Finland International

The former Finance Minister and leader of the Social Democrats Jutta Urpilainen has landed the role of Commissioner for International Partnerships in the cabinet of incoming European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. EU member states accepted the list of commissioner candidates…

A new Council of Europe report on the state of human rights in Finland concludes the Nordic nation falls short on a range of issues – and they’re giving the government a two year deadline to fix the worst…

Finnish Prime Minister Antti Rinne (SDP) says he thinks it’s now "very obvious" that Britain will crash out of the European Union without a deal. Speaking at a joint press conference in Helsinki with the President of the European Parliament David Sassoli, Rinne…

The Baltic Sea Fisheries Forum BALTFISH is taking a stand against the European Commission’s proposals for fishing quotas in the region. Meeting in Helsinki this week, BALTFISH brings together major Baltic Sea NGOs – including the Finnish Association for Nature…

A damning new report has found widespread destruction of orangutan habitats around palm mills in Indonesia – and four of the worst sites are part of Neste’s biofuel supply chain. MapHubs, an open-source tech company monitoring natural resources, identified orangutan…

The Russian military is set to send a 16-strong team on a surveillance flight over Finland, taking high-resolution images. Under the terms of the 2003 Open Skies treaty, which aims to promote transparency and openness in Europe, Russia has the…

The Council of Europe has sharply rebuked Finland over the low number of female police officers and lenient sentences for sex crimes offenders. The criticism comes in a report by the Council’s experts about implementing the Istanbul Convention on preventing…

A Russian official has hit out at Finland’s decision to tighten up the visa application process for Russian tourists, and bring it into line with other Schengen countries. In August the government announced it would bring Finland into line with…

Every night before bed, Pekka Haavisto diligently opens up his phone and checks the location of the Stena Impero tanker. And in the weeks since he started doing it, the ship hasn’t moved from the same anchorage in a port…

Finns living in the UK will continue to receive their state pensions even if the UK crashes out of the EU with no deal on 31st October. The Finnish government says it will ensure pension payments continue for one year…