.
 Sixth of eight cases
 Tuesday’s conviction and sentencing is the sixth in a series of similar cases in which the same 13-year-old girl is believed to have suffered abuse at the hands of eight men of foreign background last summer and autumn. Two additional cases are still to be tried in court.
 District prosecutor  Pia Mäenpää  previously told Yle that there is no evidence to suggest that the suspects - all of whom did not know each other - abused the victim at the same time and or in the same place. Yle has learned that at least three of the men lived at the same reception centre.
 Police say all the suspects came to Finland as refugees or asylum seekers, and that some of the eight have already been granted refugee status or Finnish citizenship.
 The case was heard by two district judges and two jurors, and the court's judgment was unanimous.

Four and a half year prison sentence in 6th Oulu child sex abuse case


Summary: A Finnish firm focused on superconducting technology aims to bring quantum computing into practical use.

Espoo-based quantum computing startup IQM has announced it has received around 11.2 million euros in a seed investment round.
 The company, which has its roots in Aalto University and the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT), develops high-speed quantum processors that reduce the error rates that have limited quantum computing.
 In a statement on Tuesday, IQM said it is getting funding from US-based investor Matadero QED; Finnish state-owned investment firm Tesi; Helsinki-based venture capital firms Maki.vc and OpenOcean as well as German investment firms MIG Fonds and Vito Venutres.
 The firm said it plans to use the seed investment towards building infrastructure, hiring talent and expanding its collaboration efforts.
 According to the company, by solving complex mathematical problems, quantum computing will revolutionise many industries - including the pharmaceutical sector, materials science and the financial world.
 Story continues after photo.
 Professor Mikko Möttönen Aalto-yliopisto
 IQM's co-founder and chief scientist, Professor  Mikko Möttönen , said the company's location in Finland's tech centre of Espoo makes a difference.
 "Our headquarters in Finland — a hub of quantum research — is a powerful differentiator for IQM. It gives us access to technologists doing ground-breaking work, and puts us close to institutions offering fabrication facilities with cutting-edge process technologies that we will use to develop our products," Möttönen said.
 The company's CEO,  Jan Goetz , said the company aims to bring quantum technology into common use.
 "IQM is founded on innovation that’s already taking quantum technology across new frontiers. Thanks to the support of Aalto and VTT, we moved fast to drive advancements at the system level to make quantum technology viable, practical and cost effective," Goetz said.

Quantum computing startup IQM gets €11m in seed investment


Summary: The 21-year-old was last seen in the southwestern municipality of Somero on 8 June.

The Southwestern Finland Police Department have not made any progress in the case of a woman missing from the municipality of Somero in Western Finland since early June, and are now appealing to the public for assistance in tracing her whereabouts.
 Milla Aronen , 21, was last seen in the town between 11pm and 12pm on the evening of June 8, but since then no sightings or contact have been made.
 Aronen was due to return to military service with the Pori Brigade at the Huovinrinne garrison in the nearby municipality of Säkylä on June 9, but did not report for duty. Currently women serve in the Finnish Defense Forces voluntarily, and are not conscripted.
 In a statement two weeks ago, Commissioner  Kristiina Kontio  of the Southwestern Finland Police said there was no suspicion that any crime had taken place.
 Aronen is described as being of slim build and approximately 165 centimetres tall. She has tattoos on both hands, and was wearing a black top, black hoodie, black trousers and black shoes with pink trim at the time of her disappearance.
 Police request any information to be reported by calling 0295417259 or via WhatsApp messaging service on 0504117655. Sightings or information can also be reported via by e-mail to: lounais-suomi@poliisi.fi.

Police request public's help in case of missing woman


Summary: Former special envoy Pekka Haavisto will again represent the EU in Sudan, where a peace deal was struck last week.

Kansainväliset organisaatiot ja sopimukset

Ministerit, ministeriöt ja valtioneuvosto

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.

Foreign Minister Haavisto to negotiate on Sudan for EU


Summary: Finnish media look at university student aid, confidence in PM Rinne's coalition, teaching about money, and lost art.

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.

Wednesday's papers: Kela rethinks study grant, public trust in gov't, financial literacy and Schjerfbeck


Summary: Ilosaarirock Festival announces a partnership with the Finnish Red Cross to provide advice and support to festival-goers.

Kulttuuri- ja taidetapahtumat ja -näyttelyt

Public awareness of the issue of sexual harassment has risen in recent years, due in no small part to the highly-publicised "me too" campaign. Incidents of sexual harassment at music festivals have also been reported and highlighted.
 Last summer, an online survey conducted by the daily Helsingin Sanomat found that one in three respondents had experienced sexual harassment at a music festival. The majority of incidents were reported to have occurred at Finland's largest and most well-known festivals.
 The seriousness of the issue has inspired the organisers of the Ilosaarirock music festival, held every year in the eastern Finnish city of Joensuu, to forge a partnership with the Finnish Red Cross which will see trained support staff attend the event to assist and support victims of sexual harassment.
 Petri Varis , producer at Ilosaarirock, explained that a survey conducted last summer led to the decision to recruit support staff at this year's event.
 Petri Varis, producer of the music festival Ilosaarirock Ari Haimakainen / Yle
 "We have identified the problem before, but now we want to pay special attention to this issue," Varis said.
 Listening and advising
 Jenni Solt , a volunteer with the Finnish Red Cross, will be on duty at the Laulurinne arena in Joensuu for the duration of the festival from Friday 12 to Sunday 14 July.
 Solt is a member of the Red Cross' trained support staff, and will be available to listen to, support and advise festival attendees.
 "First I will create a safe environment in which to listen. Of course it depends on the case, but people might be in shock, or angry, or confused. They may not even understand what has happened," Solt said.
 In addition to listening and advising, Solt will also help with practical matters such as directing a victim of sexual harassment as needed.
 "For example, I can help the person file an electronic crime report, advise them on where to get further assistance or, if necessary, accompany them to the hospital," Solt explained.
 Respectful flirting still allowed
 Festivals have traditionally led to the start of many a summer romance, and Varis says Ilosaarirock has no intention to get in the way of Cupid's arrows.
 Solt says people just need to find the right balance.
 "Of course we all want to relax and have fun, but it must be done with respect for others," the Red Cross volunteer said.
 She praised the Ilosaarirock organisers for their initiative.
 "It is really great that Ilosaarirock has taken this bold step, to raise this issue and intervene," Solt added.
 The Ilosaarirock festival begins in the eastern border city of Joensuu on Friday and ends on Sunday evening. Last summer, 65,000 music fans attended the three-day event.

Finnish music festival takes steps to weed out sexual harassment


Summary: Increases to national and guarantee pensions will see retirees and others receive a minimum of about 1,000 euros per month.

Finland's government has arrived at specific numbers for raising the levels of national and guarantee pensions.
 The national pension, a benefit paid by the state's benefits administrator Kela to retirees and people with disabilities, will be increased by 31 euros monthly.
 The guarantee pension, which is provided when a retirement pension or earnings-related pension falls below the statutory income limit, will go up by 50 euros a month. This payment is intended to safeguard the livelihoods of low-income pensioners.
 The proposals will be put forward for consultation by the government and may be subject to further modifications.
 The Government Programme devised by Prime Minister  Antti Rinne's  five-party coalition, announced at the beginning of June, had allocated 183 million euros per year for the purpose of raising minimum pensions. This increase will bring the monthly pension payment up to about 1,000 euros per month. Approximately 609,000 pensioners will receive a small increase in their pension, according to the government's calculations.
 Making good on campaign promises
 The government further outlined that the housing allowance paid to pensioners will not be affected by the increase in the national or guarantee pensions.
 "We are delighted and proud to present a substantial increase of 50 euros to minimum pensions," said Minister of Social Affairs and Health  Aino-Kaisa Pekonen . "This proposal is intended to help those who need the extra money in their everyday lives the most."
 The proposal is scheduled to be presented to parliament later in the autumn, with a projected aim of bringing the amendments into force on 1 January 2020.
 The raising of minimum pensions was one of the key election promises made by Prime Minister Rinne's Social Democratic Party.
 In a speech at a market square in Lahti in March 2018, Rinne promised to make improvements to all pensions under 1,400 euros if elected to government, thereby bringing more than 50,000 pensioners out of poverty.

Government announces pension increase


Summary: Join a virtual bear safari in the Finnish wilderness! By clicking on the video link, you can turn the camera view in any direction.

For the first time, you can watch a 360-degree live webcast that puts you in the middle of a community of wild bears.
 The live stream from Eastern Finland - which lasts more than 48 hours - begins Wednesday 10 July, 6pm Finnish time (1500 UTC) and ends at noon on Saturday.
 To access it, click on the YouTube link below. You can turn the view in any direction. Unless the curious bears damage the camera, the stream will continue through Saturday morning.
 The location is Raate in the eastern municipality of Suomussalmi. It lies on the Russian border east of Oulu.
 This is apparently the world's first-ever extended 360-degree broadcast of wild bears.
 Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) estimates that there are just over 2,000 bears in the country, although a precise count is not possible as they wander back and forth across the Russian border. Traditionally they have been most common in eastern Finland, but also wander into central and even southern parts of the country.
 How to spot 'Weightlifter' and 'Broken Finger'
 The live stream is from a bear viewing site run by tourism entrepreneur  Markku Matero , who leaves food for the bruins each evening.
 He has given nicknames to bears that have frequented the area for a long time, such as Lerppahuuli ("Floppy Lip") for one female.
 "She has a split lip from being in a fight at some point. She's had bad luck with her cubs, losing them to male bears for several years," Matero says.
 A male bear may kill young cubs if they are the offspring of rivals. This summer Lerppahuuli has taken her two cubs somewhere else, apparently due to the arrival of a large male dubbed Painonostaja ("Weightlifter").
 "He's an unbelievably large, wide male. He's a bit nasty and solitary. If there are others at the feeding place, he chases them off," says Matero. In general, the large males usually eat first, followed by the females and cubs..
 Another easily recognisable bear that may be visible is Rikkosormi ("Broken Finger").
 "It's a big black bear with a middle claw on one front paw that is oddly formed for some reason," he explains.
 Matero takes food to the bears each evening shortly before 7pm. Activity around the webcam is most likely between this time and 6am.

Round-the-clock 'bear cam 360' goes live in Finland


Summary: Finnish cities are gradually moving towards fossil-fuel-free transport solutions with new investment.

Buses running on biogas and electricity are slowly becoming a more common sight in Finland, as transport companies and municipalities invest in greener options.
 The central city of Jyväskylä took its first biogas bus into use this week and three more coaches will join it on the roads there in the autumn.
 The transport company Mennään Bussilla won a tender competition to supply the biogas buses for eight years to the city after local decision-makers prioritized fossil-fuel-free alternatives. The buses draw on the city's own Mustankorkea biogas production plant. Depending on how it is equipped, investment in one biogas bus comes at price of around 250,000 euros.
 Just the beginning
 In the western coastal city of  Vaasa, biogas buses  have been doing the rounds since 2017. Since this time, the cities of Oulu and Lappeenranta have also introduced the renewable energy-powered option.
 Ilkka Korpela,  sales representative for the Swedish truck and bus maker Scania in Finland, says that the biogas bus boom in Finland is just taking off.
 He says Scania production facilities in Sweden and Poland have manufactured about 300 biogas buses in the last year, most of which have been sold to markets in Sweden, Norway and central Europe. Sweden already has some two thousand biogas buses in operation.
 A new European Union directive enacted in June will push environmentally sustainable public investment decisions in the coming years. Scheduled to come into effect in 2021, it is already causing municipalities to consider investing in fossil-fuel-free options when arranging tenders for future services.
 Helsinki goes all in on electric
 In the capital city of Helsinki, the Helsinki Regional Transport Authority (HSL) plans to introduce new electric buses to its fleet in the autumn. It has set a goal to make one out of every three buses serving the metropolitan area to be electric by the year 2025. This works out to be a major investment as well, as the network has a total of over 1,500 vehicles in operation.
 The Lahti-based electric vehicle developer Linkker has already rented several buses to HSL for test use.
 Electric buses are even more expensive than their biogas alternatives, costing 400,000 euros each on average – or the cost of two diesel-run equivalent buses. Use of the electric buses is considerably cheaper, however, says HSL's division manager  Ilmari Mäkinen.
 Diesel buses last between 15 and 20 years in everyday use. Because electric and biogas buses are still relatively new and still developing, it is impossible to estimate their user life ahead of time. The suppliers of both have promised that they will last at least 10 to 15 years.

Electric and biogas buses roll into Finnish cities


Summary: Questions over Angela Merkel's health overshadowed Finnish Prime Minister Antti Rinne's arrival to Berlin on Wednesday.

Saksan kristillisdemokraattinen unioni (CDU)

German Chancellor  Angela Merkel  was again seen trembling uncontrollably on Wednesday, as she received Finnish Prime Minister Antti Rinne at an official ceremony in Berlin.
 Wednesday's incident marked the third time in as many weeks she was seen shaking at public events, sparking concerns about the world's most powerful woman's health.
 Merkel has previously dismissed those concerns, at least once attributing her tremors to the effects of dehydration.
 At a press briefing on Wednesday, Merkel told reporters she feels fine.
 "I feel very well. No need to worry," she said.
 Merkel opened the press conference by congratulating Finland for its EU presidency role, a six-month stint which began at the beginning of this month.
 "We want to work closely with Finland. We want Finland to be able to help solve many problems during its presidency, because then there will be less that we will have to solve when we take up the presidency next year," Merkel quipped.
 As far as the leaders' meeting, Finland's State Under-Secretary for European Affairs,  Jari Luoto , said Rinne and Merkel had many issues to discuss.
 The two leaders have met several times at various meetings but Wednesday marked the first time the pair met one-on-one.
 Rinne has said that Finland's main goal during its EU presidency is for the Union to  commit to climate neutrality  by the year 2050.
 It is widely believed that Rinne will get support from Germany on Finland's climate policy issues and has made it clear it wants to discuss concrete measures with other countries to address climate change.
 Story continues after video.

 Finland and Germany share similar positions on a number of other issues, as well.
 During its six-month presidency, Finland is expected to guide negotiations on the EU's five-year budget for 2021-2027, but EU-wide agreement on the matter will likely be finalised during Germany's EU presidency, which begins in the autumn of 2020.
 Both Finland and Germany also share the opinion that the levels of member states' financial support from the Union should be tied to how well they follow the rule of law.
 This position tends to irritate Poland, Hungary and Romania, countries which have been known to falter in terms of following the law and are also major recipients of cohesion funding from the EU.
 Cohesion funds are aimed at member states whose per capita gross national income is below 90 percent of the EU average.
 Rinne and Merkel were also expected to discuss Brexit, Russia and Ukraine, as well as transatlantic relations.
 The topic of migration policy was also on the leaders' meeting agenda.
 At the moment, Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as North Macedonia and Albania have filed applications for EU membership.
 Rinne has said that those countries' success in becoming members depends on how well the rule of law is followed.

German Chancellor Merkel seen shaking during visit with Finnish PM


Summary: "It doesn't seem particularly realistic, if I'm being honest," Estonia's public administration minister said.

Estonian Minister of Public Administration  Jaak Aab  said there are several lingering doubts surrounding plans by Finnish businessman  Peter Vesterbacka  to construct an  undersea railway tunnel  linking Helsinki to Tallinn, Estonia's capital.
 Vesterbacka said on Tuesday that his firm, Finest Bay Area Development, was preparing to sign  a letter of intent  with China Railway Group Limited (CREC) to carry out the project. CREC is among the biggest railroad construction firms in the world and has drilled more than 18,000 km of railway tunnels in China.
 Vesterbacka's firm has already secured a funding pledge of 15 billion euros from a China-based investment company towards the effort, and Vesterbacka reiterated that he still thinks the project would be completed by the end of 2024.
 But according to Estonia's national broadcaster ERR, Minister Aab remains doubtful about the plans.
 "It is likely that the planning and construction stages will be longer than Peter Vesterbacka has claimed," Aab said according to ERR.
 National designated spatial plan
 Aab noted that in order for the project to go ahead, Estonia needs to carry out a national designated spatial plan, an effort he will lead.
 Designated spatial plans are required in Estonia to ensure land use development is environmentally sound and culturally and socially sustainable.
 Aab said that most of the relevant ministries have seen documents which Finest Bay Area Development has delivered so far. He added, however, that some ministries think there were some shortcomings in the information they received.
 "One of the primary things is profitability," Aab was quoted saying.
 "In launching a big project like this, with such environmental impacts, risks must be assessed including what would happen if the project is left unfinished or if it is insufficiently financed. Also, how extensive environmental impacts will be. While the tunnel will go through granite in Finland, in Estonia things won't be so simple, which means that environmental impacts will be greater."
 "It doesn't seem particularly realistic, if I'm being honest, because the national designated spatial plan process alone is very lengthy," Aab said, according to ERR.
 More research needed in Finland, too
 There are also obstacles to overcome in Finland, according to  Mikael Rinne , an associate professor in Rock Mechanics at Aalto University.
 "The technology is familiar and the [type of bedrock under the sea] is well known at this stage. However, much more research is needed so that the project proceeds smoothly as it is carried out," Rinne said
 Additionally, the equipment needed to drill large tunnels through bedrock doesn't exist in Finland at this stage, saying it would need to be imported from abroad.
 However, like Minister Aab, Rinne called Vesterbacka's plans ambitious.
 "But there are so many unknown factors in the project, starting with funding. It's no small task to get the needed equipment, either. One would need at least a dozen large tunnel drilling machines there," Rinne noted.
 Cities want tunnel in centre
 There has been some controversy in both countries over where the train tunnels would emerge.
 Tallinn's city planning manager  Ignar Fjuk  said the tunnel needs to arrive to the centre of the city, but so far, Vesterbacka has said he wants the tunnel to end at the Ülemiste train station, which is about five kilometres east of the centre, near Tallinn Airport.
 "The position of the city is that the Helsinki-Tallinn rail link must reach the heart of Tallinn. At least for the time being, Vesterbacka has only talked about Ülemiste," Fjuk said.
 Helsinki officials have aimed for the railway to begin at the city's Central Railway Station, while Vesterbacka has plans for it to start at Keilaniemi in the neighbouring city of Espoo - site of the headquarters of his former employer, gaming firm Rovio.
 There are similar - but far less advanced - plans by the Finnish state to construct an undersea tunnel to Estonia.
 Markku Markkula , board chair of the land use planning authority Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council, said the slow progress of the public tunnel was a question of funding.
 "It's not done with public money from Finland, Estonia or the EU. Significant private funding is needed," he said, noting that private entities are more willing to take risks than political ones.

Estonian minister doubtful Helsinki-Tallinn tunnel ready by 2024


Summary: Thursday's papers found that people are changing their habits for the climate, others are concerned about pension plans and European ministers chat in Helsinki.

Residents in Finland are increasingly making their buying decisions based on climate concerns, according to a new survey commissioned by the Finnish Innovation Fund (Sitra).
 The survey was conducted by Kantar TNS as a follow-up to Sitra's previous climate questionnaire from 2017. In a small uptick, a majority of the study's more than 2,000 respondents said they believed that more sustainable living, like regularly eating vegetarian or vegan fare, could help to curb the effects of climate change,  wrote Helsingin Sanomat .
 More than half also said they were extremely worried about the rapidly changing climate.
 The survey is part of Sitra's  Sustainable Everyday Life programme , which monitors the impact of individual consumption on the state of the global climate. Project leader  Markus Terho  said that sustainable lifestyles are catching on.
 "Two and a half years ago lots of people were complaining about not being allowed to do anything fun anymore; that thinking has already changed," Terho said in HS.
 The Sitra survey found that public opinion on sustainable everyday actions of all kinds has risen since the last round of responses. Organic foods, greener electricity and ecologically conscientious holiday planning have all become more common over the past two years, the survey found.
 Pension raise good start but "not enough"
 Fresh Minister of Social Affairs and Health  Aino-Kaisa Pekonen 's announcement that the national pension will be increased by 31 euros mohtly has met with criticism from the Finnish Pensioners' Federation, according to  business newspaper Taloussanomat .
 Federation director  Anssi Kemppi  said that the raise is a good thing, but little more than a bandage on the previous government's cutting and freezing of the pension index.
 "If the index had stayed the same, a full pension would now be some tens of euros higher than now, is really due to the previous cuts," Kemppi said. "The hole left a few years ago has only just been fixed. It isn't enough."
 The  Finnish Pensioners' Federation  has called for the index to be unfrozen and all cuts to be rescinded, according to the paper.
 The government programme devised by Prime Minister  Antti Rinne's  five-party coalition had allocated 183 million euros per year for the purpose of raising minimum pension levels. The increase will bring the monthly pension payment up to about 1,000 euros per month.
 According to the government's calculations, approximately 609,000 minimum-level pensioners will receive the increases to their pension.
 Circular economy on table at unofficial climate talks
 Returning to climate issues, Finland will host a gathering of European environment ministers in Helsinki on Thursday and Friday in order to gauge the level of commitment to lowering emissions among member states.
 Minister of the Environment and Climate Change,  Krista Mikkonen , was quoted by  Aamulehti  saying she wants the EU to act fast.
 "I expect us all to be on the same page about the direction we are taking. We must discuss the EU's message at the  UN Climate Change Summit  in September, and make the EU a climate trendsetter [for the world]."
 Mikkonen said the ministers would not be focusing on taxation for air travel or plastic goods, but on understanding and developing the circular economy model, which emphasises minimizing waste and making the most of resources.
 Borrowing, sharing and renting need to replace ownership as the basis for consumerism, Mikkonen said.
 The minister's consultant  Taina Nikula  told AL that a circular economy is full of potential.
 "Only nine percent of production materials are recycled. Tens of billions of tonnes of materials are being wasted. We could cut industry emissions by 50 percent by the year 2050 using the circular economy."
 Nikula also said new business models would have to be employed to account for a possible rise in the prices of goods and services.
 Finland's main goal during its EU presidency, which began in early July, is for the Union to commit to climate neutrality by the year 2050.

Thursday's papers: Greener consumers, pension hike critique, EU environment ministers meet


Summary: Finland had the highest rate among 20 European countries of mobile phone use by drivers, according to a survey.

Every second Finnish respondent admitted to using their phone while driving without utilizing hands-free equipment in a 2018 poll. This result put Finland at the top of the 20 European countries participating in the survey in this area.
 The so-called ESRA2 poll was the second round of an  E-Survey of Road Users’ Attitudes  (ESRA) that asked respondents to report their behaviour, attitudes and opinions about unsafe traffic practices and enforcement experiences.
 "The Finns are recognised as being a nation of mobile phone users, but using them on the road is risky. A mobile phone is distracting, no matter whether you are a driver, cyclist or pedestrian," says  Juha Valtonen , a research director at the Finnish Road Safety Council.
 To assess self-declared behaviours in traffic, car drivers were asked the question: "Over the last 30 days, how often did you as a car driver use a hand-held mobile phone while driving?" Just about half, 49.5 percent, answered "at least once" or more.
 In response to the same question for hands-free phone use, 41 percent of Finnish respondents said they had done so, placing the Finns below the European average of 47 percent in this area. The number one place among hand-held mobile use and low ranking for hands-free use suggests that Finns are not using hands-free devices as much as their peers.
 Almost 36 percent of Finns self-reported that they had texted while driving, putting the country in third place after Portugal and Serbia in the ranking.
 80% in Finland against driver phone use
 According to the Finnish Road Safety Council, four out of five Finns consider text messaging and social media related messaging while driving to be a serious or very serious offence.
 The percentage of survey respondents overall who declared that talking on a hand-held mobile phone is often or frequently the cause of a road crash is higher than the self-declared behaviour, suggesting that many drivers consider the behaviour risky, but do it anyway. On average, 76 percent of Europeans condemned the practice, compared to 71 percent in North America, 62 percent in Africa and 53 percent in Asia and Oceania.
 The survey also found no significant association between the number of tickets and the percentage of car drivers who reported talking on a hand-held mobile phone.
 "Finland and Greece are exceptions […] both have high rate of self-declared behaviour and low number of tickets," the survey report reads.
 Higher rates elsewhere
 This second phase of the ESRA2 survey targeted more than 1,000 individuals in 32 countries, 20 of which were in Europe.
 In addition to mobile phone distraction, the survey addressed different road safety topics such as driving under the influence of alcohol, drugs and medicines, and speeding. It targeted the drivers of motor vehicles, including motorcycles and mopeds, as well as cyclists and pedestrians.
 Key results of the survey found that self-declared mobile phone use while driving a car was most frequent in the five African countries that participated in the survey.
 Results from Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Morocco and South Africa suggest that an average of more than 66 percent of car drivers in those countries admitted to having talked on a hands-free mobile phone while driving a car, while 54 percent said they spoke on a hand-held mobile phone, and nearly 27 percent said they'd read a text message, or checked their email or social media feeds while behind the wheel.
 Walkers and bikers stare at screens too
 Similar figures among the twenty countries in Europe that participated in the survey show that an average of nearly 48 percent used hands-free devices, 28 percent talked on a hand-held mobile phone, and 24 percent read a text or email or checked social media while driving.
 The ESRA2 survey found that percentages were similar in North America and Asia/Oceania, with the US and Canada matching Korea, India, Israel, Japan with averages of nearly 50 percent using hands-free devices - with 38 percent talking on hand-held phones, and 36 percent texting.
 Two-thirds of pedestrians in Finland reported using their phone while on the move; while one-quarter of cyclists said they did the same.

Half of Finland's motorists use smartphones while driving


Summary: EU criminal justice agency Eurojust said the criminal operation involved human trafficking.

Three Finnish citizens are suspected of operating a sex services website and laundering millions of euros, according to Finland's National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
 The Finnish men, the main suspects in a major, years-long international probe, are being detained by authorities in Spain for questioning, the NBI said.
 The men are suspected of having laundered up to 40 million euros gained from criminal activities since 2010. They are also the focus of an NBI preliminary investigation into aggravated pimping crimes thought to have been carried out in Finland.
 Meanwhile, Spanish authorities are investigating the trio for money laundering and participation in organised crime activities including human trafficking.
 NBI Detective Superintendent  Mika Ihaksinen  told Yle that the Finnish suspects were apprehended separately in Romania, Malta and Spain. All of the suspects had permanent addresses in Spain but were abroad when they were detained.
 "The suspects are now in the Spanish criminal justice system, and their case will be completed at some point. At the same time the NBI is looking into suspicions of serious aggravated pimping crimes in Finland," Ihaksinen said.
 "If they are convicted in Spain they will be sentenced there. After that, it will be possible to see what happens with a criminal case in Finland," he explained.
 One of the suspects has a criminal conviction record for similar crimes that he is currently suspected of, according to Ihaksinen. However, the detective would not reveal the ages, professions or where in Finland they had previously lived.
 The NBI began looking into the suspected crime group in 2012, while the international investigation started in 2016. The joint investigative team of Finnish, Swedish and Spanish authorities was established the following year.
 "The effectiveness of cooperation between international authorities has ensured the success of the operation. The investigation has been going on for a long time and continues with, among other things, interrogating suspects," Ihaksinen stated in a release.
 Eurojust: Scheme involved human trafficking
 The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, better known as Europol, reported that the main Finnish suspect was based in Marbella, Spain where he is suspected of having managed a sex services website.
 EU criminal justice agency Eurojust announced Wednesday that the operation included human trafficking in a scheme bringing women, mostly from Nigeria, to Finland and Sweden to work as prostitutes. Prostitution is not illegal in Finland, but pimping is a crime.
 Finland's biggest daily Helsingin Sanomat reported on Wednesday that the website in question was the now-defunct  sihteeriopisto.net , which connected buyers and sellers of sex services for nearly two decades until Spanish authorities intervened and took it offline last spring.
 The site was Finland's best-known sex services website, but detective Ihaksinen did not confirm to Yle whether that specific site was the focus of the NBI probe.
 However, a visit to that website address reveals it was shut down on 26 March by Spanish authorities, Eurojust and Europol.
 Eurojust  announced  on Wednesday that it had assisted officials in 15 countries in taking down an organised crime gang suspected of pimping and money laundering.
 The agency said a joint investigative team involving authorities from Spain, Finland and Sweden was set up to probe the suspected crime gang. Eurojust reported that nearly half a million euros in cash, illegal assets, luxury goods, forged documents and cryptocurrencies were seized during arrests of suspects in Malta, Romania and Finland.
 Raids find cash, luxury goods
 In a separate press release issued on Wednesday, Europol reported that it had  arrested six individuals , shut down 16 websites and worked with authorities "to bring down the trafficking ring."
 "On the joint action day [26 March], law enforcement authorities in Finland, Hong Kong, Malta, Romania and Spain operated simultaneously."
 "Seventeen house and bank searches were carried out and six suspects were arrested. The seizures included luxury cars, jewellery, approximately €30,000 in cash, digital evidence and documentation related to the money laundering investigation, and real estate in Finland. Company shares and bank accounts with €1.5 million were frozen," Europol's release stated.

3 Finns suspected of pimping, money laundering held in Spain


Summary: The builders claimed they had recently been educated at a Soviet-era training centre which actually closed 26 years ago.

The Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) announced on Thursday that a total of 139 construction workers from Uzbekistan have received deportation orders since the beginning of the year, over the workers' poorly-forged education credentials.
 Scant information is available on the institute where hundreds of Uzbeks claimed they had studied, a Soviet-era training centre known as TMGS. But Migri had serious doubts over whether the educational institute had been functional when the workers claimed, as the Uzbekistan embassy in Riga, Latvia confirmed that the school has been closed since 1993.
 In the last few years Uzbek workers presented documents claiming they had graduated from the school between 1997 and 2016.
 Due to revelations about the fake training records, about 240 Uzbeks were also denied work-based residence permits so far this year. Migri said almost 400 forgeries have been identified in total.
 Story continues after photo.
 Finland's construction sector boom has encouraged people to immigrate from Uzbekistan. Karoliina Simoinen / Yle
 The Confederation of Finnish Construction Industries (RT) said the Uzbek deportations could practically paralyse the domestic construction sector, as hundreds of workers from the former Soviet nation are employed in jobs such as industrial painting and screeding (creating level surfaces for floors and roads).
 "These jobs are almost totally done by Uzbeks in Finland," said CEO  Malik Bentaieb  from the construction firm LTU Group, which mostly employs Uzbeks. "The whole industry will be threatened if Migri continues to deport these people."
 This year's deportation spike affects a large proportion of the roughly 800 Uzbeks resident in Finland. In 2018 Finland deported just 10 Uzbeks, and none the year before that.
 Migri said the total number of deportations of Uzbek nationals this year will likely outnumber forced returns of individuals to countries such as Russia and Iraq.
 Shoddy fakes from mystery Soviet school
 TGMS is said to have been a school production facility and commune in Uzbekistan. It reportedly included a system of dams, canals and reservoirs with a hydropower factory. Residents at the facility had access to a kindergarten, a school, a clubhouse and a shop.
 Story continues after photo.
 A partly redacted forgery seized by the Border Guard. Rajavartiolaitos
 When Migri finds that non-EU residence permit applicants have lied on their applications, the agency's policy is to summarily deport and ban them from the Schengen region for two years.
 Finland's Border Guard opened an investigation into the forgeries after being alerted to them by an informant in October of last year. The investigation was abandoned once it became clear that the documents were forged abroad – and that they were clearly the work of amateurs.
 "The quality was not good," said lead investigator  Juho Vanhatalo . "The papers had been tampered with, but unprofessionally."
 The certificates were created with regular inkjet printers, and some even featured identical certification codes. The supposedly official seal on documents were also a print-out, Vanhatalo said.
 Before closing its probe, the Border Guard collected fines from 10 individuals caught with false documents. The creator - or creators - of the forgeries were not discovered during the investigation.
 "These documents are of secondary value. If these were high-quality passports or if the papers had been used to commit other crimes, the situation would be different," Vanhatalo said.
 Russian regulations at fault, claims entrepreneur
 Hudashukur Iskandarov  immigrated to Finland from Uzbekistan in 2005 and runs a painting and screeding company that employs 13 Uzbek workers.
 Iskandarov said workers coming to Finland by way of Russia have a hard time proving their competence due to a maze of strict Russian regulations and restrictions on granting immigration permits to people with various occupations.
 "Someone might [actually] work for a construction firm, but formally be a cleaner or something else, because builders are no longer granted permits," Iskandarov said. "Many are unable to even officially prove they have work experience."
 Story continues after photo.
 Southern Finland's construction sector could be hit hard by Uzbek deportations, according to Hudashukur Iskandarov. Karoliina Simoinen / Yle
 Iskanderov said some construction sector employers tend to turn a blind eye to fishy certificates, because workers demonstrate their abilities on the job and good employees are highly valued.
 While Migri refrained from speculating on the total number of expected deportations, Iskandarov said he believes that Uzbek workers who have arrived in Finland since 2015 are at particular risk.
 "It is a very sad thing for those with families. Many have been positively surprised by the work environment in Finland, so getting deported is tough. Some complain about the decision and hope for some sort of miracle."

Finland deports 140 Uzbek construction workers over forged training documents


Summary: The shortfall is so severe the pharmacy association is encouraging people to get pharmacy degrees and switch careers.

More than half of Finland's pharmacies are understaffed and have difficulty recruiting new pharmacists, according to the Association of Finnish Pharmacies.
 The problem is most severe during the summer, when pharmacists sometimes need to skip vacations due to the lack of personnel.
 Pharmacies have a steady flow of customers, and a reciprocal need for workers, year-round. However, in places such as the southern coastal city of Kotka, pharmacies have had to reduce their opening hours by 2-3 hours per day during the summer months.
 The Association of Finnish Pharmacies said the worst situation for pharmacy workers is currently in the Päijät-Häme region in southern Finland, where 94 percent of pharmacies reported having recruitment problems within the last year.
 Northern Savo had the least problems with staffing due to pharmacists being trained in nearby Kuopio and graduates staying in their home region to work.
 'Conversion training'
 It is not only summertime temporary workers who are hard to come by, according to Kotka pharmacist  Minna Collin . Permanent or tenured positions are becoming more difficult to fill as well.
 Collin said she has seen an attitude change among young pharmacists.
 "Many want to travel and work on and off, and that is a challenge in a service industry job like this, with long opening hours."
 Collin added that staffing agencies can sometimes help during busy periods, but the pharmacy association's chief  Charlotta Sandler  believes what would really help is education.
 "We can increase the number of people graduating from pharmacy school by offering additional training," Sandler said.
 The programme is known as "conversion training" ( muuntokoulutus ) and is open to individuals with previous completed professional training of any kind. The Association of Finnish Pharmacies has utilised the training scheme before in an attempt to drum up regional employment.
 Pharmacists are trained in three institutions in Finland: the University of Helsinki, the University of Eastern Finland and the Åbo Akademi University in Turku. Pharmacist training programmes take three years to complete.
 The Association of Finnish Pharmacies sent out a survey to all of its member pharmacies in early July. Nearly 80 percent of the 468 member pharmaicies that received the poll took part in the survey, according to the association.

Major staff shortages at over half of Finland's pharmacies


Summary: Officials suspect the haul was part of a broader operation to smuggle the opioid Subutex into Finland.

Finnish customs officers seized 4,000 tablets of the opioid Subutex which smugglers had hidden inside packets of cereal and porridge. Subutex is prescription medication which contains buprenorphine, a widely-abused opioid often used as a heroin substitute.
 According to customs officials, the seized tablets had an approximate street value of 160,000 euros.
 Officials further suspect that the shipment was part of a wider smuggling operation in which 6,000 tablets were imported into Finland from France and Hungary. The total street value of the entire shipment is estimated to be around 240,000 euros.
 An investigation has been launched, and two foreign-background suspects - a Romanian citizen and a Hungarian citizen - have been taken into custody.

Finnish Customs seize drugs hidden in cereal packets


Summary: Finland's national air carrier cites an economic slowdown as well as rising fuel costs for a challenging start to 2019.

Finnair's operating profit declined to 47.2 million euros in the second quarter of 2019, a drop of nearly 20 percent compared with the 59.1 million euros profit that was reported for April to June last year. The result is the latest setback in a difficult year for Finland's national air carrier, which  reported a loss of 16.2 million euros for the first quarter of 2019 .
 However, Finnair also reported that sales increased by 10.4 percent to 739 million euros, led by a strengthening of the company's market share in both Asia and Europe.
 The number of passengers choosing the airline during this period also increased by 13.1 percent to 3.9 million, which the company says is a record high.
 Freight and travel services suffered
 "Overall, our passenger traffic developed well, and European traffic also grew as we expected. However, freight and travel services suffered as a result of a more difficult market environment," Finnair CEO  Topi Manner  told Yle.
 According to the company, the second quarter result was affected by a gradual slowdown in economic development in Finnair's main operating market. The increase of the cost of fuel compared to the same quarter last year was also a factor, the airline reported.
 Despite these recent setbacks, which also included an  AirHelp Finland report critical of Finnair's punctuality and reimbursement policy , Manner insisted that the company will continue to grow in the future. In Asian traffic, this means opening new connections in the second half of the year. In Europe, growth is reflected in Finnair's "route-specific optimization".

Finnair reports weakening profits in second quarter of 2019


Summary: The new devices can detect speeders from 150 meters away and are set to be activated along many roads this summer.

Police in southwestern Finland began testing the first of a new batch of high resolution speed cameras on Thursday. The new cameras will monitor motorists' speed at the intersection of highways 6 and 359 in the municipality of Kouvola.
 "First of all, the purpose is to monitor the reliability of this camera here. We want to test that everything works properly before we introduce the rest of the new speed cameras," explained police inspector  Heikki Ihalainen .
 The distinctive blue, black and white slim-build speed cameras were designed and manufactured by the Swedish traffic management company Sensys Gatso Group and offer a range of features not found in older speed trap cameras currently in use, such as advanced tracking radar tech.
 Story continues after graphic.
 New speed cameras will be introduced at these locations in the coming weeks. Hilppa Hyrkäs / Yle, Google
 "The new radar technology brings tangible benefits, as the camera's technology no longer needs to be relied on as much. Furthermore, the picture quality is much more accurate," said inspector Ihalainen.
 The upgraded radar can track the time, speed, distance, direction of travel and driving lane of the vehicle that the device is scanning. When it detects a vehcile is travelling above the speed limit, the camera snaps a photo of the culprit and sends it wirelessly to the Police Traffic Safety Centre.
 The radar can measure speeds from a distance of up to 150 metres while the camera's range is approximately 30 metres, and the new technology is already has already been tested in Sweden.
 "The feedback from the Swedish police on the cameras has been good. The most important message has been that the cameras are durable and reliable," Ihalainen said.
 Not all boxes have a camera installed
 There are nearly 1,000 of the older generation speed camera boxes in Finland, but not all of them are always fitted with cameras. Instead, police frequently switch cameras between the boxes. According to Ihalainen, the police currently have no intention of replacing any of the old boxes with the new cameras.
 A total of 42 new speed control boxes have recently been installed on Finnish roads. Of these, 23 are located between the cities of Jyväskylä and Heinola on the highway 4 route in Central Finland, and 16 have been installed on highway 6 between Kouvola and Loviisa along the southern coast.
 In addition, one new camera pole has been installed next to the old police station in the centre of Oulu, and two more in the centre of Helsinki on Mechelininkatu.
 Police plan to install the new type of cameras over the coming weeks, but will reveal their exact locations at a later date.
 Story continues after photo
 The police do not intend to install cameras in all the control posts.  Antro Valo / Yle
 For now, the police will monitor the functionality of the camera being introduced in Kouvola, and the intention is to install the rest of the new boxes by the end of July or the beginning of August at the latest.
 "Installation work can begin elsewhere if the first speed camera works smoothly," Ihalainen explained, also adding that the police do not intend to put a camera in all the new control posts.
 Cameras can also track phone usage
 The new Road Traffic Act, which will come into force in June 2020, also allows the police to monitor driver behaviour - not just vehicle speeds.
 Going forward, police will soon also be able to use images of drivers not wearing seat belts or holding a mobile phone.
 A recent  ESRA2 report found half of Finns admitted to talking on their phones whilst driving , and more than a third had sent text or social media messages while behind the wheel.
 "You can also get a fine for using your phone while driving or without a seat belt," Ihalainen warned.

High resolution speed cameras roll out in Finland


Summary: The temporary exclusion zone is in place until Friday evening as part of the security arrangements for an EU meeting.

Police in Helsinki fined two people for breaching the no-fly zone around Finlandia Hall on Wednesday, the department announced via their official Twitter account.
 Two illegal drone flights were detected in the temporary no-fly zone over the congress and event venue in the capital's downtown area, and fines were subsequently issued to the drone operators.
 The exclusion zone has been established due to security arrangements for the meeting of EU delegates, and is in place around Finlandia Hall until 9pm on Friday 12 July.
 Earlier this week, the police reported that it was actively monitoring the restricted area and any violations of the air space ban would be immediately detected.
 "The penalty is a fine and, in addition, a report of the offence may be forwarded to the state prosecutor," warned Sami Hätönen, Chief Commissioner for Police Operations.

Police fine two for breaching Finlandia Hall no-fly zone


Summary: Finland's press covers voice message quality checks, curfews, illegal graffiti and ticks in the city.

Finland's most widely read daily Helsingin Sanomat features a story on the  surveillance of voice messages and commands .
 The paper interviews four people whose job it is to listen to random samples of voice material from Finland and check to see if the server's algorithms have rendered the words correctly into text. They say their quality assurance work focused on voice messages and commands on Apple products and Google programmes, and they did not know the identity of the people sending the messages.
 The interviewees said that most of the Finnish-language material they check is two or three-word commands like "Call my wife" or "Find this address". Children playing around or long accidental recordings are also common, but the workers say these kinds of messages are ignored, as checking them would not improve the service. One quality checker said that some of the messages they examined from Finland are sexual by nature and "very vulgar".
 HS reports that service providers like Google and Apple user agreements give the tech giants the right to save entered audio material.  Timo Voutilainen , a public law expert specializing in information networks from the University of Eastern Finland, tells the paper that such agreements cover situations in which users knowingly use their devices to retrieve information, but "when the Siri application for example accidentally starts recording something and the phone's owner doesn't even notice, it is borderline spying if the information is used to benefit the company."
 Community rules in the southwest
 The tabloid Iltalehti carries a report from the west coast municipality of  Eurajoki, where the population has set a blanket curfew for its underage residents . After property damage and loud moped use got out of hand about three years ago, the city announced that under-18s would have to be home by 9pm on weekdays and 11pm on weekends in the future.
 The curfew had the desired effect, according to Eurajoki's education director  Vesa-Pekka Leino . "It showed the young people that we were taking this seriously. Things clearly calmed down," he says.
 On Tuesday in the newspaper Maaseudun Tulevaisuus, Science and Culture Minister  Annika Saarikko  proposed that all of Finland's municipalities consider similar curfews for their underage residents, in line with what has been dubbed the " Icelandic Model " that has successfully cut back on alcohol and tobacco use among minors with combined community efforts.
 Other Finnish municipalities that have introduced curfews include Lammi,  Laitila  and Pöytyä, IL writes.
 Spray paint on Stenvall
 And the second major tabloid in Finland, Ilta-Sanomat, reports on vandalism in the Helsinki city centre, as the  statue of Finland's most revered writer,  Aleksis Kivi  (1834–1872), has been painted with graffiti .
 The bronze statue of the author of "Seven Brothers" is situated in the square adjacent the Helsinki Railway Station, in front of the National Theatre. The base of the memorial was defaced with white spray paint sometime after Monday, IS reports.
 So far this century, several statues have also been vandalised, including the equestrian memorial to Marshal  Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim , the sixth president of Finland, in front of the Kiasma Museum, and the statue of Finland's third president,  Pehr Evind Svinhufvud  in front of the Parliament House. A statue to honour former professional footballer  Jari Litmanen  in Lahti has also been  defaced .
 Ticks go urban
 And IS also has a story on the spread of dreaded encephalitis and borreliosis-bearing ticks in Finland, saying that  even the country's major cities aren't safe  from the dangerous pests.
 A study from University of Turku tick researcher  Jani Sormunen  found that ticks were easily found in almost all urban cityscapes, meaning that they are not the scourge of just rural and forest settings.
 "Our research group visited Helsinki's parks and forests this summer. We discovered a tick population in almost every place we examined. Only very well managed parks that kept the grass very short seemed to be spared," he told IS.
 Sormunen doesn't want to cause a panic, but he says that people who have visited outdoor areas with brush, longer grass and piles of leaves should check themselves thoroughly for ticks once they return home.
 Ticks spread two diseases that are dangerous to humans;  tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) and borreliosis . The National Institute of Health and Welfare has recorded 642 cases of borreliosis and nine cases of TBE so far this year, the tabloid reports.

Friday's papers: Tech companies listening in, underage curfews, statue graffiti and urban ticks


Summary: NGOs saw electronic monitoring as a means to curb violence against women in Finland, but now government is considering ankle bracelets for rejected asylum seekers.

A.H . (name withheld to protect identity) is a 27-year-old Iraqi who came to Finland in 2015 after his father and siblings were killed in violence in his home territory. He was granted a residence permit in 2017. If his application for asylum had been rejected, he would have been one of many potentially affected by a contentious proposal to track failed asylum seekers by fitting them with ankle monitors as an alternative to detention.
 "It seems foolish and incredible because you should never treat an asylum seeker as a criminal or a terrorist! They are human and have the right to live in peace without an ankle monitor," A.H. commented, adding that he felt very strongly about the proposal.
 The apparent crackdown coincides with heavy media coverage of child sexual abuse offences committed by quota refugees, asylum seekers and others who had already received Finnish citizenship. The previous government also sought to prod unsuccessful asylum seekers who became undocumented migrants to leave the country, in part by making life uncomfortable by denying them municipal and health services.
 Critics of the previous administration’s policies have pointed out that other legal reforms introduced in 2016 to rule out granting asylum on humanitarian grounds have in turn increased the number of undocumented migrants in Finland. In 2018, Turku University researchers estimated that the number of undocumented migrants -- including the so-called "newly paperless" or rejected asylum seekers -- was between 3,000 and 4,000.
 Coalition clash over government agenda
 Asylum seekers are not the only ones rattled by the proposal for electronic monitoring. Government partners also seem to be split by the planned policy. Interior Minister  Maria Ohisalo  has previously said that the new administration led by centre-left PM  Antti Rinne  has not made any decisions about the use of ankle monitors for rejected asylum seekers.
 But Ohisalo’s Centre Party government partner  Antti Kurvinen  recently parted ways with her on the issue of Finland’s refugee policy. In a Facebook post  (in Finnish) put up after Ohisalo’s comments, he specifically stressed that the use of ankle monitors on failed asylum seekers is a part of the current government programme and that Ohisalo would have to implement it.
 However minister Ohisalo told Yle News via email that the government programme makes no specific mention of the use of ankle monitors, although it does mention "technical monitoring of persons whose [asylum] applications have been refused".
 "As I have previously stated, technical monitoring can take a variety of forms and the Ministry of the Interior will examine these different options. Also, it is important to emphasise at this point that nothing related to technical monitoring will be implemented before we have looked carefully into the matter," Ohisalo stated.
 Asked about the possible human rights implications of fitting rejected asylum seekers with monitoring devices, the minister said that the government "is strongly committed to human rights and [a] fair process for asylum seekers".
 "[The] human rights perspective will be carefully considered aspart of the preparation.As stated, we will investigate the possibility to use technical monitoring in some cases provided that it constitutes a less restrictive precautionary and more appropriate measure, from the societal point of view," she added.
 According to Finland’s Criminal Sanctions Agency, R_I_SE, the so-called "monitoring sanction" was introduced in November 2011 and has since been applied to offenders who are allowed to live at home but who are monitored by electronic equipment and other means.
 On the spectrum of criminal sanctions, the agency ranks electronic monitoring somewhere between community service and a suspended or non-custodial prison sentence and says it can be applied for a maximum of six months. Conscientious objectors opposing military conscription are among the individuals required to wear an ankle monitor as a form of legal sanction.
 Ankle monitors mulled to enforce restraining orders
 Since Finland introduced electronic tags eight years ago, they have been applied to repeat offenders in drunk driving cases, for example. Conscientious objectors who refuse to perform military or civilian service based on their convictions have also been slapped with the sanction.
 Under the previous administration, the Justice Ministry had been considering a number of proposals including electronic monitoring and ankle monitors to help protect victims of domestic violence. In particular, authorities were concerned about the safety of domestic violence victims in cases where their attackers repeatedly violate restraining orders.
 With many women likely to die every year at the hands of current or former partners, women’s rights groups say that ankle monitors could help prevent loss of life.
 "Ankle monitoring could be a useful tool for serious cases of domestic violence and to prevent the most severe incidents. It is a modern means to avoid violation of restraining orders. It’s also an issue of women’s safety and we know that violence against women is a very serious problem in Finland. For example we know that up to 20 women are killed by close relations every year," National Council of Women of Finland Secretary General  Terhi Heinilä  told Yle News.
 According to the council, restraining orders that the courts hand down are inadequate when it comes to protecting victims of domestic violence.
 "In 2016, there was a total of 1,070 reports about restraining order violations to police. About 200 people who breach restraining orders are also suspected of stalking," Heinilä said.
 "The National Council of Women of Finland promotes electronic monitoring applying both to those who violate (would affect about 170 individuals each year) and repeatedly violate (would affect about 70 individuals each year) restraining orders," she added.
 Minna Piispa , a senior advisor with the Justice Ministry, was closely involved in developing and putting out a memo on the use of electronic monitoring and other measures to enhance the effectiveness of restraining orders.
 "The ministry created a memo that also included a proposal for electronic monitoring of repeat offenders of restraining order violations. There were also other initiatives proposed to ensure the safety of victims and to help offenders."
 Piispa said that the ministry has made no decisions about moving forward with the legal process and that so far there have been no instructions on the issue from the current minister,  Anna-Maja Henriksson . She noted that the new government programme also includes a proposal to reform the legislation governing restraining orders.
 "There is more pressure to improve the effectiveness of restraining orders. Last October the rapporteur on the implementation of Article 10 of the Istanbul Convention on the Prevention of Violence against Women and Domestic Violence was not very happy with the current restraining order system."
 Refugee NGOs: "A complicated question"
 NGOs working with asylum seekers have drawn attention to the complex nature of the discussion swirling around the use of technology such as ankle monitors on persons whose asylum applications have been rejected.
 "This is a very complicated question and there are many different angles. We are talking about using ankle tracers on persons whose asylum applications have been rejected -- and of course principally they are not criminals -- in the same way they would be used on convicted criminals," Finnish Refugee Agency executive director  Annu Lehtinen  told Yle News.
 Another organisation working with refugees, the Finnish Refugee Advice Centre, welcomed efforts to find alternatives to detention in a facility.
 "Trying to find alternatives to detention is a welcome approach, since detention is not a good solution,"  Pia Lindfors  of the Finnish Refugee Advice Centre said in an interview with Yle News.
 "The current government’s four-year programme makes no mention of ankle monitoring but it talks about technological surveillance and this includes methods such as voice recognition, GPS tracking and there are totally different approaches," she added.
 However the Finnish chapter of human rights organisation Amnesty International said that measures intended as criminal sanctions -- including electronic monitoring -- should not be a default measure and must be tested against the principles of legality, proportionality and necessity before being applied.
 "Anything that restricts freedom of movement or privacy must be carefully considered in relation to the aims of the authorities and it must be necessary and proportionate to the objective to be achieved. If it isn’t, it is a human rights violation," Amnesty International Finland legal adviser  Kaisa Korhonen  told Yle News.
 "This is why we generally oppose detention for purposes of immigration control. Seeking asylum is not a crime and being rejected is not a crime," Korhonen noted.
 The Rinne administration’s four-year agenda says the government "will ensure a smooth asylum process and implementation of fundamental rights." However it also declared that it will begin the process of amending the Aliens Act to outline provisions for technical monitoring of persons whose asylum applications have been denied. It described the measure as "an alternative to detention and the residence obligation, constituting a less restrictive and more appropriate precautionary measure."
 However "less restrictive and more appropriate" may well be entirely in the eye of the beholder.
 "Everyone has the right to free movement in Finland and everyone has a right to live their own lives," A.H declared.

Domestic abusers and failed asylum seekers: Finland mulls expanded use of ankle tags