Summary: Outgoing Prime Minister Juha Sipilä tried to make sense of his party's poor election showing to the party council.

The party council of the outgoing Prime Minister Juha Sipilä's Centre Party met in southern Finland on Saturday to evaluate its crushing defeat at the polls on 14 April. The once-dominant political party in Finland lost over one-third of its seats in the general election.
 Sipilä concluded that one of the reasons for his party's downfall was increasingly extremist pre-election views.
 "Our middle-of-the-road stance always fell between the cracks. For example, we had a rational green solution for how to solve the greatest problem [climate change] confronting mankind. The Centre Party led a drive to draft a common policy along with eight other parties," he said.
 "But there were people who thought the entire discussion was nonsense. Their votes went to the Finns Party. Others were of the opinion that we should immediately put an end to driving cars, eating meat and warming our saunas. This group's votes went to the Greens," Sipilä continued.
 Even the party's claim-to-fame regional politics, whereby money is invested in Finland's outlying areas in order to ensure work opportunities and services, did not save the Centre Party in the election.
 "We invested nearly one billion euros in the Kainuu region in the last term and were successful in halving the unemployment rate there – with the final result that we lost both of our hard-working Kainuu MPs," Sipilä said, revealing a man who is still coming to terms with his party's fall from grace.
 "Voters wish to see us in opposition"
 Election results indicate that voters want to see the Centre Party in the opposition, Sipilä said to the party elite.
 "The responsibility for forming the government now falls to the winners of the election. Their mandate may be weaker than any time in history, but there is only one largest party in parliament," he continued.
 Sipilä said that government coalition talks should first explore potential coalitions that exclude the Centre Party, adding that the threshold for his party joining the next government is high.
 "The Centre Party will only join a government that is functioning on the basis of a government programme that determinedly continues efforts to raise the employment rate to 75 percent. It will not happen on its own, as many might lead us to believe," he said.

Sipilä: Rising extremism partially to blame for Centre Party defeat


Summary: The average age of the remaining 9,800 or so veterans living in Finland is 94.

Finland celebrated the national holiday of Veterans Day on Saturday, and an official event to commemorate the day was arranged in the central city of Kuopio. Over 100 war veterans and women volunteers who served in Finland's wars were in attendance.
 Gratitude was the underlying sentiment in the event's speeches.
 "Although your numbers are growing fewer, the sacrifices you made will never be forgotten,"  Jukka Juusti , permanent secretary of the defence ministry, told the crowd.
 To mark the occasion, Finnish President  Sauli Niinistö  granted the remaining veterans who had not yet received medals the First Class Medal of the Finnish White Rose, the highest honour in the land. More than 20 war veterans attended the ceremony in Kuopio and received the medals personally.
 Martti Miettinen was one of the war veterans honoured on Saturday. Antti Karhunen / Yle
 Martti Miettinen  from the North Savo municipality of Lapinlahti was emotional about the recognition, saying that it was soldiers older than him that really deserved admiration.
 "Those men that fought in the Winter War, they were more worthy of these medals," he said.
 President Niinistö said in his address that Veterans Day is an important time to remember those that fought in past wars and think of the sacrifices they have made.
 "There are many suitable ways to honour this day. The most important thing is that we do not forget," he said.

Finland honours war veterans


Summary: The likely future prime minister Antti Rinne says he is keeping government formation talks open to all political parties.

Finland's Social Democratic Party  (SDP) won the most seats in the 14 April general election , and the SDP chair  Antti Rinne has since been appointed by the parliamentary groups with the job of gathering together a coalition government .
 He sent out a list of 11 questions to each of Finland's parliamentary political parties on Friday, asking them to return their answers by 30 April.
 The SDP election platform posits that the incoming government should commit itself to keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, in line with recommendations from the  UN climate group IPCC . The Finns Party is the only parliamentary party in Finland that has not committed to achieving this target.
 In an appearance on an Yle's Ykkösaamu programme Saturday, Rinne would not reveal if certain policies would exclude some parties from consideration.
 "I truly hope that each of the parties will now commit to responding in a serious manner that shows their commitment to being a coalition partner – the Finns Party, too. Each of the parties' answers will be considered on an equal basis," the SDP chair said.
 Although he wouldn't say that the climate-scepticism of the Finns Party would disqualify them from the negotiations, he did make his own stand clear in the interview.
 "In my opinion, it is absolutely clear that Finland must adhere to this 1.5 degree Celsius goal."
 Better care for the elderly also tops agenda
 When asked what one of his main objectives for the four years would be, however, Rinne zeroed in on senior care.
 "The number of old people is growing rapidly and as we have seen in the events of last winter, we have major problems with the implementation, quality and accessibility of care for the elderly. The SDP made a clear election promise that will be upheld: If we are a part of the next government, new patient-nurse ratios will be written into law," he said.
 He also supplied some specific numbers for improving care services throughout the country.
 "We will insist that the government programme includes a decision to hire 1,000 more doctors and nurses. We are also of the opinion that basic health care should have a care guarantee for non-urgent cases as well. People should be able to see a doctor within seven days after it has been determined that treatment is necessary," he continued.
 Rinne said he seeks to form a coalition government that collectively holds a majority in the Finnish Parliament, in other words, at least 101 seats out of the 200 total.

Rinne: Coalition partners must commit to 1.5C warming limit


Summary: The organised crime group reportedly runs a drug smuggling operation in Finland's prisons, pressuring inmates to participate.

United Brotherhood, an organised crime group, is masterminding an extensive drug trafficking operation in Finland's prisons, reports the news syndicate Lännen Media.
 The gang has been investigated for  extortion, and drug and gun offences  in the past.
 Authorities interviewed by the syndicate say there are also signs that violence in Finland's prisons in on the rise and has escalated. Some prisoners are pressured into smuggling drugs into the prison after home leaves, while others are forced to pay fees and penalties.
 The investigation found that the gang also took advantage of prison staff to run the operation.
 Detective chief inspector  Christer Ahlgren  from the National Bureau of Investigation said in an interview that the situation is serious, as the United Brotherhood is considered one of the most dangerous organised crime groups in Finland due to the number of violent crimes for which it has been investigated.
 Lännen Media reports that the gang is behind several aggravated cases of assault that have taken place at the Riihimäki prison this year.

United Brotherhood behind drug trafficking in prisons, reports Lännen Media


Summary: Spring blossoms, dusty streets, distant fires and a lack of rain combine to create hazardous respiratory conditions.

People enjoying the warm weather outdoors this weekend may have noticed irritation of their eyes, nose and throat, as the dry spring weather has increased the number of harmful particles in the air.
 Several factors influencing the quality of the outdoor air and impacting people's health can be found throughout Finland at present, says  Pia Anttila , an air quality expert at the Finnish Meteorological Institute. Besides the cleaning of dust and gravel from the streets and pollen counts at their springtime worst, fine particulate matter from controlled burning of forests and fields in other countries in Europe have been transported in the atmosphere as far north as the city of Oulu.
 The concentration of ozone in the lowest layer of the Earth's atmosphere is slightly elevated, worsening air quality throughout Finland – even in the smallest corners of Lapland.
 "This naturally makes things more uncomfortable for people who are more sensitive," Anttila says.
 She says current levels are not dangerous, but may cause symptoms in people who are spending lots of time outdoors.
 Rain would bring relief
 The  Pollen Report  from the University of Turku reports that birch flowering continues in the south and has begun in warm central areas, while alder flowering is coming to an end in the lower half of the country and is now moving north.
 Weather experts predict rain next week, and Anttila says a good dousing will drastically reduce harmful particle counts in the air throughout the country.
 "Skies are becoming more overcast in the south; by Vappu [the May Day holiday], things will start to get better. Particle counts should start to drop in the next few days as well," she says.
 The precipitation will also bring respite from the street dust, Anttila says.
 There have also been several recent reports of sand carried to Finland from the Sahara desert on jet streams, making for some spectacular sunrises and sunsets in many parts of the country.
 Anttila says the sand does not have a harmful effect on air quality, as its particle concentration is very low and it is located at an altitude of about ten kilometers.

Outdoor air quality at seasonal low


Summary: Supervisory authorities are looking into dozens of deaths at both public and private elder care facilities, according to Monday’s newspaper press.

Kuopio’s Savon Sanomat was among the papers Monday that reported that the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health, Valvira, is currently  looking at the deaths of some 60 people  in elder care facilities which may have been caused by malpractice or severe neglect.
 The paper says that all of the deaths in question occurred in 2017-2019. About half of them, this year. The complaints being investigated concern both public and privately-operated facilities.
 According to Valvira Chief Inspector  Elina Uusitalo , recent media reports on the state of elder care have sparked an increased number of complaints from the public.
 Although problems in the sector have received media coverage for years, they have come under increasingly intense scrutiny after  revelations of widespread neglect and lack of staff  at the Esperi Care chain of elder care homes came to light earlier this year.
 Green threshold
 Most papers, including the Tampere-based  Aamulehti , note that on Sunday, the Green League issued a policy statement on the conditions under which it would be willing to join  a new coalition government .
 According to party chair  Pekka Haavisto , the Greens are ready to enter a government if its programme is “sufficiently ambitious” in terms of policy on the climate, environment, education, and battling poverty, as well as on human rights and advancing Finland’s international position. He said that this will require focus especially on education at all levels and reducing poverty.
 He further stated that the Greens will not join a government that takes a negative attitude toward Finland’s membership in the EU and the eurozone, that promotes closing the nation’s borders, distances Finland from international cooperation, does not improve the position of minorities in Finland or takes a negative stand on human rights.
 Haavisto said that his party’s goal is to create a “sustainable development” government which carries responsibility both domestically and internationally.
 Identity crisis in the Centre
 Turku’s  Turun Sanomat  writes that the largest loser in the recent elections, the Centre Party, has been left behind in the development of identity politics, and doesn’t really know what it wants.
 Reporting on a Sunday Centre Party seminar in Riihimäki, Turun Sanomat quotes outgoing PM and Centre chair  Juha Sipilä  as saying that the Centre’s moderate positions on climate change and immigration got  squeezed out by more extreme views  on both ends of the spectrum.
 The paper writes that the average Finns Party or Green voter is better able to see where those parties stand on these issues. For the Centre, being somewhere in the middle is not enough. No one really knows what it means in practice when saying that the Centre could be a bridge builder between extreme positions.
 Silja Silvasti , an expert participant in Sunday’s seminar stated that a Centre Party identity cannot be that someone lives in the countryside, has two diesel cars in the garage and vacations twice a year in Spain.
 “By promising people that they can continue doing what they’ve done up until now, we’d be lying and not moving this country forward,” she told the paper.
 Rising skin cancer rates
 Finland’s largest circulation daily, Helsingin Sanomat reports that there has been  a sharp rise in skin cancer rates  in Finland over the past few years.
 The paper says that skin cancer rates showed a slow steady increase during the start of this decade, then a sharp upward turn beginning in 2015. In 2014, 3,000 cases were reported in the country. In 2015, that figure jumped to 3,824.
 Most skin cancers are diagnosed among middle-aged and older people. These age groups are now starting to include large numbers of people who are part of the first generation to have spent beach holidays abroad.
 Sunburn is a significant risk factor. According to a survey by the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, sunburns are rather common. More than a fifth of the 1000 Finns asked in its study said that they had had a sunburn within the past five years. For most it had happened only once, but some reported multiple sunburns.
 The study also found that the most active travelers to sunny destinations are also the most active in protecting their children against excessive exposure to the sun.
 May Day weather
 It looks unlikely that May Day picnics will get rained out this week, according to the freesheet  Metro .
 According to a report in its Monday edition, holiday weather in most of the country should be partly sunny and mostly dry, but chilly enough that one will need to dress more warmly than last week.
 The exceptions are in the north, in Lapland, the area around Oulu and in Kainuu where there is a chance on showers on 1 May.
 Metro also cautions May Day revelers to be careful with open fires. Dry conditions mean that grass and forest fire warnings are in effect over about half the country, in eastern, western and central regions.

Monday's papers: Suspicious deaths in elder care, Green threshold, skin cancer rates on the rise


Summary: SDP says the party did not know that antisemitic, homophobic and other comments made by MP Hussein al-Taee on social media were authentic.

Following news about alleged antisemitic, homophobic and racist Facebook comments made by Social Democrat  MP Hussein al-Taee , al-Taee admitted in his blog on Monday that they were authentic and he was the author. Previously, he had questioned whether they were written by him.
 Social Democrat Party Secretary  Antton Rönnholm  told daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat that this admission of authenticity was news to him and the party, and on Thursday al-Taee will have the opportunity to explain himself at a parliamentary session.
 ”Previously he (al-Taee) had said that he would go through his previous posts when we asked him to check what he had written," said Rönnholm in an interview with Helsingin Sanomat.
 Al-Taee's made derogatory comments about Jews, Somalis, Sunni Muslims, and homosexuals.
 Press conference apology
 Late Monday afternoon al-Taee held a press conference at the Parliament House in Helsinki and apologised for his his inflammatory comments. He said his apology was particularly directed towards the homosexual, Jewish and Sunni Muslim communities, along with "many others" who were hurt by his Facebook posts.
 He also apologised to his supporters, voters and party as well as his former employer the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI).
 “I also wanted to apologise to the SDP about the fact that I haven’t been completely open with them. I did not tell them or the CMI the whole truth. I wasn’t brave enough,” al-Taee said Monday afternoon.
 The newly-elected MP said he will try to be worthy of the trust of his supporters and friends, adding that he wants to use his position as an MP to work towards preventing polarisation.
 Crisis Management Initiative removes mention of former employee
 On Monday morning political news publication Verkkouutiset reported that conflict resolution organisation the CMI had removed mention of former employee Social Democrat MP  Hussein al-Taee  from its website. Al-Taee had also removed references to CMI from his Twitter profile.
 CMI was founded by Nobel laureate and former Finnish President  Martti Ahtisaari  in 2000 and al-Taee became a newly-elected MP in Finland's recent general election.
 CMI's and Al-Taee's deletions appear to have taken place shortly after a Jerusalem Post article headlined   ”Finnish MP under fire for comparing Israel to Isis”  was published on Sunday.
 In the article,  Dr Efraim Zuroff , the head of the Jerusalem office of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, told the Jerusalem Post that al-Taee is ”obviously an antisemite” referring to several different social media posts by al-Taee.
 Facebook posts cause controversy
 Earlier this month Finnish news agency STT reported that in 2014, al-Taee made controversial statements in Facebook posts about the situation in the Middle East, suggesting that Israel and the US had trained Isis terrorists.
 Responding to STT, al-Taee said, ”I want to apologise for equating Israel and Isis because that comment was simply stupid and does not represent my values in any way."
 Yle reported on al-Taee's comments last week when the  newly-elected SDP MP came under scrutiny over contentious Facebook posts  and his then-employer CMI said it stood behind al-Taee.
 According to Verkkouutiset, a political publication owned by the National Coalition Party, CMI's director  Tuija Talvitie  said that she was contacted by the Jerusalem Post by email after the paper published its article about al-Taee on Sunday. She reportedly said that the CMI condemns any inappropriate or degrading comments about any ethnic, religious, national or other groups.
 Verkkouutiset reported that according to CMI's Twitter feed, the reason that al-Taee's name is no longer on the website is because he started working as an MP last Tuesday and no longer worked for the conflict resolution group.
 Edit: Updated at 5:10 pm to reflect SDP's comments and Hussein al-Taee's admission of the authenticity of his social media posts.
 Edit: Updated at 6:31 pm to add al-Taee's apologetic comments made at a press conference in Helsinki late Monday afternoon.

SDP: Authenticity of MP Hussein al-Taee's social media posts "news" to us


Summary: A fresh think tank report claims that many firms in Finland's platform economy ignore and violate the rights of the people who work for them.

There has been an rapid proliferation of digital platforms that provide work in fields such as food delivery, ride sharing, cleaning services and a range of online "click jobs", for example correcting texts or managing surveys.
 However, ignoring and violating workers’ rights is a core element of the business model of many platform companies, according to  Maija Mattila . A project researcher at the social democratic-affiliated Kalevi Sorsa Foundation, Mattila adds that these companies would not be profitable if they paid the full social benefits employees are entitled to.
 Her claim is contained in a freshly published report based on surveys, interviews and statistics from Europe and the US, as well as her own research into the subject.
 Work, but little security
 According to Mattila, because of the wide range of jobs available in the platform economy, simply operating in the sector is not proof that a company is violating workers' rights.
 Some of these platforms operate in the same way as temp agencies or staffing companies do and fulfill the regular requirements set for employers. In these cases, workers are ensured some security.
 Mattila makes a distinction between platform-mediated jobs, where someone finds work through a platform, and the type of business that exercises control over the worker and the way the job is done, but makes the worker an independent contractor.
 In the latter case, jobs are broken down into individual work assignments and some of the company's own risk is "outsourced" to employees.
 "This is a clear problem in respect to workers' rights," states Mattila.
 Dependent on platforms
 Many platform companies market themselves to potential workers as providing the freedom of flexible working hours and the opportunity to earn extra money.
 However, Mattila points out that the ability to choose working times is limited if someone has to work all the time in order to make enough income to survive.
 She adds that in Europe about one-quarter of people employed by platform companies are dependent on the income they provide. The personal and household incomes of this group are lower than of people who work for these platforms on an occasional basis.
 "Extending job security to platform company workers would enable access to social guarantees such as standard contract wages, paid sick leave, holidays and sufficient social benefits," Mattila suggests.
 Hard on freelancers
 The platform economy may provide freelancers with new opportunities, but Mattila does not see the online job market as a goldmine.
 "The position of freelancers is hard in the platform economy because competition is global."
 In this global market, it is close to impossible for anyone living in Finland to compete with the workforce in low-cost and low-income countries. The best recipe for success is to find a niche that requires for rare special talent.
 In Mattila's view, the single most important means to improve the lot of freelancers would be the opportunity of organising for collective bargaining, without barriers being raised by legislation on competition.
 As a key conclusion of her research, Mattila stresses the challenge of maintaining funding for welfare societies in the age of the platform economy. A basic income, she says, would be an ideal solution on the individual level, but on this could have a negative impact if it reduces the motivation to organise to demand a living wage.
 "I think it is not the job of society to provide companies with profits. A growth in productivity should be seen in employee wages and freelancer fees. In this way, there will be enough revenues to support the welfare state," says Mattila.

Many platform economy companies violate workers' rights


Summary: The 1st of May holiday will be celebrated in what's described as "normal spring weather".

"Normal" in this context means that at least one more layer of clothing than during last week's warm spell will likely feel comfortable.
 While there is no sleet in the forecast for southern parts of the country, last weekend's summery temperatures have been replaced by cooler air for the time being.
 "On May Day temperatures will be just above 10 degrees Celsius, even in the south. It might be considerably chillier in coastal areas if there is a wind from the sea. Further north, it will be cloudier and there will be no avoiding some showers," says  Mikael Frisk  of the Finnish Meteorological Institute.
 Snow flurries in Lapland
 The latest forecast is for increasingly cloudy weather starting Monday evening in eastern and northern Lapland. Western parts of Lapland will see sunshine.
 Tuesday is expected to bring variably cloudy skies throughout the north with the chance of local showers, including some snow flurries in the far north.
 Temperatures in western Finland on Tuesday should range between 12C-15C, elsewhere in the country around 10C, except in central and northern Lapland where the mercury may hover around 2C-5C.
 On May Day, Wednesday, the forecast is for cloudy skies in the north, widespread precipitation and snow in northern Lapland.
 Southern parts of the country will continue to be dry throughout the holiday.
 Dry weather has increased the danger of grass and forest fires, with official warnings in effect across most of the country.

May Day forecast – cool and dry in the south, cold and wet up north


Summary: The crash, which took place late last summer in Kuopio, claimed four lives and severely injured nine others.

The Finnish Safety Investigation Authority’s probe into a deadly bus crash in eastern Finland's Kuopio last summer has resulted in six new safety recommendations.
 Four passengers died and 19 others were injured in a bus crash  in August . Nine of the passengers were seriously injured, while 10 others were hurt less severely.
 The driver reportedly lost control of the bus and ploughed through five cars before plunging off an overpass and landing on a train track below the roadway.
 Now, several months later, the country’s Safety Investigation Authority has published a report on findings it made in a probe of the crash, noting that there were several reasons behind it.
 The agency found that the driver’s health condition and heavy workload were factors in his diminished alertness. It said the driver did not notice the approaching intersection in time and that his attempt to bring the bus to a stop was unsuccessful. The authority also said the driver had little experience with the vehicle.
 Additionally, the roadway where the accident took place was particularly short and there were no traffic signs that alerted drivers to slow down for the oncoming intersection, according to the authority. Additionally, the driver’s view of the approaching intersection was obscured between the motorway and the exit, the report states.
 Bus crashed off overpass
 The four fatalities and injuries of passengers were a result of the bus falling 10 metres from the overpass onto the train tracks below. The safety agency said it found no technical malfunction in the bus which would have caused the crash.
 The authority’s report said that the driver suffered from a chronic illness which was not addressed during his bus licensing review, nor addressed in visits to the health centre.
 The authority said its investigation revealed various safety shortcomings in the bus transport sector and issued six new safety recommendations, including:
 The Ministry of Transport and Communications should establish guidelines that specify the safety measures which will be taken into use across the bus transport sector. Medical studies institutions should provide students with instruction in basic driver health studies, including in specialist and post graduate studies. In particular, the authority said physicians should be familiar with the characteristics of a professional driver’s occupation and the health requirements they need to fulfill in order to drive safely. The transport ministry should increase the recognition to which the condition of hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) can play in regards to road safety, particularly for professional drivers. The transport ministry should review the requirements and practices which monitors and ensures the health status of bus drivers and that the monitoring of the good physical condition of bus drivers should be at the same level as required in other modes of transportation. Consideration must also be given to drivers’ mental health and fatigue levels. The Transport Infrastructure Agency should map out potentially hazardous roads for heavy vehicles and plan corrective measures in cooperation with municipalities and the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment. The Ministry of Transport and Communications should expand its international cooperation in bringing available technologies to the bus transport sector, including things like collision warning and emergency braking systems, vehicle lane monitoring gear and devices that monitor drivers’ alertness levels.
 A police probe into the crash is ongoing, which is being investigated as four counts of aggravated involuntary manslaughter.

Safety authority issues new recommendations after fatal bus crash probe


Summary: A fire chief in the south-west said firefighters were called to several fires a day in recent days, saying that all were caused by people who ignored warnings.

The weather has been very dry in south-west Finland over the past couple of weeks, and the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) has been issuing brush fire warnings across an expanding area of the country.
 The affected region is expected to grow on Tuesday and Wednesday, when brush fire warnings will likely be in effect across all of Finland, with the exception of Lapland, according to  warning maps published by the FMI.
 The anticipated arrival of a precipitation system in the middle of the week may reduce fire risks across much of the country by Friday, however.
 Between three to five brush fires have spread across south-western Finland over the past several days, according to local fire officials.
 Brush fires sparked in south-west
 The largest blaze in south-west Finland broke out on Saturday afternoon in the municipality of Mynämäki. It was sparked by a property owner who started the fire intentionally, carrying out a so-called controlled burn, fire chief  Olli Suominen  said.
 “The owner lost control and a whole hectare burned. We just barely managed to stop the fire from spreading at the edge of the forest,” Suominen said, emphasising that conditions are extremely dry.
 “There were too many brush fires this weekend. People are burning trash and brush despite the warnings,” he said.
 “One needs to be incredibly careful with fire right now. You shouldn’t have open fires anywhere now, not even in barrels,” he said.
 All of the brush fires that required help from rescue services were caused by people who had ignored warnings, Suominen said.

Brush fire warnings in effect across Finland this week


Summary: A fresh newspaper poll shows a social democratic-conservative coalition as the most popular government option among voters.

A poll commissioned and published by the daily  Helsingin Sanomat  indicates that the most popular combination in a new coalition government for Finland would be the SDP and the centre-right NCP, rounded out with participation by the  Green League .
 The survey of just over 1,000 voters found around a third in favour of an SDP-NCP core for government cooperation.
 The next most popular combinations would be the SDP and the Centre Party, and the SDP plus the Finns Party. Both of these options were backed by about one-fifth of respondents to the poll.
 The process of government formation is being led by the SDP. The deadline for answers from the various parties to a list of policy  questions from SDP chair   Antti Rinne  is Tuesday.
 Actual talks on putting together a cabinet are scheduled to begin next week.
 Helsingin Sanomat points out that the most popular combination in its poll, the SDP-NCP option is also the most likely. The SDP came out of the recent parliamentary elections in first place while the NCP retained its position in third.
 These two parties, according the Helsingin Sanomat, are close on issues such as social services and health care, social security, the climate, and asylum policy.
 However, they have different goals in economic affairs. Helsingin Sanomat writes that according to the information it has acquired, the two parties views on taxation would be a difficult mix.
 The paper points out that the option of a SDP-Centre-led coalition is possible only if the Centre Party is interested in joining the government. Following its big election loss, a number of its most influential members think  it belongs in opposition .
 As for a SDP-Finns Party-led cabinet, Helsingin Sanomat points out that this would be hard, as a number of parties have announced they will not cooperate with the Finns Party.
 Regardless of which two parties form the core of a new government, they will need the inclusion of smaller parties in order to control a majority in parliament. And, for all the possible combinations, the inclusion of the Greens was the most popular choice in this poll.
 Centre response
 Oulu's  Kaleva  is among the papers today reporting the Centre Party's responses to a series of policy questions that may determine whether or not it could be a good fit in an SDP-led cabinet.
 Two of the key issues, according to Kaleva, are the party's call for an overhaul of Finland's parental leave system, and demands that taxes are not increased for entrepreneurs or corporations.
 The Centre Party stated that continuing positive development in the economy and employment requires that the next government makes commitments to a target of a 75 percent rate of employment and to balancing public finances by 2023.
 The paper quotes the chair of the Centre's parliamentary group,  Antti Kaikkonen , as saying that the threshold to the Centre Party's participation in a new government is, however, a high one.
 Prison violence
 Top officials at Finland's Criminal Sanctions Agency, the authority that operates the nation's prisons, say they are concerned about the deteriorating security situation behind bars, according to an article in Tuesday's  Turun Sanomat .
 This follows a report on Sunday by the news syndicate Lännen Media that an organised crime group, United Brotherhood,  is running an extensive drug trafficking operation  in Finland's prisons, leading to an escalation of violence.
 Criminal Sanctions Agency Development Manager  Pauli Nieminen  is quoted as saying that officials have been working to root out the problem with all the means at their disposal, but that "It's a different matter whether or not we have been successful enough."
 However, Nieminen denied that the situation is out of control, saying that it has been more a matter of isolated incidents.
 The director of Riihimäki prison,  Pasi Oksa , told the paper that it is often forgotten that the prisons have a crime prevention function.
 "Prisons are not, however, [sealed] bottles. Criminal acts, threats, extortion, and running gangs out of prisons are things we cannot ever completely eliminate. But, what we can do is to try to make it as difficult as possible," stated Oksa.
 Risky party trick
 Colourful helium-filled balloons are as much a part of the May Day celebrations in Finland as are student caps, picnics, and the Finnish take on mead known as  [sima]( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sima %28mead%29)_.
 And, once in a party mood, for some people it's hard to resist inhaling some of that helium in order to speak in a funny, squeaky "Donald Duck" voice.
 But, seriously, don't do it. It can be fatal, writes  Ilta-Sanomat .
 The paper reports on a press release from the Aga gas company pointing out that while helium is not poisonous, when inhaled it displaces oxygen in the lungs, lowering or at worst blocking oxygen intake.
 The gas can inhibit breathing reflexes, and just a few breaths of it can lead to suffocation and loss of consciousness.
 Ilta-Sanomat says that in such a case, check to see if the person is breathing, start first aid measures, phone the emergency centre and follow their instructions.

Tuesday's papers: Coalition poll, prison violence, and a risky party trick


Summary: In the northern cities of Oulu and Rovaniemi, university students have been gearing up for May Day for weeks.

In the northern cities of Oulu and Rovaniemi, students have been getting ready to celebrate May Day ( Vappu  in Finnish) since the long Easter weekend.
 "As students, the tradition is to make  sima  (Finnish mead) and wine in the week preceding the eve of May Day and May Day," says  Miikka-Aukusti Heiskanen , who is spending time in Oulu’s Rotuaari pedestrian area. "This is going to be the best Vappu," he says.
 Heiskanen, a student of management sciences at the University of Lapland, says he started celebrating the lead-up to May Day in Rovaniemi, where he studies, on 17 April following the Easter long weekend.
 Now, he's come to the city of Oulu to mark May Day and the festive eve preceding it.
 "In Rovaniemi, we have an amazing student community and a Vappu week. However, May Day and the evening preceding it are the climax and much more massive here in Oulu," explains Heiskanen, who says he spent the two previous May Days in Rovaniemi.
 Story continues after the photo.
 Miikka-Aukusti Heiskanen travelled from Rovaniemi to Oulu to mark the May Day festivities.  Hanna Holopainen / Yle
 The importance of pacing
 The unanimous opinion for those who want to spend a week or two celebrating May Day is that it's paramount to pace yourself and to drink plenty of water.
 Heikki Kaarlela  leads the Oulu’s technology student organisation.
 "I usually ensure that I don’t go overboard, otherwise you know what the next day has in store. This is a marathon, not a sprint," says Kaarlela.
 According to Heiskanen, the trick to staying in good shape is to focus and invest in the festivities on the evening preceding May Day and May Day itself.
 "Drinking alcohol is not the point, rather it's all about spending time with friends. And especially in Rovaniemi, (we're marking) the end of winter!" says Heiskanen.
 And if the partying does get out of hand, the most important thing is to take care of your friends, says Kaarlela.
 May Day, the celebration of workers and students, is one of the biggest holidays on the Finnish calendar.

Students celebrate May Day: "This is a marathon, not a sprint"


Summary: Regional authorities are going ahead with land use planning for a rail line through traditional Sámi reindeer herding areas.

The Regional Council of Lapland decided on Monday to include  a controversial rail line  from Rovaniemi to Kirkenes, Norway in an updated regional land use plan.
 The Regional Council, which represents 21 member municipalities, decided to indicate future use of the route, even though at present there are no plans for constructing the rail line, and consultants for Finland's Ministry of Transport and Communications have  deemed the project economically unviable .
 As envisaged, the line would cut through traditional lands of Finland's indigenous Sámi people and their northern reindeer herding areas. It has aroused opposition from both the Sámi Parliament and reindeer herding associations along the route.
 Although the Regional Council of Lapland took into consideration some of the details of Sámi reaction to the idea, it did not drop the Arctic rail line, or the northern route to Kirkenes from land use planning.
 Regional Council: No deal needed
 Referencing a position statement on the issue by the Sámi Parliament, the Regional Council of Lapland pointed out that the Sámi do not have a veto on land use planning, and discussions with the Sámi are not required to lead to agreements or recommendations.
 The council's vice-chair,  Heikki Autto , told Yle that the rail project is too important for any single interested party to have a veto over it.
 "In the future this will possibly be one key logistic connection of importance not only to northern Lapland, but also to the whole of Lapland, to Finland and the European Union. We still don't know what the world will look like in the 2030's or 2040's, but with this land use plan we have a tool with which to develop this area, if constructing the rail line happens then," said Autto.
 Autto also rejected claims by the Sámi Parliament that if constructed, the rail line would destroy the basis of Sámi culture and livelihood.
 "As a native to the area myself, I see it as important that we ensure that families can settle in the Sámi homelands as well, find a variety of jobs and sources of income, including those continuing traditional livelihoods which preserve the Sámi language and culture," Autto added.
 Constitutional questions
 A radically different view was expressed by council board member  Henri Ramberg . Ramberg says that the Sámi did not have their views sufficiently well heard during the drafting of the land use plan, nor when the Regional Council of Lapland expressed the hope that a new government will move ahead with an Arctic rail line project.
 "Here we run into constitutional questions regarding Sámi culture. The part of this [plan] routed through Sámi areas should have been buried. Simply with this land use plan we are enabling the construction of the rail line. As a consequence the bottom can be knocked out of the culture and the future of the culture of the people of the Sámi areas," Ramberg argued.

Lapland region zones for controversial Arctic rail line


Summary: Elves will be working through the holiday from 10.00am to 5.00pm at Santa’s post office in Rovaniemi just south of the Arctic Circle.

May Day is a time for students, politicians and union leaders to commemorate an important fixture in the calendar of the labour movement. It’s also become a time for ordinary folk to gather in what has become a carnival-like atmosphere  to welcome the arrival of spring  at market square events, outdoor picnics and other informal gatherings. But there are others who just want to know whether or not they can run to the store for a carton of milk or a loaf of bread.
 The  liberalisation of business hours in Finland  at the beginning of 2016 means that many large supermarkets and other retailers will be open for business as usual on Wednesday, or customers may receive service during restricted hours at smaller outlets.
 Major food chains run by firms such as the Kesko group, S group and Lidl will serve customers during the holiday. National mail service provider Posti will be open as usual on Tuesday until 6.00pm, but will remain closed until Thursday morning. The most important exception to this rule will be up near the Arctic Circle at Santa’s post office in Rovaniemi, where elves will be working through the holiday from 10.00am to 5.00pm. Customers looking for  additional information about opening hours  can check the company's website.
 May Day revellers planning to stock up on their drinks in anticipation of a liquid celebration would do well to note that state monopoly alcohol retailer Alko will be open for business until 6.00pm on Tuesday, after which doors will next re-open on Thursday morning at 9.00am. Thirsty customers are advised to look up the business hours of local stores  on the firm’s website .
  Moving around? Check timetables first
 Some May Day merrymakers may decide to use public transportation to travel further afield on Wednesday. In such cases, they should consult state rail services provider  VR’s online timetables  to ensure they avoid any unpleasant surprises in the event of schedule changes.
 The same principle applies for holidaymakers relying on the services of the  Helsinki public transportation provider  HSL  and the  inter-city coach services  firm Matkahuolto.
 Others who are thinking of getting behind the wheel in major cities should brace for possible traffic disruptions caused by May Day marches and other public gatherings.

Can you get a carton of milk on May Day? Check our holiday reminders


Summary: The troubled Finnish department store chain aims to reduce costs by 40 million euros by spring 2021.

Department store Stockmann announced on Tuesday that it will start redundancy talks to cut 160 jobs within its operations.
 The beleaguered department store chain said that it needed to embark on a business reorganisation and cost reduction programme to return to profitability.
 The company, which currently employs 1,600 people in Finland, aims to reduce operating costs by 40 million euros by spring 2021. Personnel cuts will account for less than one-third of the target, with more than two-thirds coming from other cost-cutting measures, says Stockmann. The number of sales clerks will not be reduced in the negotiations.
 Operating losses decrease year-on-year
 For the first quarter of 2019, Stockmann's losses were less than for the same quarter in 2018. For January-March 2019, adjusted operating shortfall stood at 20.6 million euros, whereas for the previous year they stood at 24.8 million euros.
 According to Stockmann's executive chairman  Lauri Ratia ,adjusted the operating deficit decreased during the first quarter of 2019 owing to the positive performance of the Lindex clothing chain in Finland which is owned by Stockmann and the department store's Hullut Päivät (Crazy Days) sales campaign.
 Stockmann also announced that it would be merging its retail unit -- the department store business -- with the department store properties business unit. The company’s third unit is the fashion chain Lindex.
 Last  Thursday Stockmann issued a profit warning.  The retailer rescinded its earlier prediction of improved profits for this year, now saying that results will be poorer than expected.

Stockmann starts talks to cut head count by 160


Summary: With two new cases diagnosed in North Karelia and Vantaa, some rail and ferry passengers are being urged to check if their immunity is up to date.

Two new cases of measles have been diagnosed in Finland. One is a child on holiday in North Karelia who is reported to be in stable condition. The child travelled by train from Moscow to Kouvola and from Kouvola to Joensuu. The child had not been vaccinated against measles and was infected abroad.
 The young patient left by train from Moscow on Friday, 26 April at 11.10pm, arriving in Kouvola on Saturday, 27 April at 11.08 am. The infant travelled on from Kouvola to Joensuu by train the same day between 11.43am and 2.49pm.
 Commuters who travelled on those same trains are being urged to check that their immunity to the measles virus is up to date.
 The sick child was brought to the North Karelia Central Hospital last weekend where the measles diagnosis was confirmed. The patient is now receiving treatment.
 Fewer than 10 other patients and around 20 staff members were exposed to the virus after the child was first admitted.
 Case in Vantaa
 Another case of measles has been reported in the city of Vantaa.
 The patient was infected while travelling in Eastern Europe. The symptoms in this case are reportedly mild as the unnamed individual was vaccinated abroad against the disease in childhood.
 Before being diagnosed, this individual was aboard the Tallink Megastar ferry travelling from Tallinn, Estonia to Helsinki on 26 April, departing at 7.30pm.
 Representatives of the Tallink Silja Line are attempting to contact passengers who were on the same ship at the time.

New measles cases confirmed in Finland


Summary: The city was supposed to introduce higher parking fees including Sunday charges from the beginning of May.

City officials in Tampere in south-central Finland have indefinitely shelved plans to increase parking fees, as they await a decision on the legality of the proposed changes.
 The suspension of the fee change means that – for the moment at least – motorists will not have to pay for Sunday parking in the city’s zone 1 area. As a result, people heading into town for  May Day festivities on Wednesday  will be able to park on the streets at no extra charge.
 The planned parking fee hike was due to take effect from the beginning of May, so city officials had already made progress installing traffic signs as well modifying parking machines with stickers notifying users of the new charges.
 Starting from 1 May, motorists were supposed to pay 1.60 euros/hour to park in the city’s central zone, instead of parking for no charge. That is half of the normal weekday parking fee of 3.20/hour.
 At the same time, city leaders had planned to expand the reach of the parking zones and to increase fees in zones 2 and 3, with drivers having to fork out 2 euros/hour in zone 2 and 1.20/hour in zone 3.

Tampere puts brake on plans to hike parking fees


Summary: On Tuesday evening, merrymakers gathered in downtown Helsinki for the traditional cleaning and capping of the Havis Amanda statue.

Most May Day activities in Helsinki centred on Ullanlinnanmäki, where residents gathered to listen to performances by Helsinki University's YL male choir, the country’s oldest Finnish-language voice ensemble. The programme included speeches, odes to spring and other ditties, closing with a rendition of Finnish composer  Jean Sibelius ' " Finlandia " hymn, according to tradition.
 Student unions are  very present during the annual festivities , and head of the Helsinki University student union  Kukka Louhimies  delivered remarks on Wednesday morning along with Aalto University student union chair  Tapio Hautamäki  and  Sofia Suomalainen , president of Helsinki’s Theatre Academy.
 Later in the morning, President  Sauli Niinistö  and his wife  Jenni Haukio  received customary bouquets and May Day greetings at their ceremonial residence, the Presidential Palace. The Helsinki University student union and the YL choir also performed for the couple.
 Statues capped as part of May Day tradition
 On Tuesday evening, merrymakers gathered in downtown Helsinki for the traditional cleaning and capping of the Havis Amanda statue with the white cap worn by secondary school graduates in Finland. Once the statue was crowned at around 6.00pm, other graduates donned their own headgear.
 Story continues after photo.
 The Havis Amanda statue in Helsinki's market square after the capping ceremony. Jussi Nukari / Lehtikuva
 In Tampere, students gathered for their celebrations at a whale statue in Frenckellin plaza, while their peers in Oulu capped a statue of local poet and academic  Mikael Franzén . Student unions in university towns throughout the country mirrored the same tradition in their local communities.
 Police: Like a regular weekend
 Meanwhile police throughout the country reported a relatively peaceful start to the holiday, which revellers began celebrating on Tuesday. The Helsinki police department described Tuesday’s activities as reminiscent of a regular weekend, with officers responding to calls involving drunk and disorderly behaviour. They also reported several visits to private residences to deal with disturbances.
 Alarm centres in southwest Finland and Oulu said that nothing out of the ordinary occurred on Tuesday night. The central Finland police department, which organised a Twitter marathon on Tuesday, said in a statement that officers had responded to a total of 302 calls in the Pirkanmaa region and 106 in the central Finland area during the campaign.

With statues capped, Finland’s May Day festivities off to peaceful start


Summary: The initiative was launched in mid-April and recommends switching to permanent summer time to make the most of sunlight hours.

A citizens’ initiative aimed at abandoning daylight saving time and keeping clocks in Finland permanently on summer time has attracted the 50,000 signatures needed for lawmakers to consider it in their legislative programme.
 The initiative was launched in mid-April and recommends switching to permanent summer time to make the most of sunlight hours, thereby ensuring greater safety for outdoor activities, sports and road traffic.
 In February this year, the  Juha Sipilä  cabinet  decided it would support eliminating daylight saving time  in favour of standard or winter time. Last year, a ministry of justice poll found that a majority of  people in Finland would prefer permanent winter time .
 Later, in March, the European Parliament also voted to  call time on changing the clocks forward and backward each year , but left it up to individual member states to decide whether they would use summer or winter time.
 In April, Turun Sanomat reported that Finland is hoping to use its  upcoming rotating EU presidency  to bring member states to a final consensus on the issue.

Citizens’ initiative backing permanent summer time breaks 50k-mark


Times are changing, Social Democratic Party chair  Antti Rinne  said to crowds gathered at downtown Helsinki’s Central Railway Station for annual May Day speeches. Rinne, who is  identifying possible coalition partners  to form a new government after edging a narrow victory in last month’s general election, declared that there will be no more "legal enforcement" affecting workers.
 "A small country like Finland cannot afford to reject the culture of compromise and a contract society. We cannot afford a self-inflicted crisis of confidence," he commented, likely referring to the outgoing government’s  so-called social contract  that saw government transfer some social payments from employers to employees, lengthen working hours and cut holidays in the public sector in a bid to boost business competitiveness by cutting unit labour costs.
 Rinne also repeated a pledge that he’d made last May Day to introduce a 100-euro pension increase for low-income retirees.
 "Society cannot stand by while the elderly are in distress. This is why we have called for a 100-euro increase for pensions below 1,400 euros over several years. Experts say this proposal alone would lift 55,000 pensioners out of poverty," Rinne declared.
 The SDP leader said that the outcome of the election proved that voters were tired of a conservative government. He said that it’s now time for a government of the future and called for reforms to secure economic growth that was socially and ecologically sustainable.
 "I mean bold future reforms. Investments in science and research. Job creation. Caring. Social and health care services. Senior care. Child welfare. Support for the elderly," he continued.
 Rinne said that Europarliament elections due at the end of the month would determine the future of the EU. He noted that the failure of immigration policy had boosted the fortunes of the right in Europe.
 Finns Party’s Halla-aho slams fragmented party system
 Meanwhile over in Hesperia Park, Finns Party chair  Jussi Halla-aho  condemned what he described as Finland’s fragmented party system, which he said makes it difficult to form a majority government. Halla-aho’s party was  narrowly pipped at the election finish line  by Antti Rinne’s SDP, which won 40 seats to his party’s 39.
 The leader of the populist party pointed to Sweden’s system of bloc politics and the Danish model of a minority government as more functional approaches. He added that the results of the election should be reflected in the policies of the government that takes office and said that in the present system, small parties such as the Swedish Peoples Party wield too much influence.
 Story continues after photo.
 Jussi Halla-aho. Heikki Saukkomaa / Lehtikuva
 "The fact that almost all parties in Finland can join with almost all others is clearly problematic from the perspective of voters' consumer protection rights. In such cases, voting has no real impact on decision-making and it is not at all possible to deduce from the election result what kinds of policies would be forthcoming," Halla-aho remarked.
 Green leader stresses climate targets
 Pekka Haavisto , chair of the Green Party, which made significant strides in the election to push its seat count up to 20, said that his party is not prepared to compromise on climate targets.
 “Climate targets are an issue on which we will not compromise. The continuity of life on the planet, our wellbeing, our economies are entirely dependent on our environment. Eight parties have signed up to the climate goal or keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees. I believe that it is possible to find consensus on ways to do that,” he told the gathering.
 Haavisto also listed climate change as one of the central issues in upcoming European Parliament elections. He said that Finland, Europe and the world need a strong EU that can deal with the challenges raised by climate change, the decline of bio-diversity and technological development.
 Left Alliance chair calls out "inhumane" activation model
 Speaking in the southwestern cities of Turku and Salo, Left Alliance chair  Li Andersson  called for an end low wages paid to foreign workers and the complete dismantling of what she described as the inhumane and failed activation model, which penalises job seekers in the labour market if they do not meet certain conditions for maintaining their unemployment benefits. She said it is not enough to get rid of the system, but said it is necessary to develop the local labour market as well as worker competence.
 Story continues after photo.
 Left Alliance chair Li Andersson. Roni Lehti / Lehtikuva
 "The transformation of the labour market, the fragmentation of employee contracts and the growth in the demand for expertise means that people must have the option of self-directed study much more than today and the educational offering must be opened up at all levels of schooling," Andersson said.
 The party leader talked of the implementation at the European level of a Green New Deal model that would create new jobs by reducing emissions. The Left Alliance was one of the recent election's big winners adding four new parliamentary seats to take its complement of MPs to 16.
 Centre Party calls for support for families and pensioners
 Head of the Centre Party’s parliamentary group and a frontrunner  to replace Juha Sipilä as party chair  later this year,  Antti Kaikkonen , spoke to party faithful in Hyvinkää and Helsinki. He made a case for improving the incomes of families and pensioners.
 "This country must be able to increase the incomes of all cash-strapped families, provide additional home assistance and preventive services and ensure that people have the option to choose their children’s care [services]. It must also ensure that no young people are lost after completing their primary education," he declared.
 Kaikkonen reminded SDP leader Rinne of the promise he made last year to increase the pensions of poor retirees by 100 euros.
 Essayah "perplexed" by coalition talks
 Christian Democratic Party chair  Sari Essayah  said that she was perplexed by the array of questions that SDP chair Antti Rinne posed a survey he sent to all parliamentary groups in a bid to identify possible government coalition partners.
 "The complete absence of a few questions caught my eye. Economic and finance policy have been initially addressed in separate talks involving the four largest parties. This is a rather curious set-up given that it [economic and finance policy] is the basis of the government programme," she observed.
 Speaking at a gathering in Kuopio, Essayah said that her party indicated in its response to the survey that it would hardly join a government that would fundamentally undermine the profitability of work and entrepreneurship, likely referring to the SDP’s preference for hiking taxes to pay for social programmes. She added that from the perspective of families, three factors affect the profitability of work: income taxes, daycare fees and benefits.

SDP chair hints at rolling back unpopular labour market reforms in May Day address


Summary: The Commission is urging Finland to step up the treatment of eutrophying runoff from cattle farms in particular.

Kansainväliset organisaatiot ja sopimukset

The EU Commission has Finland in its sights over what it says are shortcomings in the country’s water conservation efforts, particularly with respect to limiting fertiliser in runoff from agricultural activity.
 Increased levels of nutrients such as phosphorous or nitrates either used in fertilisers or originating from poor waste treatment in farming, can accelerate plant and algae growth in bodies of water in a process called eutrophication. Excessive vegetation in affected waters can deplete oxygen levels and endanger fish and other marine life.
 The Commission wants Finland to reduce agricultural run-off that is causing an algae problem in water bodies. The assessment is part of a regional round of analyses reviewing whether or not member states are on course to achieve an EU-wide goal of cleaner water courses.
 According to  a report issued last year  by the European Environment Agency, there is still a lot of work to be done with respect to water conservation and a majority of the EU’s water bodies are nowhere near clean, including in Finland.
 Water conservation in Finland voluntary
 It is not the first time that the EU Commission has rapped Finland over the knuckles for not doing enough to reduce the quantity of nutrients – especially phosphorous – leaching into waterways. Water conservation in Finland is not regulated, but is based on a voluntary honour system, however the Commission is not convinced it is working.
 "The Commission is on the right track. Phosphorous is still a problem in that it accumulates in fields over decades and leaches from the soil. We are creating a problem for our children and grandchildren," said  Marjukka Porvari , project director with the John Nurminen Foundation’s “Clean Baltic” (Puhdas Itämeri) project.
 Animal fertiliser and its nutrients have confounded local water conservation efforts for some time. Many farmers in Finland are already unhappy with the EU’s nitrates directive, which requires them to use fertiliser so that its nitrogen nutrients do not contribute to algae growth in water courses.
 However the problem is not so much with the kind of fertiliser used in fields, so much as the phosphorous already present in the soil. In spite of  last summer’s prolific algal blooms  no action has been taken to crack down in the use of phosphorous and many agricultural lands still contain too much of the substance.
 Ministry: Difficult to provide answers
 The presence of excessive levels of phosphorous in the soil is due to the fact that its use is not strictly limited in animal farming activities. Farmers are adding fertiliser either as manure or from other sources to land already saturated with it.
 Studies indicate that in southwest Finland and in Ostrobothnia in particular, farmers are adding too much animal fertiliser to the soil. As a result, the Archipelago Sea in southwest Finland is one of the parts of the Baltic that is worst-affected by recurring algae blooms.
 Officials in Finland have assured the Commission that the situation is under control and noted that many local farms are part of a national environmental funding programme, which involves monitoring and restricting the excessive use of phosphorous.
 The majority of the 200-million-euro programme is used for water conservation purposes. However the Environment Ministry, which is responsible for water conservation did not want to comment on the Commission’s observations.
 The ministry told Yle that it would evaluate the Commission’s feedback and review it with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. It said that it was also difficult to respond to the Commission’s views because the shortcomings mentioned were part of proposed agricultural funding reforms. The funding programme is part of the EU’s agricultural subsidy scheme.
 Many EU members lagging behind target
 Porvari said that some farms have begun to opt out of the domestic environmental support programme. "After that there is no regulation of the amount of phosphorous that ends up in the ground," she noted.
 The Commission could take Finland before a tribunal, if local officials do not comply with its recommendations.
 Like many other EU member states, Finland has committed to rehabilitating surface waters by the year 2028. Since it is not the only country that is struggling to reach that objective, it may just wait to see how the situation develops across the bloc.
 At the end of last year EU states said that there was likely insufficient time to meet the 2028 goal and that they would either have to scale back their ambitions or extend the time frame for ensuring cleaner water in the region.

EU Commission raps Finland over agricultural runoff threatening water bodies


Summary: Dangerous driving conditions are in store as the weather forecast calls for sleet and snow for many parts of Finland.

Daily  Helsingin Sanomat  (HS) reports that temperatures will drop dramatically in southern Finland with a return to winter on its way after the summer-like warm sunny weather enjoyed on May Day, which was a public holiday in Finland. HS also issues a warning that driving conditions on Friday in many parts of Finland will be dangerous owing to snow and sleet showers.
 ”It’s advisable to prepare for the worst or very bad driving conditions at the end of the week owing to snow flurries and slippery roads,” writes HS, citing the Finnish Meteorological Institute. For Thursday there’s a weather warning in effect for Kainuu and Koillismaa, where it has rained and temperatures hover near zero degrees Celsius.
 On Friday driving conditions will be poor owing to snow and sleet in many municipalities, including Kainuu, Northern Ostrobothnia, central and eastern Finland. As such, the risk of accidents is high and there will likely be traffic disturbances, writes HS.
 ”It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that roads will be slippery if it snows,” sergeant  Timo Männikkö  of the Oulu police department told HS.
 From Arctic weather to the Arctic Council
 US Secretary of State  Mike Pompeo  will be in Finland attending the Arctic Council meeting in Rovaniemi on May 6 reports tabloid  Ilta-Sanomat .
 Along with six indigenous permanent participant organisations, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States are members of the Council, which coordinates Arctic policy. The council has become more relevant in recent years as sea ice thaws are opening up new trade routes and intensifying competition for the area’s oil, gas and mineral resources.
 According to Ilta-Sanomat, the goal of next week's meeting is to approve the Council’s strategy and sign the Rovaniemi Process on climate issues.
 Stolen baby found
 A baby kidnapped from a hospital in Central Ostrobothnia was found, reports  Iltalehti.
 The tabloid cites the Northern Ostrobothnia police department, who say that an infant taken from a Kokkola hospital has been found.
 ”This happened some time ago,” police commissioner  Tomi Mansikkamäki  of the Northern Ostrobothnia police department told Iltalehti. According to Mansikkamäki, a criminal report was filed on 17 April.
 Few details about the case are available and the Kokkola hospital would not comment on the case to Iltalehti.

Thursday’s papers: Winter weather returns, US Secretary of State in Finland next week, kidnapped baby found


Summary: Helsinki city employees were busy cleaning up on Thursday after First of May celebrations.

Despite the national holiday falling midweek this year, mostly sunny skies brought more partiers than expected for the annual May Day festivities in Helsinki's Kaivopuisto Park. Tens of thousands of people crowded into the hilly seaside greenspace.
 Known as Vappu in Finland, 1 May is celebrated variously in honour of workers, university students and spring, typically with political speeches, picnics, balloons for the kids and generous alcohol consumption by their elders, beginning on May Day Eve.
 City officials admit that they were not prepared for the size of the Kaivopuisto crowd, and that for instance there should have been half again as many portajohns.
 Story continues after photo
 Kaivopuisto's Ullanlinna Hill on 1 May. Lehtikuva
 "We have primarily received feedback about the number of toilets," says Helsinki parks official  Sampo Sainio .
 There were queues of up to 100 metres for public facilities on Wednesday.
 "We installed the same number of portajohns in Kaivopuisto as in previous years. But apparently because of the good weather, so many people gathered in the park that we would have needed half again as many," he tells Yle.
 The first of May was mostly sunny but relatively chilly along the south coast, while areas further north saw May roll in with snow and sleet. The rain held off in central Finland until Thursday evening.
 100,000-euro bill
 The Vappu cleanup began in the wee hours of Thursday in Esplanade Park in the city centre before moving on to Kaivopuisto.
 "The aim is to get the cleanup finished by the end of Thursday," says Sainio.
 Nearly 100 city and NGO officials have been involved in organising and cleaning up after Tuesday's and Wednesday's events in the city centre. They included Red Cross and other staffers who were on hand to help those worse for wear due to excessive partying or otherwise in need of help.
 "By Thursday morning we had collected 21,000 empty sparkling wine bottles in Kaivopuisto," Sainio says.
 The city tried to encourage those in Kaivopuisto to bring empty bottles to collection points, offering a free cinema ticket to anyone dropping off 20 bottles.
 "Bottle collectors have been a great help, but there are film tickets left over. We had reserved enough to cover 30,000 bottles," he explains.
 Overall the city had reserved the same budget for the two-day festivities as last year.
 "Vappu-related work will cost the city around 100,000 euros, the same as in previous years," says Sainio.

May Day revelers down 21,000 bottles of bubbly in Helsinki's Kaivopuisto Park


Summary: A poll suggests many are delaying car purchases amid uncertainty over future legislation.

Finns are increasingly interested in electric, natural gas and hybrid cars, according to a survey commissioned by Danske Bank.
 The poll suggests that 31 percent of Finns are prepared to buy an alternative-fuelled vehicle as their next car.
 "Interest in electric, natural gas and hybrid cars has never jumped by this much in one year," says Danske Finance chief  Altti Kuuri . The bank has carried out such annual barometer surveys since 2015.
 This year's poll indicates particular growth in interest in hybrid vehicles, which supplement conventional combustion engines with electric motors.
 Eighteen percent of respondents said they want to buy a hybrid next, compared to 12 percent who said they aim to buy diesel cars.
 Five percent would opt for electric cars, with three percent preferring those running on natural gas.
 Those polled cited three main factors limiting their interest in cars using lower-emission alternate propulsion systems: price, driving range and availability of charging or refilling points.
 Petrol engine still tops
 The survey results do not augur any rapid changes in the automotive market.
 Well over than half of respondents, 54 percent, said it was quite or extremely unlikely that their next cars would be electric, natural gas or hybrid. More than four in 10 said that their next vehicles would run on traditional petrol.
 The number of people thinking of buying a new vehicle remained steady at about one in five. These were mostly likely to be men, upper-level white-collar workers and high earners as well as students and parents of young children.
 Of those planning to buy cars, 45 percent said they had put off a purchase decision because the political debate over treatment of various fuels and engine types has been confusing.
 "Motorists need clear decisions from politicians as to whether there will be financial benefits linked to charging infrastructure or vehicles, for instance," Kuuri says.
 The study was published on Thursday as election-winning Social Democratic Party chair  Antti Rinne  was trying to put together a new government coalition.
 Some potential partners, such as the Greens and the Left Alliance, are calling for the next government to impose emissions-based taxation, subsidies and infrastructure upgrades to encourage the use of low-emission vehicles. Electric vehicles remain much rarer in Finland than in neighbouring Norway and Sweden, where they are heavily subsidised.
 Pollster Taloustutkimus interviewed more than 1,000 Finns aged 21-79 for the study.

Survey: Growing interest in electric, hybrid cars in Finland


Summary: Sweden and the Netherlands are joining Finland’s challenge of training one percent of residents in artificial intelligence.

A free online course in artificial intelligence (AI) created by the University of Helsinki and technology consultancy Reaktor has drawn 140,000 students from around the world.
 Launched in spring 2018 , the  Elements of AI  is available in English and Finnish. It was originally envisioned with the ambitious goal of training one percent of the Finnish population -- 55,000 people -- in the fundamentals of AI.
 Inspired by the Finnish model, Sweden and the Netherlands have created similar courses, with 15 other countries interested in developing comparable course for their citizens.
 Finland first country to make one percent of residents AI savvy
 Part of the course’s popularity is the fact that it’s available online for free and doesn’t require any prerequisite technology skills. As it’s also offered in English in addition to Finnish, close to 40 percent of people taking the course are from countries outside Finland.
 University of Helsinki Chief Digitalisation Officer  Jaakko Kurhila  says that he and his team have been surprised by the course's popularity.
 ”A free online course can reach thousands of people, but we never dreamed of reaching more than 100,000 people,” he says.
 The University of Helsinki's Chief Digital Officer Jaakko Kurhila says the new goal is to reach one percent of the world's population with their free online AI course.  Markku Rantala / Yle
 When the university and Reaktor launched the course a year ago, their goal was to educate one percent of those living in Finland, that is 55,000 people. Then, the international media got wind of the idea and earlier this year publications such as  Politico  and  Wired  featured the ambitious training goal of the small Nordic country.
 The one percent target was reached within a few months of launch. Now the University of Helsinki and Reaktor have revised their goal to a more ambitious one: to AI educate one percent of the world’s population, that is 77 million people.
 The Netherlands took inspiration from Finland and from the start of the year has been training its residents in AI through a free course offered by the University of Amsterdam. A Swedish-language version of the Helsinki University AI course starts in May in Sweden and negotiations are being carried out with other countries.
 Debunking AI myths
 Artificial intelligence is seen by many people as both a threat and an opportunity.
 Aino Heikkinen took the online artificial intelligence course and encouraged the rest of her family to take it as well. Markku Rantala / Yle
 Aino Heikkinen , who works as a human resources manager, is one of those 140,000 people who has taken the Finnish AI course. She says the reason she signed up was professional: her employer, the Population Register Centre, a Finnish government agency that provides demographic information services, is an environment where it’s important to understand digital development.
 Heikkinen says the most difficult section of the course was neuro networks. Neuro networks are models of computation used in artificial intelligence that mimic the activity of the human brain.
 ”It wasn't easy, I really had to stop and think about it," she says, adding: ”otherwise, the course offered a concise look at what’s coming.”
 Fears of an unknown future
 Reaktor’s Director of Artificial Intelligence,  Hanna Hagström , says one of the main reasons for the course's popularity is that many people fear losing control if they don’t keep up with technological developments.
 Helsinki University's Kurhila holds the same view. “When you know more about AI, the future can be embraced with more confidence and less fear that AI will take over and destroy us all,” he says.
 The course was tested before its release on various target groups. Whether the pilot group members were in the workforce or unemployed, women or men, young or old, the result was the same: people are interested in knowing more about AI because they want to understand what will happen in the future. And they also want to participate in that future, says Hagström.
 One of the aims of the course is to ensure that no one is left behind.
 ”The basic concepts of AI must be understood so that they can be discussed,” says Hagström.
 Heikkinen was so motivated by the course that she was able to get three generations of her family to sign up for it.
 “Our whole family has taken the course -- my mother, my son and my spouse,” she says.

Finnish online AI course draws more than 140,000 students


Summary: The newly-elected and controversial Social Democrat MP Hussein al-Taee is now on sick leave, according to the party.

Finland’s Office of the Prosecutor General has asked police to look into whether a preliminary investigation should be opened into inflammatory comments made by Social Democrat MP  Hussein al-Taee  several years ago on social media, according to tabloid newspaper Iltalehti.
 On Thursday afternoon it was reported that al-Taee had been admitted to hospital on Tuesday and that he was on sick leave. The anticipated duration of al-Taee’s sick leave was not disclosed but officially began on Thursday. He will not participate in parliamentary matters during his sick leave, according to the party.
 The election's biggest winner last month - by a very  slim margin  - the SDP is currently engaged  in initial government formation talks  with the major parliamentary groups.
 The SDP's parliamentary group chair  Antti Lindtman  said on Thursday the party would address possible repercussions al-Taee may face for his past inflammatory comments once he returns from sick leave.
 Denial then apology
 Al-Taee, who became a first-time MP in last month’s general election, admitted earlier this week that he was the author of several anti-Semitic, homophobic and racist comments on Facebook several years ago. He  apologised for the comments  in his blog and at a press conference on Monday.
 Last month news agency STT reported that in 2014, al-Taee had made controversial statements in Facebook posts about the situation in the Middle East, one of which suggesting that Israel and the US had trained Isis terrorists.
 Al-Taee apologised for that statement shortly after the STT article was published, but said other derogatory comments about Jews, Somalis, Sunni Muslims, and homosexuals attributed to him were part of a ploy to blackmail him.
 However he has since admitted that all of the comments in question were his own.
 Former employer, SDP’s reaction
 The SDP’s Party Secretary  Antton Rönnholm  told newspaper Helsingin Sanomat on Monday the party had not been aware of the comments he now acknowledged making.
 Some members within the SDP’s parliamentary group have said they felt deceived by al-Taee, but the party has yet not made any decisions about possible disciplinary action in the matter.
 Before he running for parliament, al-Taee worked for the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI), a conflict resolution NGO founded by Nobel laureate and former Finnish President  Martti Ahtisaari .
 On Monday, political publication Verkkouutiset reported that the peace negotiation group had removed links related to al-Taee from its website, following the publication of an article in the Jerusalem Post headlined  ”Finnish MP under fire for comparing Israel to Isis”  on Sunday.
 CMI's director  Tuija Talvitie  said that she was contacted by the Jerusalem Post by email after the paper published its article about al-Taee. She told the paper that the CMI condemns any inappropriate or degrading comments about any ethnic, religious, national or other groups.

Paper: Police asked to probe SDP MP's inflammatory Facebook comments


Summary: The court threw out hijacking charges, but gave the man a suspended five-month jail sentence.

A man received a five-month suspended jail sentence and had his driver’s licence suspended for 1.5 years after the Southwest Finland District Court found him guilty of attempted assault and endangering traffic safety following a suspected hijacking that took place on a bus in the city of Loimaa in December.
 According to court testimony the man, who has a foreign background, grabbed the steering wheel of a bus and turned it so that the vehicle struck another bus in the opposite lane.
 The buses sustained minor damage, but no one was injured in the incident that took place on December 4, 2018.
 The bus was travelling at a speed of around 35kph in the centre of Loimaa, which is roughly 70km north-east of Turku.
 Initially, prosecutors had called for the man to face  hijacking or attempted hijacking  charges and an unconditional jail sentence, but the court dismissed those charges.
 Another similar bus incident took place just one day after the one in Loimaa, but Central Finland District Court later  cleared the defendant  in that case of the majority of the charges filed against him.

Man sentenced for traffic endangerment in December bus incident


Summary: The company said there is low demand for the type of boxboard manufactured at its facility in south-east Finland.

Finnish-Swedish forest industry firm Stora Enso has announced plans to begin co-determination talks with employee unions about possible temporary worker layoffs at its Ingerois Mill in the south-eastern municipality of Kouvola.
 The company said up to 180 workers at the facility could face being laid off for a maximum period of 90 days from June through December of this year.
 Stora Enso said the demand for the type of boxboard manufactured at the Ingerios Mill has gone down while the cost of materials to produce it are high.
 The plant’s boxboard is used in dry foods packaging applications, among others.
 The company said employer-employee negotiations would begin on 8 May and last about two weeks.
 Meanwhile, in March Stora Enso announced plans to  sharply downsize  operations at its Oulu Mill in western Finland, with the potential loss of 400 jobs. That facility currently employs some 600 workers.

Up to 180 temporary layoffs possible at Stora Enso plant in Kouvola


Summary: Carbon emissions from trips less than 400km are 18 times higher when travelling by air compared to taking a train, the researcher said.

Even though air travel is often the fastest mode of transport, it also impacts the climate most heavily, according to  Stefan Baumeister , a researcher of corporate environmental management at Jyväskylä University's School of Business and Economics.
 Long-haul flights have long been considered to be major factors in raising the amount of carbon in the earth’s atmosphere, but Baumeister said the environmental impact of domestic air travel is rarely discussed in the climate debate and has proposed to put an end to domestic flights altogether.
 He said domestic flights can be very easily replaced with more environmentally-friendly modes of ground transport, according to his new academic paper titled “Replacing short-haul flights with land-based transportation modes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: the case of Finland.”
 About 2.7 million passengers travelled by air domestically in Finland during 2017. Stressed-out travellers often justify taking short-haul flights by saying they’re faster than, for example, taking a train.
 But that’s not always the case, according to Baumeister.
 Short-haul emissions
 “We can take the route between Kokkola-Pietarsaari (on the west coast) and Helsinki airports, which takes about an hour by plane, as an example. When you add the time for the trip to the airport, the security check, boarding the plane, the flight itself and then the journey to the centre of Helsinki, the trip is around three-and-a-half hours,” he said, pointing out that’s about the same time it takes to travel the route by train.
 He said that in terms of the environment train travel is a much better alternative.
 “Briefly, air travel-related carbon emissions on trips shorter than 400km are 18 times higher than they are by train. And within that distance private vehicles are also clearly more environmentally friendly, not to mention taking a bus,” he said.
 “Our results showed that replacing short-haul flights could significantly reduce a country’s climate impact. Furthermore, we found that existing land-based transportation modes can keep up with the travel times of aircraft on routes up to 400km,”  Baumeister wrote  in his paper’s abstract.

Finnish researcher calls for end to domestic air travel, citing climate concerns


Summary: Finland's print media reports on two new surveys assessing views on immigration and Russian sanctions.

Oulu-based newspaper Kaleva carries news of a  new internet survey of young people in 11 European countries . Results suggest that half of Finnish residents between the ages of 16 and 26 agree that immigration is a political problem. Finnish youth had the second-most negative view of the issue among the European countries represented in the poll, behind only Polish youth.
 Immigration was the most divisive issue in terms of the overall results, as 28 percent of the polled older teens and young adults in Europe felt immigration was an opportunity, while 29 percent considered it a threat.
 Climate change and nature conservation came out on top of the list of political problems overall. Finnish respondents were more likely than their European peers to see climate change as an opportunity, while Norwegian youth saw it as the largest threat, comparatively. Young people from Finland were also among Europe's most positive when it came to globalisation and the common currency, the euro.
 Between 61 and 79 percent of the young people in Europe support the European Union, the poll suggests. The majority also responded that they don't feel well represented in EU decision-making.
 The online survey was executed in January and February of 2019, with over 8,000 young people in Europe responding. Finnish youth were included in the pan-European YouGov-conducted poll for the first time.
 Five years since Crimea's annexation
 The agrarian paper Maaseudun Tulevaisuus also features results of  a survey, this time on the Finnish public's post-election stand on Russian sanctions .
 Over 40 percent of the respondents said they would be in favour of ending EU sanctions against Russia if the country would do the same. Some 27 percent of respondents said they opposed this.
 Among people who indicated they had voted for the Centre Party or the Finns Party in the April general elections, the percentage of respondents that said they would be in favour of dropping the sanctions against Russia grew to over 50 percent.
 Finnish Institute of International Affairs director  Teija Tiilikainen  says Russian activities in Ukraine that triggered the sanctions are probably starting to fade in people's minds.
 "The sanctions have been in force for so long that the original reason they were enacted can start to become a little blurry. Or perhaps there is a feeling that they have not been effective," she tells the paper.
 MT writes that a similar survey of Finnish farmers in 2014 found comparative results. Back when the sanctions were new, some 50 percent felt that Finland should be exempted from the EU sanctions, due to its extensive trade relationships with its Eastern neighbour.
 MEP seats up for grabs in three weeks
 And the country's most widely-read daily, Helsingin Sanomat, has a story on the  launch  of its  Finnish-language election compass  for the upcoming European elections on 23-26 May.
 There are 751 seats in the European Parliament, and Finland holds 13 of these. This distribution will change if Britain pulls out of the union. If Brexit becomes a reality, the number of seats will drop to 705 and Finland will gain another seat in the body, for a total of 14 MEP positions.
 HS says its election compass has 30 questions arranged according to four topics: the EU, exterior borders and safety, the economy and the environment. The Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle will publish its own election compass on 9 May, when an English-language version will also be made available.

Friday's papers: Young people's immigration concerns, fading Russian sanction support and EU elections


Summary: Winter showed it’s not done with Finland yet as a low pressure zone brings strong winds and snow showers to some areas.

Chilly and wet conditions enveloped Finland on Friday.
 A plunge of cold air is moving north-east, bringing snow and sleet showers to central parts as well as Kainuu in the east.
 On Friday, dry conditions will mostly prevail in the south and south-west as well as in Lapland, though the wind chill factor is adding to the bite of the cold weather.
 Saturday will bring rain showers to the south while central areas can expect sleet.
 Skies are expected to clear up nationwide on Sunday, which is when the sun will stage a comeback.
 On Saturday daytime highs will range from 7 degrees Celsius in the south to 3 up north, with temperatures rising slightly on Sunday.
 Driving conditions are poor in most of Finland on Friday.

Spring snow flurries hit Finland


Summary: Finnish customs officials have confiscated servers running the Finnish drug-selling site Silkkitie (Silk Road) on the hidden Tor network.

The Silkkitie site, also known as Valhalla, began selling drugs and other illicit products on the dark web in 2013.
 "This has been a very significant international operation," said customs official  Hannu Sinkkonen , adding that the sting drew on multi-country collaboration.
 While German, French, Canadian and American officials as well as Europol cooperated in the case, Sinkkonen did not reveal in which country authorities found the servers.
 The seizure also turned up a considerable bitcoin cache valued in the hundreds of thousands of euros, according to Sinkkonen.
 Sinkkonen said the confiscation took place earlier this year, leading Finnish drug-sellers to move their products to other illicit sites on Tor.
 Silkkitie has produced a number of criminal investigations over the years in Finland as well as abroad. The preliminary investigation into the confiscated servers is still ongoing.

Customs seize Finnish silk road server


Summary: Susani Mahadura and Yagmur Özberkan said it's time for some of the outdated terminology used to describe people living in Finland to be broadened.

Narrating the upcoming mega documentary '24h Europe' led Yle journalists  Susani Mahadura  and  Yagmur Özberkan  to reflect on what being Finnish means.
 The duo, whose show  Mahadura & Özberkan  broadcasts in Finnish on Yle Puhe, said 24h Europe, airing on Yle later in May, spoke to them in terms of how the media forges national identities. The documentary is a 24-hour expedition into the lives of young people living on the European continent.
 "Immigrants and racialised youths receive little media coverage. Muslims and other religious groups are often stereotyped and that’s problematic," Özberkan explained.
 Who's Finnish anyway?
 Susani Mahadura was born in Savo, eastern Finland, but traces Sri Lankan roots on her father’s side. Yagmur Özberkan moved to Finland from Turkey at the age of five.
 The women said it's time for some of the outdated terminology used to describe people living in Finland to be expanded.
 "On paper my brother is a second-generation immigrant but that’s an absurd idea to me as he is born and raised in Finland," Mahadura exclaimed. ”There are so many perspectives on being Finnish, and there’s more than one model.”
 On their show, Mahadura & Özberkan often challenge Finnish societal structures and taboos, particularly in relation to minorities in Finland.
 This spring their  award-winning  show has dealt with topics such sex rights for the disabled. But the pair said their favourite episode recently explored what it’s like to be a minority within a minority. Guests on the segment included three rainbow youths, a Sami, a Muslim and a Finn of colour.
 The documentary '24 Europe' will air on Yle Teema and stream on Yle Areena between May 25 and 26.

Yle journalists: "It’s time to expand what it means to be Finnish"


Summary: The Itä-Uusimaa district court found the Green Party legal secretary guilty of aviation offences and obstructing officials.

Green Party legal secretary  Aino Pennanen  was convicted and fined in a southern Finland court on Friday for  a deportation protest  on a departing flight in Helsinki last July. Her intention was to prevent a passenger on the same flight from being deported from Finland.
 The Itä-Uusimaa district court found Pennanen guilty of aviation offences and obstruction of officials. According to the ruling, she also urged other passengers to stand so that the aircraft would not be able to leave with a deportee on board. Pennanen’s protest caused the flight to be delayed nine minutes altogether.
 The party official was eventually removed from the plane. She had live-streamed her cabin protest on Facebook, however the video was used as evidence in court.
 Pennanen admitted that they had acted in the manner described in the charges against her. In a written ruling, the court ordered Pennanen to pay a 40-day fine, which based on her income, amounts to 720 euros.
 The court said that Pennanen’s actions were reprehensible and demonstrably deliberate. However court found that the protest was short-lived, nor did it involve any violence.

Greens legal secretary fined €720 for attempting to block deportation flight


Summary: Has political discourse become less straightforward, more discordant, and increasingly close to the limit of the law?

When politicians use extreme rhetoric, it becomes normalised and can be experienced on the streets where it affects people's lives, says journalist and social commentator  Aurora Lemma , who appeared on APN to discuss political discourse in Finland.
 Tampere University senior media researcher  Heikki Heikkilä  agreed, saying that the groups affected by extreme language include people working with grassroots organisations as well as people with multicultural backgrounds.
 The APN panel concurred that the media have an increasingly important role to play in helping audiences to parse political rhetoric. Heikkilä said that over the past decade many Finnish politicians have become rather proficient in the art of "spin" or propaganda, while Lemma noted that politicos are increasingly resorting to catch-phrases to mask xenophobia in language that seems neutral.
 Heikkilä also pointed out that although there is a great deal of diversity among Finnish journalists, the media need to do more work to introduce more than two voices in a bid to providing balanced reporting.
 Racism more an opinion than a fact
 Both analysts noted that social media channels have made it difficult for traditional media to work in what he called a "hybrid media culture". He called on journalists to exercise caution using social media content as part of their reporting and to be self-critical and open up their editorial decision-making more to the public.
 Heikkilä and Lemma noted that Finnish media tend not to call out racism in political discourse. Lemma said that it likely because in Finland, racism is seen as an opinion rather than an objective fact.
 New Social Democratic MP  Hussein al-Taee  recently came  under fire  for controversial Facebook posts he had made several years ago about the situation in the Middle East, while  several Finns Party members have been convicted for hate speech offences  by Finnish courts - party chair  Jussi Halla-aho   included .
 If you have any questions, or would like to share something on your mind, just contact us via WhatsApp on +358 44 421 0909, on our Facebook or Twitter account, or at yle.news@yle.fi.
 The All Points North podcast is a weekly look at what's going on in Finland. Subscribe via  iTunes  (and leave a review!), listen  on Spotify  and  Yle Areena  or find it on your favourite podcatching app or via our  RSS feed .
 This week's show was presented by  Denise Wall  and  Mark B. Odom . The producer was  Pamela Kaskinen  and the sound engineer was  Joonatan Kotila .

All Points North #52: Political spin - who can say what in Finland?