Summary: The investigation focused on a group of far-right sympathizers in the security sector including six police officers.

Since the early autumn of 2020, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the National Prosecution Authority have been investigating interlinked groups of far-right sympathisers centred on a core group working in the security sector.
 Prosecutors are now considering charges of offences in public office and firearm offences.
 Activities targeting immigrants
 The investigation found the racist group had an established hierarchy, as well as operating principles and practiced regularly. According to the prosecutor, the planned target of the group was immigrants.
 Members of the group had numerous firearms. They also made and cached petrol bombs.
 One person may face charges of a firearms offence and a firearms violation. The latter involves the manner in which in licensed firearms were stored.
 Three individuals are suspected of incitement to violations of professional confidentiality, and one individual employed by the police is suspected of a breach of confidentiality. According to Yle's information, the latter is a security guard at the Helsinki Police Department.
 Police involvement
 On the basis of a combined investigation, three police officers are suspected of breaching professional confidentiality. According to information obtained by Yle, at least one works in the Helsinki Police Department.
 In addition, one officer is suspected of breach of duty. Police are suspected of disclosing classified information to the right-wing group.
 One Helsinki senior police sergeant  exchanged messages with the leader of the the far-right group  Nationalist Alliance (Kansallismielisten liittouma in Finnish) about a potentially violent confrontation with immigrants, providing advice.
 Prosecutors have limited possible charges against one officer to breach of duty and embezzlement, and dropped further investigation into one other.
 Dismissals
 Lead investigators from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Western Finland Prosecution Authority described the investigation as being unusual because of the involvement of police officers.
 The Helsinki Police Department dismissed two of the officers under suspicion before completion of the preliminary investigation. The department considered that message contacts with the far right and inappropriate discussions undermined confidence in their status as police officers.
 In addition, the Eastern Uusimaa Police Department dismissed a senior constable who participated in right-wing communications and leaked information from the police register to a third party. The officer also handed over a telescopic rifle sight for delivery to a war zone in Ukraine.
 The connections between these officers and the far right first came to light the records of a police investigation into  the attempted murder  of Finns Party aide Pekka Kataja last year.

Police complete probe into far-right linked group, submit case to prosecutors


Summary: Women in Finland earn on average about 16 percent less than men, the tabloid noted.

Public and welfare sector trade union JHL has demanded the introduction of wage transparency in the Finnish labour market as a means of tackling the gender pay gap, according to a  report  (in Finnish) by tabloid Iltalehti.
 The union recently published a study which found that the pay gap between men and women could be reduced if workers knew what their colleagues earned.
 In Finland, IL noted, women earned on average 16 percent less than men. A report by Statistics Finland found that full-time male employees in Finland earned an average of 3,759 euros per month while women earned an average of 3,154 euros.
 This 16 percent gap was also mentioned by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health in a  statement  entitled 'Towards Equal Pay', while an OECD  ranking  put the margin even higher, at 17.2 percent.
 Government preparing draft bill
 Reuters  reported  on Thursday that Finland's government is currently drafting a law that would allow workers to find out what their colleagues earn if they suspect they are being discriminated against.
 "What is central to the government's programme is the elimination of unjustified pay gaps. They will now be addressed more rigorously," Minister for Equality  Thomas Blomqvist  told Reuters, adding that the government expects to introduce the law during this current term of office.
 However, according to Reuters, the draft bill has been criticised by both employee unions — which say the bill does not go far enough — and Finland's largest employers' organisation, which argues that the law will create more conflicts in the workplace.

Iltalehti: Union calls for salary transparency to tackle Finland's gender pay gap


Summary: The Finnish national team is scheduled to play against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Saturday 13 November in the city of Zenica.

Finland's men's football team's World Cup 2022 qualifier against Bosnia and Herzegovina — scheduled for Saturday 13 November in the city of Zenica — is in doubt as political tensions escalate in the region.
 A report from the UN's Office of the High Representative (OHR) said the country currently faces its "greatest existential threat" since the end of the Bosnian War in 1995 as Serbian separatists push for secession.
 "Persistent, grave challenges to the fundamentals of the General Framework Agreement for Peace (GFAP) by the Republika Srpska (RS) entity authorities, led by the biggest RS party, the Alliance for Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) headed by BiH Presidency member  Milorad Dodik , endanger not only the peace and stability of the country and the region, but – if unanswered by the international community – could lead to the undoing of the Agreement itself," the UN report stated.
 Finland's Foreign Minister  Pekka Haavisto  (Green) told Yle's breakfast show  Ykkösaamu  on Monday morning he is "concerned" the political crisis in the region could lead to a military conflict.
 "When it comes to the situation in the Balkans, the tensions are always so high that one can often consider the possibility of a military conflict. That is why more attention should be paid to this," Haavisto said, adding that he hoped the game could go ahead.
 Ari Lahti , chair of the Finnish Football Association, told Yle Sport that European football's governing body UEFA is closely monitoring the situation in the region and may decide to switch the game to a neutral venue.
 Supporters told to stay home, because of Covid
 Authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina had already instructed Finnish fans not to travel to the game because of the deteriorating coronavirus situation in the country.
 However, Yle understands that about 100 Finnish supporters are still planning to travel to the game — even though they may be denied entry to the stadium.
 "According to the information we received on Friday, no visiting supporters will be admitted into the Zenica stadium, as the local vaccination situation is poor and there are clearly more Covid cases than in Finland," Lahti said.
 Story continues after the photo.
 The stadium in Zenica has a capacity of about 15,000. Getty Images for DFB
 The national team's supporter's association, SMJK, has submitted an appeal to UEFA against the decision to prevent fans from gaining access to the ground.
 "It would seem to me that this is just pure gamesmanship aimed at increasing the home team's advantage. Finland has clearly less Covid infections than there are in Bosnia, so you can sense that this is just an excuse that also involves the authorities," SMJK's ticketing manager  Jussi Hartikainen  told Yle Sport, further noting that away fans are allowed to attend games in the country's domestic league.
 Saturday's game is crucial in Finland's quest to qualify for a World Cup finals for the first time ever as a win would see the  Huuhkajat , or Eagle Owls, move into second place in the group with just one round of matches left to play.
 The two teams played out a 2-2 draw in the reverse fixture earlier this year in Helsinki.
 Finland last travelled to Zenica during the successful campaign to qualify for the 2020 European Championship finals, but lost 4-1 on that occasion.
 "At least last time, Zenica was a bad place for Finland to play, but it didn't feel any stranger there than in any other away match," Lahti recalled.

Finland's crucial world cup qualifier in doubt as Balkans situation deteriorates


Summary: When the Covid-19 epidemic first started, it was widely thought that it might spread similarly to influenza, but new research found differences in how the viruses spread.

When coronavirus first appeared, it was not thought that meteorological or temperature differences had a major effect on the virus' ability to spread.
 However, a newly-published international study has shown that the weather can affect infection rates in several ways. But it also found little evidence that meteorological conditions particularly influenced local spreads of Covid-19, concluding that people's behaviour and government interventions had a larger impact on infection rates.
 The extensive  study collected  data from more than 400 locations across 26 countries — including Finland — and from all of the globe's climatic zones.
 The regions were examined at periods when resistance levels to the virus were still low and Covid vaccinations had still not yet rolled out.
 Although weather conditions had little effect on the overall spread of the virus, the researchers noted something when comparing Covid's R0 number versus the local temperature. The R0, or reproduction number, measures how contagious a disease is.
 The researchers found that the R0 began to rise as temperatures reached +10 degrees Celsius and then started to taper off as the mercury hit +20 degrees. The virus was found to spread most in environments featuring temperatures between eight to 18 degrees.
 10 degrees Celsius
 According to University of Oulu public health professor  Jouni Jaakkola , coronavirus is most contagious at a temperature of 10 degrees.
 "Infectivity decreases as the temperature rises to 20 degrees and it also decreases as the air cools down towards zero degrees," Jaakkola said.
 The study found, however, that interventions like government restrictions had a six-fold greater impact on the spread of coronavirus compared to the relative temperature.
 But Jaakkola noted that weather conditions could play an increasing role in the spread of the virus as the pandemic subsides.
 Story continues after photo
 Jouni Jaakkola Timo Nykyri / Yle
 "My own opinion is that in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, there were a number of other factors that had a strong influence on how it spread. These include the inventions and the extent to which populations have been immunised, initially through infection and then through vaccinations," the professor explained.
 The effects that temperatures have on the spread of the virus are a combination of many factors. Temperature affects the virus organism itself, but also affects people's resistance to it as well as impacting human behaviours.
 Influenza differences
 Unlike the coronavirus, influenza reacts differently to the relative temperature. Previous studies have linked a drop in outdoor temperatures to an increase in influenza cases. In other words, the temperature is not as relevant to the spread of influenza, but when it gets colder, infections increase.
 The new study found that the risk of influenza infection was highest in areas that featured temperatures ranging between -5 to +5 degrees Celsius. Initially, the researchers assumed this would also be the case for coronavirus.
 "Influenza infections follow seasonal variations and typically occur during the winter season. This has continued for at least one hundred, if not hundreds of years, and some balance has been reached here. We assumed that if there was a similarity [between coronavirus and influenza] then the epidemic should decrease in the spring and summer in the same way as the flu. This was not clearly confirmed," Jaakkola said.
 Research on this topic will continue in Finland, according to the professor. Researchers at the University of Oulu are planning to examine data from the two first years of the Covid-19 era, including more study on the possible significance that seasonal variations may have on the virus.

Study: Flu most contagious in freezing temperatures, Covid at +10 degrees


Summary: Helsingin Sanomat writes that Finnish health officials continue to favour a carrot over a stick when it comes to boosting coronavirus vaccine uptake.

The Helsinki daily  Helsingin Sanomat  poses the question: Is society dividing into worlds of the vaccinated and the unvaccinated?
 As the paper points out, despite earlier projections, coronavirus vaccination coverage of the population over 12 years of age had not yet exceeded 80 percent as of Monday. Although the target is likely to be reached within the next few days, it is clear that  enthusiasm for vaccination has declined .
 At the same time, HS notes, the number of Covid hospitalisations is climbing towards a new pandemic record. The growing need for hospital care is partly explained by the high number of cases among those who are not vaccinated against the virus.
 It had been believed that vaccination would crush the pandemic, but now experts in Finland estimate that the strain on hospitals will continue for years to come. The problem also seems to be that many people, for one reason or another, do not want to take the vaccine.
 Helsingin Sanomat therefore wonders if we may find ourselves in a world where a compulsory vaccination is required in some sectors, a strict Covid "passport" is implemented, or even lockdowns imposed on the unvaccinated.
 Mika Salminen , Director of Health Security at the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), stressed to the paper that he hopes that there will not a polarisation of society.
 "We know that coercion will not solve the problem of the slowdown in vaccination uptake, but may even lead to a worsening of attitudes," said Salminen.
 "Carrots are always a better option. The starting point must be to share the right information and make it understandable," he added.
 The coronavirus has come to stay, Salminen further pointed out, and it is also inevitable that the situation will place an additional burden on healthcare for several more years.
 For this reason, he underlined that there should be a public discussion about the continuing impact on healthcare resources and about labour shortages in the field. This is an issue that concerns not just Finland, but the rest of Europe as well.
 Pet Registry
 The tabloid  Ilta-Sanomat reports  that the government in planning to make microchipping and registration of all cats and dogs mandatory within the next few years.
 The plan is included in the government’s proposal for a new Animal Welfare Act, which was distributed for review last week.
 To date, neither chipping nor registration of dogs or cats has been mandatory. Registering pets with the Kennel Club and the Cat Association has been a requirement for participation in competitions or shows.
 Chipping has long been required by the Kennel Club. According to the Kennel Club's  Harri Lehkonen  more than 70 percent of the Finnish dog population has been registered.
 A microchip is required for purebred kittens to be registered with the Cat Association, and it is also possible to register domestic cats in the microchip registry.
 Microchipping and registration are seen by animal welfare organisations as a partial solution to the  "cat crisis".  According to the Finnish Animal Welfare Association (SEY), it is estimated that at least 20,000 cats are abandoned in Finland each year. It is hoped that microchipping all cats would significantly reduce this number.
 A new Animal Welfare Act is due to enter into force at the beginning of 2023. Microchipping and registration of all dogs will be required from the beginning of the same year, and for cats from 2026.
 Nazi name blunder
 The  Swedish-language daily Hufvudstadsbladet  takes up what it describes as a "blunder" on the part of officials at the Finnish Patent and Registration Office.
 On 27 May of this year, the office granted a company permission to call itself "Oy Arbeit Macht Frei Ltd".
 "Arbeit Macht Frei" is a German phrase meaning "Work sets you free", a Nazi slogan best known as appearing on the entrance of the Auschwitz concentration camp.
 The Patent and Registration Office has now announced that the name was approved in error and apologised for the mistake.
 "We are sorry. The administrator in question does not speak German and did not remember that the expression was inappropriate," the office wrote on Twitter.
 The company in question still has use of the name. The Patent and Registration Office says it is now moving to have it revoked by the Supreme Administrative Court.
 Snow, rain, and slippery roads
 After a wintry start to the week in large parts of the country the weather is expected to warm up again as of Tuesday. The cold is forecast to make a return by the weekend, however, according to Helsinki's  Iltalehti .
 Snowfall is expected is western and central regions on Tuesday, turning to rain late in the day, along with the possibility of storm-level gusts of wind.
 There is a warning of hazardous driving conditions nationwide, with the exception of southern coastal areas. Roads are  likely to be slippery  especially in central and northern areas as temperatures begin to rise.

Tuesday's papers: Vaccination divide, pet registry, Nazi name blunder


Summary: Details about the alleged abuse in Hämeenlinna were published in an investigative report by Yle on Monday.

Police in Hämeenlinna are examining whether to open a preliminary investigation regarding allegations of years-long abuse of a young resident at a privately-run mental health facility,  Onnikoti Omenapuu  (roughly translated as Apple Tree Happy Home), in the city.
 Detective Inspector  Riku Vihtilä  told Yle on Monday that a criminal report had not yet been filed, but that the Hämeenlinna police department was looking into the matter on its own initiative.
 Local newspaper Hämeen Sanomat first  reported  about the development.
 Yle's  investigative report  reviewed more than 60 cases of shortcomings at facilities across the country. One of the cases allegedly took place at the Hämeenlinna facility operated by private healthcare provider Mehiläinen, where a young male resident was continually restrained by being tied to a chair with duct tape. The boy, who has severe autism, was also tied to his bed at night, according to the report. The alleged abuse occurred over the course of several years.
 Employees of the unit reported grievances to local authorities, bypassing Mehiläinen's senior management after repeated failures on their part to act.
 The City of Hämeenlinna and the Regional State Administrative Agency of Southern Finland (Avi) are responsible for supervising the residential facility in question.
 "Shocking"
 Hämeenlinna's director of customer guidance and purchasing services,  Leena Harjula , characterised the Yle investigative report as shocking.
 "According to the story that was published, extremely unpleasant events have taken place in the unit. The city has not known about all of this," Harjula said.
 Haruala added that regular monitoring visits are made to such facilities, including the one in question, saying that if any deficiencies are identified that they are addressed and remedied. She further said that Avi had been informed about incidents at the facility, but not any regarding the alleged abuse.
 The city has a unit for monitoring purchase service agreements. Harjula said that the aim is to carry out such monitoring visits once a year to examine the unit's overall situation. Other inspections may also be made in cases of suspected violations or misconduct.
 Several such visits were made at the facility in question, she added.
 "Of course, in retrospect, it may be that even more monitoring visits should have been carried out. But I understand that there have been a lot of visits, so it is difficult to say what could have been done differently," Harjula said.

Police to look into facility's suspected abuse of autistic boy


Summary: Finland's national airline will fly to about 100 destinations next summer, including 70 routes across Europe and ten to Asia.

National airline Finnair has announced plans to fly to almost one hundred different destinations around the world next summer, once Covid restrictions on international travel are lifted.
 "We look forward to the world continuing opening again," Finnair's Chief Commercial Officer  Ole Orvér  said in a company press release on Tuesday, adding that further information on additional destinations and routes will be announced in the coming weeks.
 In total, Finnair's network for the 2022 summer season, which kicks off in March, includes over 70 destinations in Europe, more than ten in Asia and four in the United States.
 The routes include three new long-haul destinations; to Dallas, Texas in the United States, to Busan in South Korea and to Tokyo's Haneda Airport in Japan.
 Before the pandemic, Japan was Finnair's second largest market after Finland, with the airline flying to five destinations: Tokyo Narita, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka and Sapporo. Authorities in the country are expected to begin lifting travel restrictions early next year.

Finnair announces new long-haul routes to Asia, United States


Summary: Opposition parties have called on the government to update Finnish legislation to prepare for a possible border situation such as that faced by Poland.

Parliamentary question time on Thursday brought a heated discussion on the situation on the border between Belarus and Poland and on Finland's preparedness for hybrid threats.
 Thousands of migrants have massed at the border, trying to enter the European Union. According to the EU and Finland, this is a hybrid operation by Belarus to protest sanctions imposed on the country after the disputed 2020 presidential election.
 During Thursday's debate, the opposition Finns Party indicated it will once again seek a vote of no confidence in the centre-left government over its immigration policy. The last time Finns Party filed an interpellation about immigration was in October.
 Finns Party chair  Riikka Purra  referred to an unconfirmed report by the German newspaper Die Welt, claiming that Germany and Finland are the main destinations for migrants trying to enter the EU through the Belarusian-Polish border.
 "Shortcomings in our legislation"
 Petteri Orpo , leader of the other main opposition party, the National Coalition, demanded that the government urgently introduce legislative changes to make it possible to suspend the reception of asylum applications.
 "We have shortcomings in our legislation. We must be able to stop and suspend the reception of asylum applications. We don't have that tool at the moment," Orpo said.
 The Finns Party also demanded that an emergency measure be enacted, under which asylum applications would not be accepted during exceptional circumstances.
 Prime Minister  Sanna Marin  (SDP) condemned the actions of Belarus, calling them an attack on the European Union. According to Marin, it is worth looking into whether there is a need for revision in Finnish legislation.
 "In such a similar situation, the Finnish government would act. We do not accept such action at that border, and we will not accept it at our own borders. It is important that the EU is united on this issue and supports these countries," Marin said.

Citing Polish border crisis, opposition challenges government again over immigration


Summary: Finland is party to international agreements ratified to ensure the humane treatment of migrants.

Scenes of thousands of migrants converging on the Poland-Belarus border have prompted many in Finland to assess how the country would respond if a large number of asylum seekers were to arrive on the Finnish border.
 National Coalition Party (NCP) and Finns Party MPs have called for the government to urgently introduce legislative changes to make it possible to  suspend the reception of asylum applications . Such action is, however, implausible without breaching a host of international agreements that Finland is party to.
 Mikko Lehmus , who heads the Border Guard's risk analysis unit, told Yle that "closing borders" is not a Finnish legal concept.
 He noted that Finland can shut down border crossing points, which essentially entails blocking traffic with booms and preventing people from moving through checkpoints.
 Lehmus also pointed out that building a fence along Finland's external border would be unrealistic from a cost perspective.
 "Constructing a fence in southeastern Estonia costs 500-1,000 euros per metre. Finland has some 1,300 kilometres of border," he said, noting that not one migrant related to Belarus' hybrid operation has entered Finland via the eastern border.
 The few dozen people who  have reached Finland  via Belarus have arrived from other EU countries. Twenty of these individuals have sought asylum in Finland.
 Lehmus noted that border officials are always obliged to accept asylum applications, and individuals are allowed to stay in Finland until their cases reach a legal conclusion.
 International law professor  Martti Koskenniemi  added that Finland can't opt out of international agreements regarding humanitarian protection even if thousands of migrants arrive on Finnish borders.
 This means Finland cannot turn away migrants that have made it inside Finnish borders if they cite grounds for seeking asylum. The Helsinki University professor also noted that preventing asylum seekers from filing applications in Finland can be viewed as breaching European human rights agreements in terms of inhumane treatment.
 Finland cannot cite defending its own sovereignty as a reason to ignore international treaties, according to Koskenniemi.
 He, however, said that in an emergency it may be possible to legally diverge from certain agreements. The criteria for an emergency is open for interpretation, according to Koskenniemi, who noted that the arrival of a few hundred or a thousand migrants on the border would not fill that criteria.
 "Infringing on treaties or international law is serious. It justifies other states taking countermeasures. Above all, it creates a precedent other states can use in the future against that infringing state," he said.

No sense in building a fence, border official says


Summary: With the economy bouncing back from the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, a new forecast projects the employment rate will come close to 75 percent by 2023.

At the beginning of its term of office in December 2019, the Marin government set a target of raising the employment rate to 75 percent by no later than 2023. According to the latest labour market forecast by Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, the government is likely to come close to that goal by that deadline.
 However, since the current government took office and announced its programme, the method used by the ministry to calculate the rate of employment has changed, so what was considered 75 percent in 2019 is now around one percentage point lower.
 "According to the labour market forecast, in 2023 we will get very close to the government's 75 percent employment target according to the old measurement method," Undersecretary of State  Elina Pylkkänen  explained in a release by the Ministry of Employment and the Economy.
 Employment began to recover from the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic during the summer months and is now  reaching pre-pandemic levels . Employment growth has been supported by economic recovery measures, reduced restrictions and increased vaccine coverage. Economic growth has picked up pace pace and employment has improved.
 The employment rate is projected to rise to the pre-coronavirus level of 72.2 percent this year.
 More part-time work
 Unlike in the past, the growth in employment has also meant an increase in part-time work. Although employment as a whole has increased, the number of permanent jobs has continued to decline. The total number of hours worked has remained at the 2019 levels, although the number of people with jobs has increased.
 The supply of part-time work is thought to be related to the uncertainty brought about by the pandemic. With demand for goods and services uncertain, more part-time and fixed-term workers have been hired and fewer permanent jobs have been created. However, the forecast believes that full-time work will increase unless new waves of the pandemic disrupt the economy.
 There will be 55,000 new hirings this year, according to the ministry's figures, and 40,000 next year, but only 10,000 in the third projected year of 2023. Employment growth is expected to be almost entirely within the service sectors. New growth potential is especially evident in the hospitality and culture sectors that are now recovering from the impact of restrictions imposed to deal with the pandemic.
 More unemployed
 So far, unemployment has not fallen to pre-pandemic levels, even though the employment situation has improved. There are still 40,000 more unemployed jobseekers than before the start of the coronavirus crisis.
 The number of long-term unemployed has risen to record levels, with more than 40 percent of all unemployed in the long-term category. However, that figure is steadily declining.
 "The most gratifying development is that youth unemployment seems to be declining rapidly. This enables the long careers that will help alleviate our sustainability gap. And above all, this is the cornerstone of young people's optimism about the future," Pylkkänen noted.
 The ministry's labour market forecast is based on a scenario in which restrictive measures imposed to deal with the coronavirus pandemic have ended and economic recovery continues.

Ministry forecast: Employment to approach government target by 2023


Summary: If plans go forward, the museum will be built by the city's South Harbour, adjacent to the Market Square.

Museot, näyttelyt sekä historiallisten paikkojen ja rakennusten suojelu

The Helsinki city board on Monday evening conditionally approved to advance plans to build the Finnish Museum of Architecture and Design in the city. At the same time, the board also approved the expenditure of 25,000 euros towards setting up the museum's foundation.
 However, the board's decision hinges on the Finnish state making the same decision about the project.
 The purpose of the foundation will be to promote and support the activities as well as promotion of the museum, which is planned to be built alongside the city's South Harbour, adjacent to the Market Square.
 As the project moves forward, the idea is for the city and state to jointly capitalise the museum's foundation equally.
 The foundation's goal is to raise a total of 150 million euros, with 60 million paid by the city and state, respectively. The remaining 30 million euros are to be raised from private capital.
 Last April, three foundations — the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation, the Finnish Cultural Foundation and the Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland — made a conditional  commitment  to the museum's capitalisation of at least 24 million euros. The Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation's grant of 20 million euros was the largest private donation ever made to the cultural sector in Finland.
 Final decisions about the museum project's funding will be made after its design and implementation plans are complete.
 It has previously been estimated that the museum's preparations will continue until the end of 2023, after which final decisions about the project are expected to be made.

Helsinki conditionally approves Finnish Museum of Architecture and Design plans


Summary: The blaze was the region's worst in nearly half a century.

A preliminary investigation into the  fire that destroyed 230 hectares of forest  in Kalajoki, Northern Ostrobothnia during the summer has been completed, with police saying they suspect the blaze was caused by negligence.
 "One person is suspected of negligent endangerment," detective inspector  Ilkka Piispanen , who is leading the investigation, told Yle. "The police do not suspect that the act was intentional, but it was negligence."
 Police have passed the case file onto prosecutors. There is only one suspect, who has denied any involvement.
 The blaze raged through woodland around the village of Rauti and the town of Kalajoki for more than two weeks, from the end of July into the beginning of August.
 The fire was the second largest in Finland this decade, and the worst in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia for nearly half a century.

Police suspect negligence caused 230-hectare forest fire


Summary: Limited overseas travel and an e-commerce boom spell another record-breaking festive period for postal delivery services.

Christmas during a pandemic takes on added significance for many people, especially when loved ones are far away.
 Although travel restrictions are less severe than last Christmas, festive travel is likely to remain well below 2019 levels. For some, this means that sending presents and cards by post will take on increased importance again this year.
 "The most problematic part is that most people wait until right before Christmas to send presents back home, forgetting what it was like last year," explained  Catalina Mihai , originally from Romania and now living in Helsinki. She suggests people should "start planning early."
 Online retailers also advise shoppers to plan ahead, with pandemic-era habits apparently here to stay. Finland's Commerce Federation says that online shopping  jumped by 22 percent  in 2020, and retailers expect Christmas 2021 to see demand peak once again.
 Lauri Kutila , head of communications at Verkkokauppa, Finland’s largest domestic e-retailer, says that the coming season will be "without a doubt the busiest on record."
 "Play it safe when it comes to holiday shopping," Kutila adds. "The earlier the better is the mantra for this year, especially with our most in-demand items such as the PS5, Lego sets, and the iPhone 13."
 Deliveries to hit all-time-high
 This all means that the state-owned postal service Posti has more on its plate than ever before this Christmas.
 "We are expecting an exceptionally busy Christmas and will likely smash last year’s delivery records for both parcels and Christmas cards,"  Jarmo Ainasoja  Head of Christmas Planning for Posti, tells Yle News.
 Ainasoja adds that last year’s busy season took Posti by surprise, with many people forced to travel longer distances to pick up packages, but new infrastructure and staff should help avoid that this year.
 "We started planning for this Christmas almost immediately after the last one ended. We’ve added hundreds of Posti lockers around Finland and we’ve hired 4,000 additional helping hands to get us through the season," he says, adding that the company is  actively recruiting  for various part-time roles to beef up its surge capacity this winter.
 E-commerce will continue to play a huge role this Christmas, Ainasoja points out, explaining that the Covid-19 bounce in online shopping has created a "new baseline" of high demand that "is not going away any time soon."
 Although capacity has been boosted, customers are being urged to send their parcels as early as possible.
 Posti Christmas deadlines Cards and letters  outside  Europe must be mailed out by November 24 at the latest (December 1 for priority postage) Christmas cards and letter deliveries  within  Europe must be sent by December 1 at the latest (December 8 for priority postage) Cards and letters destined for Nordic countries must be sent by December 7 at the latest (December 14 for priority postage) Cards and letters delivered to Baltic countries must be sent by December 9 at the latest (December 16 for priority postage)
 Covid disruptions persist
 Despite predictions of record levels of business, few expect the situation to be as challenging as last Christmas.
 There are still significantly fewer international flights than in 2019, which means reduced traffic for deliveries. Meanwhile, demand for cross-border deliveries has soared.
 "Another challenge is that the busy period has gotten longer and longer in recent years, with extended e-commerce events like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Singles Week meaning that we have to start planning earlier," Ainasoja explains.
 Problems that are expected to impact deliveries in other countries—such as truck driver shortages in the UK—are unlikely to affect Posti’s domestic operations. However, Posti has told customers to prepare for problems if they are delivering parcels to countries experiencing such issues.
 "While we don’t have a driver shortage like in England, anyone delivering there might have their delivery impacted due to the ongoing situation."
 Story continues after photo
 Mira Ekonen
 Posti and e-retailers tell Finns to be on the ball this year
 As well as completing deliveries in a timely fashion, Posti also stressed that it is important to be "on the ball" and be aware of new and pre-existing rules, especially for international deliveries.
 Year after year, Posti says that the number one cause of delays is people not writing out addresses clearly and correctly.
 "For many people, a Christmas card is the only item they will send to a particular address for the entire year. That’s why it is especially important to double-check that the address is the same as it was last year and that all information is accurate and spelled correctly," Ainasoja advises.
 Meanwhile, fees and customs duties are continuing to catch out customers that send and receive overseas parcels. Posti recently started charging fees for deliveries outside of the EU, meaning you can expect to be billed €2,90 for any packages that you send outside the bloc.
 People should also prepare for the EU’s decision to remove the VAT exemption for "low-value" deliveries. Since July 2021, all parcels sent or received from outside the EU must have a customs declaration attached and will be subject to VAT fees. The  Finnish Customs online calculator  helps customers figure out whether they need to pay customs on a parcel and how much you owe.
 Posti also says that the reintroduction of customs papers and fees for UK-bound parcels because of Brexit has "surprised a huge amount" of customers in Finland and that people should be prepared to fill out "a lot of detailed information" if they want to send anything to the UK.
 If that all sounds like a lot of work, Catalina has a handy tip for reducing the workload when getting presents to loved ones this Christmas.
 "If all of your presents are going to the same country and you can fit them into a bigger box, ship them as one item to one destination and ask your relatives to distribute them locally."
 You can find country-specific information from Posti  here .

Planning to send Christmas parcels? Better start soon


Summary: Thousands of migrants are at Belarus' border with Poland. The EU has blamed Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko of bringing the third-country migrants to the borders of member states.

Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs  Pekka Haavisto  said on Tuesday that Belarus needs to care for the refugees in its country and cannot push them across the borders of other countries.
 Belarus has transported migrants and refugees, in efforts to assist them to cross into neighbouring countries Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.
 Haavisto said that Finland has legislation in place to deal with hybrid threats which can be used to temporarily close the border, if necessary.
 The matter of the Belarus-Polish border was raised at a joint press briefing with foreign minister Haavisto and his Latvian counterpart  Edgars Rinkēvičs  in Helsinki on Tuesday.
 Large numbers of migrants have gathered at the border between Belarus and Poland since Monday. According to the BBC late on Tuesday afternoon, at least 2,000 migrants are at Belarus' border with Poland.
 The European Union has accused the leader of Belarus,  Alexander Lukashenko , of smuggling migrants from third countries across EU borders.
 Haavisto said that Finland and the EU condemned the actions taken by Belarus.
 "This is a hybrid activity and we must work together against it,"
 On Monday EU President  Ursula von der Leyen  called on member states to impose new sanctions against Belarus for causing the problem. She said the use "of migrants for political purposes is unacceptable," according to several media outlets, including France24.
 Haavisto said the new sanctions package would be targeted at airlines from countries that are bringing migrants to Belarus. He added that operations of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex needs to be strengthened.
 Meanwhile, Latvian foreign minister Rinkēvičs characterised the situation at the Latvian-Belarusian border as "tense but stable," saying that the matter, as well as the situation at the Polish border, were being monitored.
 Latvia declared a state of emergency in August in order to return migrants to Belarus from the Latvian border.
 Interior Minister: Finland is prepared
 Finnish Interior Minister  Maria Ohisalo  separately said on Tuesday that Finland would defend its borders if necessary.
 Ohisalo called on the EU to take joint action against the hybrid threat which Belarus poses.
 Meeting with members of the media at Parliament House, Ohisalso said that hybrid threats at EU borders were a new phenomenon and the right ways to combat them were currently being sought.
 She said that Finland is already prepared to defend its borders, as well as the EU's common external border, if they are subjected to state sponsored mass immigration or other hybrid threats.
 Ohisalo emphasised that according to international agreements which Finland has signed, asylum seekers must be given opportunities to submit asylum applications upon arrival to at least one border crossing point.
 The interior minister said that the EU and member states should make efforts to influence third countries from which migrants were setting off with false hopes.
 Responding to the situation at the borders of Poland, Latvia and Lithuania on Monday, Ohisalo tweeted that she found Belarus' actions to be highly reprehensible.

Minister: Finland could close border over migrant situation at Belarus borders


Summary: The health agency's security director says switching between following restrictions and then using the pass is contradictory to the Covid pass system's intent.

The Institute for Health and Welfare's (THL) health security director,  Mika Salminen , has said he is dissatisfied with how several restaurants and bars have selectively used the Covid pass.
 A Covid pass is a certificate which states whether the holder has been fully vaccinated, has recovered from the virus, or has recently tested negative. Customer-facing businesses like restaurants and gyms can require people to show their Covid status in order to bypass epidemic-related restrictions, which can limit things like opening and alcohol sale hours as well as cap the number of customers permitted inside.
 However, Salminen said that some establishments operate under the restriction rules during weekdays and then only require customers to show Covid passes on the weekends.
 Story continues after photo
 Mika Salminen Petteri Bülow / Yle
 He added that the epidemic-fighting benefits of the system are diminished if establishments follow the restrictions in the afternoon and then switch over to requiring Covid passes at night.
 "If the Covid pass is only used at night, it doesn't add any value. It should be either-or. The Covid pass has not worked here as well as we had hoped. It is being used in contradiction to the idea behind it," Salminen said.
 Hospitality lobby chief disagrees
 Hospitality industry lobby group MaRa's CEO,  Timo Lappi 's, negative response to Salminen's criticism was published by news group Uutissuomalainen, among other outlets.
 Lappi said that establishments have operated within the law and their use of the Covid pass system has been agreed to with the Regional State Administrative Agencies (Avi).
 Timo Lappi Mikko Koski / Yle
 Salminen noted that when used properly, Covid passes could significantly reduce the number of infections and that the system could be a significant competitive advantage for bars, pubs and nightclubs.
 "'It's safe in our restaurant, we always use Covid passes,'" he said. "If it was being done this way across the country, we would certainly have less illness."
 However, Lappi disagreed with this statement, saying that using the Covid passes at certain times of the day does not worsen the epidemic situation and that the practice was logical.
 Lappi said Salminen's "either-or" suggestion about the passes could have fatal consequences for the Covid pass system itself.
 "If restaurants could function without using the passes at all, it would significantly reduce their willingness to use them. That is quite clear," Lappi said.

THL's Salminen: Some restaurants use Covid pass only when it suits them


Summary: The courier firm has become popular in Finland.

It's tax day in Finland, when everyone's tax data for 2020 is made public. The papers are as ever filled with tax-related stories, but there's one big piece of business news that is also topping the news agenda on Wednesday: the takeover of courier firm Wolt by American rival DoorDash.
 Helsingin Sanomat  says  the deal is worth seven billion euros, and quotes Wolt CEO  Miki Kuusi  as saying the decision to sell was the hardest of his life. Wolt estimated that the deal would be worth some 600 million euros in tax revenues for Finland.
 HS  suggests  the deal would be the second biggest takeover deal in Finnish business history, after Nokia's purchase of French giant Alcatel-Lucent—that 2016 deal was worth 16.4 billion euros.
 HS also  reports  on congratulations from others in the Finnish business world and in government, with Finance Minister  Annika Saarikko  (Cen) saying it was "wonderful that Finnish know-how is recognised worldwide. [There are] big benefits to our country, including tax revenues."
 Tax Day
 Finland's Tax Administration publishes tax data today, with most news outlets publishing stories and data from 8am.
 This is different from last year, when many media outlets  refused to publish tax search engines  in protest at the Tax Administration's decision to allow high earners to conceal their earnings from publication.
 This time round, after a court ruling in favour of tax transparency, HS and others will be updating their databases with the new information from 2020.
 The court ruled that tax officials have to provide the media with a list of those who requested confidentiality, and that if media request their data by name, it must be provided.
 In an opinion piece, HS  says  the data published first thing on Wednesday will not be complete, but in line with the court ruling, the paper will task journalists to go through the list of people who requested their removal from the lists, and request each person's income information individually in order to add it to the data set.
 Aamulehti, meanwhile,  explains  another reason some rich people are not at the top of the earnings lists.
 The paper explains that the truly wealthy members of society do not take a big income each year, instead allowing their assets to appreciate tax-free via holding companies.
 This avoids the taxman taking a cut—and their tax data being published.
 Advance stories prepared for print editions are not based on the actual data itself, but offer a little context about those who may have done well last year. The idea is to explain a little about how people made their money.
 Iltalehti  reports  on Espoo supermarket owner  Toni Pokela  who made over a million euros last year, thanks largely to rapid adaptation as Covid prompted increased demand for online grocery shopping.
 It was a tough year for everyone, but Pokela said the adjustments necessary during the pandemic were significant.
 "We have more than a hundred employees, so we thought about how coffee breaks could be organised so that there were only six people in the break room at any one time," said Pokela.
 "Where could we get extra space and how it could be organised, all this was totally new to us too."
 Belarus border
 The situation on the borders of Belarus has prompted concern across Europe,  including in Finland , and HS  carries comments  from Finnish President  Sauli Niinistö  that were subsequently picked up by plenty of other outlets.
 Belarus has transported thousands of migrants to its border with Poland, as they attempt to gain entry to the EU. Poland has been blocking entry for the migrants.
 HS reports that Niinistö says he considers the escalating situation to be extremely problematic.
 "I have been thinking about the dilemma that liberal democracy is currently facing. We have, in a way, lost the ability to be tough—which is good, of course—but we have also lost the ability to be tough against tough situations. That's when situations like what is happening at the Polish border actually culminate," he said.
 Niinistö suggested that, unlike western democracies, authoritarian regimes can tolerate the mistreatment of their own people, which he calls a "highly dangerous weapon." He also stressed that Poland's actions are not in line with international agreements that obligate countries to grant asylum to those seeking it at their border.
 The president highlighted Europe's double standards regarding migration, referring to its tendency to emphasise its commitment to respect human rights and treaties while simultaneously paying Turkey to support refugees. In 2016, the EU signed an agreement with Turkey, whereby the latter agreed to host millions of Syrian refugees with EU funding.
 Niinistö also stressed that the situation, which he believes could eventually lead to violence, will be especially tricky for the EU, particularly if it does not intervene in any way.

Wednesday's papers: Wolt sold, tax day, Niinistö on Belarus


Summary: Mikko Kodisoja, co-founder of gaming firm Supercell, made over 93 million euros last year.

Mikko Kodisoja , former game lead and co-founder of mobile game company Supercell, was the highest income earner in Finland in 2020, according to tax data revealed by the Finnish Tax Administration on Wednesday morning.
 Kodisoja, who left Supercell and set up the virtual production company Fireframe last summer, earned 93.5 million euros and paid over 33 million euros in taxes. The Tax Administration provides information on the highest income earners to the media every year.
 Another Supercell founder, CEO  Ilkka Paananen , also made the list of top earners, coming in second behind Kodisoja with an income of 86.7 million euros last year. Paananen, who paid over 32 million euros in taxes, also earned a spot in the previous year's top three.
 Heikki Herlin , whose family controls international machine manufacturing giant Kone, took third place with an annual income of 28.3 million euros. Herlin owns stakes in companies such as Cargotec, Alma Media and Oriola.
 Other high income earners include  Joni Kettunen , one of the founders of Firstbeat Technologies, who took home 27.9 million euros, and  Mikael Thuneberg , founding member and CEO of Supermetrics, who made 24.7 million euros in 2020.
 Firstbeat Technologies, which develops physiological analytics technology for wearable devices, was bought by smart watch manufacturer Garmin last year, while Supermetrics tracks market data and includes Warner Bros. Entertainment and Dyson in its list of customers.
 Open data this year
 This year, around 2,300 people asked that their names be removed from the annual list of high income earners that tax authorities submitted to the media.
 The list contains the tax data of Finns who earned more than 100,000 euros. Last year, the names of half of Finland's top earners were left off the list that was shared with the press by special request.
 This year's list is more comprehensive than 2020's after a court ruling ensured that tax officials were required to inform media companies which taxpayers have requested to be removed from public lists.
 Media outlets can then ask specifically for those taxpayers' data, and add it to their own public datasets.
 Previously, the Tax Administration had removed the data of those high earners who asked for discretion. They will continue to do so, but must hand over details if specifically asked.
 Media organisations including Yle have set aside resources to go through the list of some 2,000 publicity-shy high earners and ask for their data, with the aim of completing the data set on Wednesday.

Tax data: Former game company exec is Finland's top earner for 2020


Summary: On Tuesday the Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District (HUS), Finland's largest, raised its preparedness level due to the worsening Covid situation.

The Acting Managing Director of the Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District (HUS),  Markku Mäkijärvi , said the government needs to clarify how it makes decisions about Covid-related restrictions.
 "I would like to see more clarity about the roles and responsibilities of ministries and regional decision-makers," he told Yle TV1's breakfast show on Wednesday.
 He made the comments a day after the hospital district announced that it was raising its preparedness levels in order to deal with increasing numbers of Covid patients needing hospital care.
 In early September, the government rolled out a new, hybrid Covid strategy, a move that among other things, shifted the responsibilities of tackling the epidemic to local and regional bodies. Mäkijärvi said the strategy needs refinement.
 "We have to look at what the government outlined [in its strategy] so that we are able to make decisions. There is too much grey area for decision making," Mäkijärvi said.
 The government is scheduled to meet on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the possibility of reinstating or extending coronavirus restrictions due to the deteriorating epidemic situation.
 HUS raises preparedness level to second-highest
 On Tuesday HUS, announced that Mäkijärvi decided to raise the district's preparedness level to the second tier, due to the strain of increasing numbers of Covid patients needing hospital treatment.
 HUS serves the most residents in the country and continues to see the largest number of new coronavirus cases.
 HUS has three levels of preparedness levels. The level is raised to the second tier, according to the guidelines, when a hospital district is faced with exceptionally serious or long-term disturbances that threaten its ability to provide services in one or more hospital districts.
 The hospital district said that in light of the worsening epidemic across the country, it would be also necessary to raise crisis management capacities at the national level.
 Under the heightened preparedness level, the district will need to implement exceptional solutions for the continuation of operations at several hospitals and clinics, including possible reassignments or reorganisation of staffing resources.
 In light of the deteriorating epidemic situation, on Tuesday the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Coronavirus Coordination Group proposed that the government should increase restrictions on restaurants, a move which would further curtail opening hours and shut down alcohol sales earlier, for example.
 The coordination group said the reasons behind its proposal were the increase in new Covid cases, a slowdown in vaccination coverage and the increased burden of specialist health care workers.
 Emergency brake
 During the autumn, the government has been preparing a so-called emergency brake mechanism that could be implemented if the epidemic situation takes a severe turn for the worse.
 Once in place, the mechanism would enable regional and local authorities to introduce more coronavirus-related restrictions.
 The government is also scheduled to discuss details surrounding the emergency brake on Wednesday, and Mäkijärvi said he wants the criteria for the mechanism to be clearly defined.
 He added that he does not want Finland to react too late to the worsening situation, suggesting that was the case with Estonia, which has recently seen a spike in new Covid cases, hospitalisations and related deaths.

HUS boss calls for clarity on government's Covid decision-making process


Summary: The delivery-firm deal is one of the biggest in Finnish business history.

Wolt CEO  Miki Kuusi  says that the delivery company's sale to DoorDash was a 'small surprise' even to him. The firm's plan was to list on the stock exchange, rather than sell up to a rival.
 Late on Tuesday the firm announced a deal worth roughly seven billion euros to sell to DoorDash, representing one of the biggest takeovers ever involving a Finnish company.
 Kuusi says that even a few months ago, he thought it unlikely that Wolt would be sold.
 "This was a difficult decision on a personal level as well," said Kuusi.
 The deal made  big headlines in Finland , with ministers and business figures praising the company for its apparent success.
 "Really exciting opportunity"
 According to Kuusi, Wolt has had close links with DoorDash for some time. For example. Kuusi has known DoorDash CEO  Tony Xu  for a number of years.
 "We haven't realised how similar we are as companies, and how similar our thinking is," said Kuusi.
 The position of DoorDash as a large international company was also attractive. The firm is the biggest food courier service in the United States.
 "It's a really exciting opportunity," said Kuusi, who will now head up the firm's international operations.
 "We have always been a small firm focused on the domestic market, which has competed against companies with ten or a hundred times more funding than us," said Kuusi.
 After the deal Wolt will continue operations with its own name and products. Wolt's customers, partners and couriers will see things continue as before.
 One issue the new firm will have to deal with is the ruling that found  Wolt couriers in Finland are employees , not entrepreneurs.
 The company claims that couriers prefer to be entrepreneurs rather than employees.

Wolt CEO hails multi-billion-euro sale, says it was a "difficult decision"


Summary: The Finnish Security Intelligence Service suspects that people have applied for Supo jobs as a way to find out about those who are hired.

The Finnish Security Intelligence Service (Supo) may itself have been the subject of espionage during recruitment processes.
 Yle has learned that some individuals may have applied for jobs at the agency as a ruse in order to gather intelligence. These applicants' goal was to find out names and other details about those applicants who were selected for the positions.
 The application process for all Supo posts is semi-public. Applicants can access information about who eventually gets the job.
 The names of those selected for positions of high sensitivity may be kept secret from the public. However, other applicants for the job have the right to know who was selected, as well as their training, previous positions, and other personal information.
 According to Yle's sources, Supo have strong suspicions that over the years there have been situations where recruitment has been used as a cover for intelligence gathering. Having someone apply for a job at Supo could help a foreign country to create a data registry of intelligence service employees, for example.
 Yle has not received confirmation whether Supo suspects a foreign state or group of exploiting its recruitment process.

Supo suspects it was target of espionage via job application process


Summary: Holding company Solidium paid over 95 million euros in corporate taxes in 2020.

State-owned investment company Solidium paid the largest corporate tax bill of any limited liability company in Finland last year, according to data published by the Finnish Tax Administration on Wednesday. Meanwhile German pharmaceutical company Bayer was the largest corporate taxpayer overall.
 Solidium, a holding company founded in 2008, owns a minor stake in numerous listed companies, including Sampo, Elisa, Nokia, Metso, Stora Enso, Valmet and Outokumpu. It paid over 95 million euros in taxes last year.
 The next highest bills were paid by oil firm Neste (80m) and telecoms operator Elisa (69m).
 Corporate tax is paid by limited companies and other entities, and represents about 20 percent of the company's taxable income. Some 70 percent of that tax goes to the state and the remaining 30 percent is allocated to the municipality in which each company is based.
 The Covid crisis impacted various sectors differently. While net sales decreased for many, operating profits rose due to cost-cutting and state Covid subsidies.
 According to  research  by Finnish business newspaper Kauppalehti, over half of companies saw their net profits rise by more than six percent.
 The total amount of corporate tax paid by companies in 2020 was 5.4 billion euros—0.4 million euros less than the previous year.
 Covid subsidies paid to companies by the state are deemed taxable income. This could be one reason why corporate tax revenues did not fall as much as anticipated last year.
 International conglomerates paid the most taxes
 Finland's Tax Administration provides information on companies that have paid over 5,000 euros in corporate taxes.
 However, the list only includes limited liability companies. The rankings would change when taking taxes paid by business concerns such as conglomerates and multinational firms into account.
 According to estimates by Finance Finland (FFI), a lobby group representing Finland's financial sector, German pharmaceutical company Bayer was the largest corporate taxpayer in the country last year, paying 124 million euros in taxes.
 Finnish retail conglomerate K Group came in second, with 118 million euros in corporate taxes, followed by Nordea, which paid 110 million euros.

State investment firm Solidium tops limited liability companies' tax list


Summary: One courier who took a break from delivering lunch in Helsinki said he hoped for an extra euro per delivery.

As the news of delivery firm Wolt being acquired by an American rival DoorDash made headlines on Wednesday, Yle's Helsinki bureau visited the Mall of Tripla in the Pasila district at lunchtime to get reaction from the company's couriers.
 Most of the couriers were too busy to stop and chat, but a few did take a moment for brief interviews.
 It appeared that most of the couriers were unaware of the company's historically-pricey acquisition, however.
 For example, courier  Alex Eze  said it was news to him that the firm was being acquired for around seven billion euros, saying he was shocked to hear it sold for that much.
 Njang Nchanji Regan  responded to the news by saying "Really? Does that affect us, the workers?"
 "That amount is quite huge; it means that there's a lot of money in Wolt. I just hope for the [best]," he added.
 Employees or entrepreneurs?
 The company has faced pressure from authorities over the status of the couriers that it pays to deliver meals and other items. At the beginning of this month, the occupational safety and health authority of the Regional State Administrative Agency of Southern Finland (Avi) ruled that the couriers should be considered employees of the company, not entrepreneurs, as the company considers them to be.
 Such a change would force the company to make major adjustments to current so-called zero-hour arrangements, which enables couriers to choose when they want to work. It would also legally compel the company to provide the dispatchers with various employee benefits, like paid vacations.
 Wolt said it planned to appeal the case to the Administrative Court.
 Elaborating on his reaction to the acquisition, courier Eze said he earns four euros per delivery on weekdays.
 "We hope they can increase it to five euros, because we need to fix our cars, fuel is very expensive and everything is quite expensive, as we all know, in Finland," Regan said.

Watch: Wolt couriers react to firm's €7bn acquisition


Summary: The Covid situation has taken a turn for the worse near the Swedish border and in the southeast.

Health officials in southwest Lapland declared on Wednesday that the Covid situation in the Länsi-Pohja healthcare district has worsened, re-entering the community transmission phase.
 The Länsi-Pohja pandemic task force warned of the risk of overloading medical facilities as infections increase. It stressed that a high number of unvaccinated people also increases the risk.
 Länsi-Pohja includes the cities of Kemi and Tornio and the surrounding municipalities of Keminmaa, Simo, Tervola and Ylitornio in southwest Finnish Lapland, near the Swedish border and the Bay of Bothnia.
 Last week, 84 new coronavirus infections were diagnosed in Länsi-Pohja, and 27 more have been found so far this week.
 Vaccination rate near 80%
 The incidence rate in the Länsi-Pohja subregion is now at about 220 per 100,000 inhabitants. Breakthrough infections have also been reported among some residents who have received two doses of vaccine.
 So far there are only a few Covid patients in hospitals and health centres, though, none of them in intensive care.
 THL announced on Wednesday that Finland has achieved 80 percent vaccination coverage for two doses of coronavirus vaccine among those aged 12 and over.
 Hospital districts in Finnish Lapland are slightly below the national average. In Länsi-Pohja, 78.8 percent of those 12 and over have received two doses, compared to 79.7 percent in the Lapland hospital district.
 Restaurant restrictions up to government
 According to the pandemic task force, restaurant-based infection chains have been identified in the Länsi-Pohja subregion, which have also led to hospitalisations.
 The pandemic working group recommends that municipalities restrict general meetings and public events.
 The working group, which represents the municipalities in the area, is also calling on the central government to impose restaurant restrictions for the entire area. Restaurants and nightclubs would be able to keep operating with fewer restrictions if they ensure that each customer has a valid Covid passport.
 Experts say there is no single clear reason for the renewed spread of the illness. Elsewhere in Lapland, only a few isolated infections have been reported recently.
 Meanwhile the incidence rate in Norrbotten, on the other side of the Swedish border, is much lower than in Länsi-Pohja, and everyone entering Finland must show a Covid passport.
 Cases rising in Kymenlaakso despite 81% coverage
 Also on Wednesday, officials said the situation had weakened in the Kymenlaakso region of southeast Finland, where nine patients are receiving hospital treatment for Covid. The largest numbers of new cases are in the cities of Kouvola and Kotka.
 Infections are still most prevalent in unvaccinated people, but those affected also include individuals over the age of 60 who received their second dose of vaccination in June or earlier. As a result, the effectiveness of the vaccine has waned.
 "It is very important for people over the age of 60 to get the third vaccination six months after the second one,"  Marja-Liisa Mäntymaa , Chief Medical Officer of Kymsote, the joint municipal authority for Kymenlaakso social and health services, said in a statement on Wednesday.
 The double-dose vaccination rate among those aged 12 and over in Kymenlaakso is now 81 percent, in other words slightly higher than the national average.
 According to Mäntymaa, the Covid passport has slightly increased the number of younger age groups, such as those in their 20s, getting vaccinated.
 "However, the current vaccination coverage is not yet enough to control the epidemic in the area," Mäntymaa said.

Pandemic worsens in Kemi-Tornio area and Kymenlaakso; health officials call for new restrictions


Summary: Investigators are planning to return to the wreck site next spring.

The reasons why the MS Estonia ferry sank in the frigid Baltic Sea 27 years ago, killing more than 850 people, were partially answered by investigators of the tragedy on Tuesday, but they said no conclusions about the disaster could yet be reached.
 A new probe into the accident that was carried out over the summer by teams from Estonia, Sweden and Finland found that the holes in the ferry's hull might have been caused by the ship hitting undersea rock, but investigators said the site needs more examination.
 The probe — led by the Estonian Safety Investigation Bureau, Swedish accident investigators and Stockholm University — was prompted by a relatively recent  documentary  about the accident which uncovered a previously-unseen hole in the ship's hull.
 They said that bedrock protruded in several places on the seafloor in the area around where the ship sank, and that finding the rock formations was one of the most significant made during the probe.
 This summer, the investigators used an underwater ROV drone robot, sonar and other technologies to scan the wreck and its surroundings for a period of eight days in July, mostly to examine the exterior of the ship and seabed.
 Story continues after photo
 Researchers analyse the wreck and the surrounding seabed in July 2021. Stefan Jerrevang / EPA / AOP
 At a press conference in Tallinn, Estonia on Tuesday, the manager of the Estonian Safety Investigation Bureau,  Rene Arikas , said the researchers were unable to survey all parts of the ship, as it was not possible to reach further into the car deck because it was too hazardous for the equipment being used.
 The official accident investigation that wrapped up in 1997 found that the visor at the ship's bow, which enabled vehicles to enter and exit the ferry, had detached from the vessel and allowed sea water to fill the car deck, causing the ferry to sink.
 The new probe found the ship's visor lying on the bottom of the sea, next to the shipwreck, completely separated from the vessel.
 "At the moment, there are no grounds to claim that the conclusions of the 1997 investigation were incorrect," Arikas said on Tuesday.
 However, he characterised last summer's investigation as a preliminary one.
 Arikas said among other things, the ferry's car deck will be looked at more closely in the spring using more appropriate gear.
 Story continues after photo
 Surveying gear being deployed to the bottom of the Baltic Sea in July, during an investigation surrounding the sinking of the Estonia ferry in 1993. Stefan Jerrevang / EPA / AOP
 Arikas noted that the team is also planning to re-interview survivors of the accident, as the interviews conducted in the years after the tragedy were not of very high quality.
 "Not all of the survivors were even interviewed. Others were addressed very superficially," he said.
 On a voyage from Tallinn to Stockholm, in the middle of the night on 28 September 1994, the Estonia sank to the bottom of the Baltic Sea in Finnish waters in less than an hour. The tragedy claimed 852 lives, making it one of the world's worst maritime disasters of that century.

Rocky seabed surprised investigators but cause of holes in MS Estonia still uncertain


Summary: The study found that socio-economic factors such as employment rates and income led to significant regional differences in retirement due to mental health issues.

A new study carried out at Tampere University has found that 53 percent of all disability pensions in Finland are granted due to mental health disorders. A disability pension is compensation for loss of income provided by the state to those who are unable to work because of an illness, handicap or injury.
 Mood disorders such as depression and bipolar disorder account for two-thirds of disability pensions granted on mental health grounds, according to the study. Psychotic disorders, which include severe illnesses such as schizophrenia, are the second most common cause of retirement due to mental health reasons.
 They make up around one-sixth of mental disorder-based disability pensions. Last year, around 102,000 people in Finland received disability pensions due to mental or behavioural disorders.
 Regional differences in disability pensions
 The  study  also examined the role of various factors which contributed to regional differences in mental disorder-based disability pensions between 2010 and 2015.
 People were most likely to retire due to a mood disorder in Pirkanmaa, North Savo, Kainuu and Northern and Southern Ostrobothnia, while psychotic disorders were the most common reason for granting disability pensions in Päijät-Häme, North Karelia and North Ostrobothnia.
 The study also looked at socio-economic disparities between regions, including employment rates and differences in income. Mental disorder-based disability pensions were relatively less common in hospital districts such as Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS) and Vaasa, where employment rates are high and poverty relatively low.
 However, the Pirkanmaa region, including Tampere, had a significant number of mental disorder-based disability pensions despite high levels of employment and low poverty rates.
 "There are no clear socio-economic differences in the Pirkanmaa region, when compared to other hospital districts, which would explain the [number of] disability pensions due to mental health reasons," said  Tino Karolaakso , a doctoral researcher and psychologist who contributed to the study.
 Story continues after photo

 Availability of mental health services plays key role
 The study did find, however, that Pirkanmaa was one of the regions with the lowest number of outpatient visits in relation to the population. Lower levels of outpatient visits compared to the national average were associated with a higher risk of retirement at the regional level.
 Outpatient care includes, for example, pre-arranged visits with a nurse, doctor or psychologist at a psychiatric outpatient clinic. The provision or lack of such mental health services could subsequently account for regional differences in disability-based retirement.
 According to Karolaakso, these differences could be mitigated if officials developed a system to identify the specific needs of each region in terms of mental health services.
 "Important areas of development could also include promoting employment opportunities in the region and taking the needs of young people into account," he said.
 While there has been no significant increase in the number of disability pensions granted to those aged 25–64 since 2000, Karolaakso emphasised that pensions granted on the basis of mental disorders among people aged 16–24 risen strongly since the turn of the millennium.

Study: Mental health issues account for over half of Finland's disability pensions


Summary: Covid case numbers have increased the pressure on the Finnish healthcare.

Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue (SDP)

Wednesday evening saw government leaders gather to discuss the Covid situation, amid rising infections and hospitalisations.
 In the lead-up to the meeting, health officials in Kemi-Tornio and Kymenlaakso  said  they wanted new restrictions to slow the spread, while the Helsinki and Uusimaa region had already  raised  its alert level to the second-highest level.
 On the agenda for ministers was the so-called 'emergency brake' mechanism, that is intended to be applied when Covid rates are not successfully managed by regional authorities currently in charge of applying restrictions.
 That didn't happen, with Prime Minister  Sanna Marin  (SDP)  emerging from talks  to say that current restrictions would remain in force, and from Monday regional agencies would be expected to renew current rules around restaurants.
 There was one new news line, however, as Marin said the government would investigate the possibility of introducing Covid pass rules in the workplace.
 "The solution is in raising the vaccine coverage rate," said Marin.
 Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services  Krista Kiuru  (SDP) said that she was looking at ways to ensure healthcare staff had been vaccinated.
 Although Finland's Covid response has been relatively successful, compared to some countries, there is some criticism from advocates of a stronger approach.
 Iltalehti reports on one such critic who said on Tuesday night that the government's Covid response was a "leadership, strategy and communications vacuum".
 Tuuli Lappalainen , a professor in genomics who has been critical of the Finnish response from an early stage in the pandemic, said the government's handling of the pandemic was divorced from the epidemic situation.
 She also criticised the split responsibility between regional authorities, who decide on some restrictions, and national government, who make laws and provide funding.
 Wolt couriers ponder takeover
 Helsingin Sanomat  interviews  a Wolt courier in the wake of the company's takeover by US rival DoorDash, which was announced on Tuesday evening.
 The deal is worth some seven billion euros, but it is unlikely  Andrei Grigore  will see a piece of that. He says if he works 10-12 hour days, six days a week, he makes some 2,500-3,000 euros a month before expenses as a courier.
 Those expenses related to the job come to 600 euros, including petrol and insurance, and that's before tax, pension and social security contributions.
 Wolt CEO  Miki Kuusi , who adorned most of the coverage on Wednesday, made 2.2 million euros in 2020. Unlike the company's couriers, who are regarded as entrepreneurs and must pay their own pension and other employment costs, Kuusi is a Wolt employee.
 Grigore has noted the distinction, and finds it curious that the takeover is happening in the middle of a legal claim aiming to redefine the couriers as employees.
 "It's easy to take advantage of immigrants," said Grigore.
 Finland fans heading to Bosnia
 The situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina has been in the news recently, with leaders of the Serbian part of the tripartite state announcing they plan to establish a separate military and intelligence outfit raising fears of renewed conflict.
 Last week the international community's representative in Bosnia Christian Schmidt  said  that the country is in danger of breaking up.
 All of which makes it an interesting time for Finland to be heading there for a World Cup qualifier, which is due to take place on Saturday.
 The Uutissuomalainen outlets have a story on fans planning to travel to the game, despite the instability there and the increasing Covid case count.
 Finns in the story say they are vaccinated and don't see too much risk in the trip, but local authorities have said they don't want away fans at the match.
 So as things stand, around 60 Finnish fans will be heading to Sarajevo but may be unable to get to Zenica, where the game will be played. Their section of the stadium won't be accessible, but they hope to be able to source tickets once they get to the town.

Thursday's papers: Covid measures, Wolt's rich and poor, and Bosnia tensions


Summary: Restaurant restrictions were meant to expire on Monday.

The government decided late Wednesday to extend current restaurant restrictions, a move which the Finnish Hospitality Association MaRa condemned as "unnecessary" and "unreasonable".
 Restrictions were originally scheduled to expire on Monday, however Minister for Family Affairs and Social Services  Krista Kiuru  (SDP) said that a  surge in infections  and inconsistent use of the Covid passport has meant that restaurants will need to keep operating at a limited capacity.
 Speaking on Yle's talk show A-studio on Wednesday evening, Kiuru criticised pubs and clubs for their 'loose' approach to the passport.
 Hospitality sector interest group MaRa responded in a  press release , claiming there is no legal basis for extending restrictions as they are neither necessary nor reasonable, both conditions required by the Constitution and the Communicable Diseases Act.
 The group said that the Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare (THL) considers restaurants to be as safe as retail shops, barbers and hairdressers while restrictions on nightclubs, on the other hand, result in gatherings being moved to private premises where the observation of rules cannot be monitored.
 Read more about the current pandemic situation on our  coronavirus news blog .

Hospitality Association: Extension of restrictions unreasonable


Summary: At their weekly Covid briefing, health officials urged people to be cautious as the pre-Christmas party season approaches.

Ministerit, ministeriöt ja valtioneuvosto

Finland's Covid situation looks to be getting worse, with increasing case counts, higher test positivity and greater strain on hospitals and healthcare providers — just as the run-up to Christmas prompts greater social mixing and therefore possible exposures to Covid.
 That's according to the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and the Ministry for Social Affairs and Health at their weekly Covid briefing.
 In the seven days to 7 November, new Covid infections were up 26 percent on the previous week, officials said at the briefing.
 The positivity rate rose above 6 percent nationwide, and in parts of the country was as high as 11 percent. As of 10 November, the number of Covid patients in hospital was 253, with 28 of those in intensive care.
 Up to the minute Covid data is available at our dashboard,  yle.fi/covidstats
 At the same time, the rate of vaccine uptake has slowed considerably.
 "One important observation is that the delivery of first and second doses has slowed considerably," said  Otto Helve,  a Chief Physician at THL.
 "In the last week the number of doses delivered has reduced such that first doses are down 35 percent on the previous week, and second doses are down by as much as 40 percent on the last full week," he said.
 Pikkujoulu problems?
 That is an issue for the government's Covid strategy, which relies primarily on increasing the vaccination rate.
 Officials expressed some concern about the upcoming pre-Christmas  pikkujoulu  festive season, which is expected to see more social mixing and therefore more exposure to Covid.
 The ministry's Director of Strategic Affairs  Pasi Pohjola  added a touch of irony to the proceedings by reminding media that experts had at times stood in press conferences as "doomsayers warning of festive season infections".
 Pohjola reminded partygoers to take personal precautions, including hand-washing and cough hygiene.
 Helve urged people to get vaccinated before heading out for a big celebration, while the ministry's Director-General of Strategic Affairs,  Liisa-Maria Voipio-Pulkki , said people should consider celebrating with people they see every day anyway, to minimise the risk of spreading Covid.

THL urges caution as festive season approaches


Summary: The most common type of hate crime was assault, according to the Finnish Police University College.

A total of 852 hate crimes were reported to police in 2020, according to the Finnish Police University College's annual report. The figure has dropped slightly since 2019, during which 899 reports were filed.
 The biggest decrease was observed in crimes related to incitement of ethnic agitation, which fell by a third, to a total of 71.
 Meanwhile physical assaults accounted for most of the reports with the number of illegal threats, harassment and defamation cases also making up a significant proportion of the total.
 Researchers suggest that bar and restaurant restrictions related to Covid played a role in the overall decrease. Most of the suspected hate crimes reportedly took place in public locations.

Reported hate crime figures down slightly in 2020


Summary: Winners and nominees for the nation's top literary award are virtually guaranteed brisk sales in the run-up to Christmas.

Six nominees for the Finlandia Prize for Fiction were announced on Thursday. A three-member jury selected the finalists from around 200 books.
 Those shortlisted include first-timers  Joel Elstelä ,  Marjo Niemi  and  Matias Riikonen , along with previous laureates  Rosa Liksom ,  Pirkko Saisio  and  Jukka Viikilä .
 The best known of these may be Liksom, who won the Finlandia Prize in 2011 for her novel  Hytti nro 6  ( Compartment No. 6).
 A film based on it won the Grand Prix at this year's Cannes Film Festival and is the Finnish entry for Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards.
 Her latest book is written in  meänkieli , a dialect spoken in the Tornio River Valley on both sides of the Finnish-Swedish border, where Liksom was born. It tells the story of a young girl's escape to Sweden during the destruction of Lapland towards the end of World War II.
 No debuts nominated
 It is rare for so many previous winners to be nominated. Only two writers,  Olli Jalonen  and the late  Bo Carpelan  have won the award twice.
 No debut works were nominated this year, nor any novels written in Swedish.
 The Finlandia Prize is the nation's most important literary award, with winners and nominees virtually guaranteed brisk sales in the run-up to Christmas. The prize is worth 30,000 euros.
 This year the winner will be selected by film director  Zaida Bergroth , director of the recent biopic  Tove .
 Last year,  Anni Kytömäki  won the Finlandia for her novel  Margarita .
 Between 1984 and 1992, the prize was awarded to works in any field of literature, but since then has only been given for novels published in Finnish, or occasionally in Swedish.
 That same year, the rules were changed so that the final winner is chosen by one judge from a shortlist of 5-6 books nominated by a three-member panel.
 The final arbiter is not necessarily known for a connection to literature, with judges including people from other fields of art, business executives and former politicians – even an ex-president's spouse.
 The winners of the fiction and other Finlandia awards will be announced on Wednesday 1 December, with the awards ceremony broadcast on Yle TV1 and Areena.

Finlandia literary prize shortlist unveiled, half of candidates are previous winners


Summary: Suldaan Said Ahmed said that this was one of many incidences of racist abuse during his political career.

Discrimination based on a protected class

Left Alliance MP  Suldaan Said Ahmed  was subjected to severe racist harassment and intimidation, his party said in a press release on Thursday.
 The MP received a piece of rope tied to resemble a hanging noose accompanied by a note with a "very disturbing, racist message".
 "This appalling act is only indicative of the racist comments and abuse I have received while participating in politics," Said Ahmed said in the statement.
 Police have been made aware of the incident, according to the Left Alliance.
 Said Ahmed said he was unsure whether to make the case public as that would bring the perpetrator the attention they must have aimed for.
 "I thought it was important to show the public that this is what it's like. This is what people in Finland still have to endure in the 2020s. I am working to ensure that no child has to face this anymore in the future," the Helsinki MP said.

First Somali-background MP sent noose in the mail


Summary: The All Points North podcast considers what to take away from one of the biggest deals in Finnish business history.

In this week's show, APN unboxes the  acquisition of Finnish delivery firm Wolt  by American rival DoorDash in an all-stock deal reported to be worth about 7 billion euros.
 While the deal has been widely welcomed in Finland, it may have also distracted attention from the ongoing debate about Wolt's  classification of couriers as contractors , not salaried employees.
 "I would say that after a few hours [following Wolt's announcement] that started to become the question, that are the partners or are the couriers getting any of this deal? Are they just being exploited, what is happening there," Yle journalist  Heikki Valkama  told APN about the reaction to the deal.
 You can listen to the full podcast using the embedded player here, via Yle Areena, Spotify or Apple Podcasts or on your usual podcast player using the RSS feed.
 Article continues after audio.
 Thou shalt not pass
 APN also spoke to  Kyle Ott , who recently relocated from the United States with his Finnish wife.
 They were both double-jabbed in the US before moving to Finland, but they have had trouble getting their fully vaccinated status recognised in Finland.
 "We just got the runaround from everyone, and all of the news and press from the ministry was: We will have an update at the end of October. And October came and went, no update. You got the sense from talking to a lot of people that this is not a priority," Ott told APN.
 Join the conversation
 This week's show was presented by  Ronan Browne  and  Zena Iovino . It was produced by  Mark B. Odom . The audio engineer was  Juha Sarkkinen.
 If you have any questions or would like to share your thoughts, just contact us via WhatsApp on +358 44 421 0909, on our Facebook or Twitter accounts, or at yle.news@yle.fi and allpointsnorth@yle.fi.

APN podcast: A Wolt from the blue


Summary: The launch of Finland's first Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet did not go as planned.

Kentucky Fried Chicken's (KFC) launch in Finland was disrupted on Thursday when a man calling himself Benjamin announced he was a 'chicken lover' who was there to protest the company's animal rights record.
 KFC had promised to provide the first in line at the new outlet free chicken for a year. The newspaper Helsingin Sanomat  reported  that Benjamin had set up his tent on Monday in order to stage his protest, under the guise of claiming his free food.
 Iltalehti  reported  on Monday that the man had told them he was a "chicken lover".
 At the opening ceremony he started to make a speech, called the occasion a "historic moment" and launched into his prepared remarks — which focused on animal rights rather than free fried food.
 "I have queued here not for myself, but for billions of chickens and other oppressed animals," said Benjamin at the opening ceremony shortly before he and two other protesters were removed by security.
 The plan had been for KFC to open its doors at 11:11am on 11 November, hand over the prize for the most enthusiastic KFC customer, and start selling fast food.
 That was disrupted by the trio, who claimed to be part of a protest group called "Viral Vegans".
 A video on the Ilta-Sanomat website showed three men wearing t-shirts bearing the text 'Love wins. Not Wings', and 'Don't turn your back on animal suffering' on the reverse.
 KFC's record on animal rights has been more transparent than many fast-food chains, publishing a report on animal welfare in 2020.
 On the other hand, the poultry purveyor  admitted in that report  that more than a third of the birds in its products in the UK and Ireland suffered from foot dermatitis, a painful foot condition that can stop animals from walking properly.

Vegan "chicken lover" protests KFC launch in Finland


Summary: Finland reported 1,151 new Covid infections on Wednesday, meaning there have been about 11,000 new lab-confirmed coronavirus cases over the past two weeks.

The City of Vaasa's Chief Physician  Heikki Kaukoranta  has called on authorities to introduce mandatory vaccination for every resident in Finland aged 12 years and above.
 Kaukoranta told Yle he is concerned about the rapidly increasing number of infections across the country, saying a compulsory vaccination order would be the solution.
 He added that the current measures aimed at curbing the spread of the virus are proving to be insufficient.
 "It can be seen that the need for hospital care is increasing and the currently available measures will not curb the spread," Kaukoranta said, adding that Finland's legislation would allow for the government to make such a compulsory order.
 "Section 47 of the Communicable Diseases Act allows for the imposition of vaccination in a situation where an infectious disease threatens the functioning of society," he said.
 This would in turn pass the responsibility for being vaccinated from the individual to the state.
 "It is up to the individual citizen to consider, for example, whether vaccination is safe or whether vaccination is potentially harmful. In that case [of a mandatory order], the state bears the responsibility and is also responsible for any future adverse effects," Kaukoranta said.
 About 20 percent of Finland's population aged 12 and above are currently not fully vaccinated, a figure Kaukoranta believes is too high. The mandatory vaccination order should therefore come into force as soon as possible, he said.
 "The sooner the better. Especially now that we are seeing that the Covid situation in Europe is deteriorating. Vaccines are available in the [Finnish] state and vaccinations can be arranged," he said.
 Case numbers rising
 Finland reported 1,151 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, bringing the total number of infections since the beginning of the pandemic to 172,373.
 Public health authority THL has now registered around 11,000 new lab-confirmed coronavirus cases over the past two weeks, which is approximately 3,100 more infections than during the previous 14-day period.
 Hospitalisations are also on the rise, with 299 Covid patients in hospitals across the country, 38 of whom in intensive care, as of Wednesday. The latest figures reflect increases of six more people in hospital and two in ICU since Monday.

Top doc calls for introduction of mandatory Covid vaccinations as case numbers escalate


Summary: According to the Commission, economic activity in Finland recovered to pre-pandemic levels in the middle of this year.

Kansainväliset organisaatiot ja sopimukset

The European Commission has raised its prognosis for Finland's economic growth. On Thursday the Commission forecast GDP growth of 3.4 percent in Finland this year, up from its previous estimate of 2.7 percent.
 The EU executive said it expects economic growth to continue in Finland next year, but at a slightly slower pace. According to its latest forecast, the nation's GDP should expand by 2.8 percent in 2022.
 In the medium term, Finland's economic growth is expected to be primarily driven by higher domestic demand and a rise in investment.
 The Commission forecasts that Finnish employment will continue to improve towards pre-crisis levels.
 Finland weathered crisis better than eurozone average
 In most of the other 18 eurozone countries, growth figures are better than Finland's at the moment – compared to last year, when Finland weathered the economic shock of the crisis much better than the zone's average.
 Overall the Commission said the eurozone's economy will recover faster than expected. It again hiked its growth forecast for this year in the bloc to five percent, up from 4.8 percent forecast last summer.
 However European Economic Commissioner  Paolo Gentiloni  warned that the recovery is fragile.
 "There are three key threats to this positive picture: a marked increase in Covid cases, most acute in areas where vaccinations are relatively low; rising inflation, driven largely by a spike in energy prices; and supply-chain disruptions that are weighing on numerous sectors," he said on Thursday in Brussels.
 The Commission forecast eurozone growth of 4.3 percent next year, slowing to 2.4 percent in 2023. Meanwhile it predicted that inflation in the eurozone will rise by 2.4 percent this year and by 2.2 percent next year.

European Commission upgrades forecast for Finnish economy


Summary: Opposition parties have called on the government to update Finnish legislation to prepare for a possible border situation such as that faced by Poland.

Parliamentary question time on Thursday brought a heated discussion on the situation on the border between Belarus and Poland and on Finland's preparedness for hybrid threats.
 Thousands of migrants have massed at the border, trying to enter the European Union. According to the EU and Finland, this is a hybrid operation by Belarus to protest sanctions imposed on the country after the disputed 2020 presidential election.
 During Thursday's debate, the opposition Finns Party indicated it will once again seek a vote of no confidence in the centre-left government over its immigration policy. The last time Finns Party filed an interpellation about immigration was in October.
 Finns Party chair  Riikka Purra  referred to an unconfirmed report by the German newspaper Die Welt, claiming that Germany and Finland are the main destinations for migrants trying to enter the EU through the Belarusian-Polish border.
 "Shortcomings in our legislation"
 Petteri Orpo , leader of the other main opposition party, the National Coalition, demanded that the government urgently introduce legislative changes to make it possible to suspend the reception of asylum applications.
 "We have shortcomings in our legislation. We must be able to stop and suspend the reception of asylum applications. We don't have that tool at the moment," Orpo said.
 The Finns Party also demanded that an emergency measure be enacted, under which asylum applications would not be accepted during exceptional circumstances.
 Prime Minister  Sanna Marin  (SDP) condemned the actions of Belarus, calling them an attack on the European Union. According to Marin, it is worth looking into whether there is a need for revision in Finnish legislation.
 "In such a similar situation, the Finnish government would act. We do not accept such action at that border, and we will not accept it at our own borders. It is important that the EU is united on this issue and supports these countries," Marin said.

Opposition challenges government again over Polish border crisis response