Politics

Sinnemäki faults True Finns' immigration policy

2010-07-28T18:07:04Z

Anni Sinnemäki, the labour minister and Green League leader, on Wednesday blasted an "election manifesto" drafted by a group of True Finns MPs as muddled and counterproductive.
The manifesto focuses on immigration policy.

Sinnemäki said on her website that the immigration policy proposed in the manifesto would lead to the very problems and conflicts that its authors wanted to stop from forming in the first place.

Itälä shuns Alde

2010-07-27T16:22:16Z

Ville Itälä, a Finnish Conservative party Euro-MP, was quoted as saying by online party organ Verkkouutiset on Tuesday that he did not want his party to join the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.

Itälä and Hannu Takkula, a Centre party MEP, had been quoted as saying by Turun Sanomat that the two parties' Euro-MPs should join forces under a single European party.

The Finnish Conservative party is currently a member of the European People's party.
Itälä resolutely rejected Takkula's invitation to join Alde.

Katainen sees Finland as EU's strongest economy

2010-07-27T12:40:35Z

Jyrki Katainen (cons), the Finnish finance minister, told reporters on Tuesday that the government's goal was to transform Finland into the EU's strongest economy by next year.

Katainen added that the objective was realistic and named countries like Germany and Sweden as rivals.

The minister went on to raise concern about household debt but said that the economic outlook was better compared with that seen earlier in the summer.

STT

Itälä and Takkula urge Conservatives and Centre parties to join same Euro-party -TS

2010-07-27T08:18:07Z

The Finnish Euro-MPs Ville Itälä (cons) and Hannu Takkula (centre) were quoted as saying by regional daily Turun Sanomat on Tuesday that Finnish Conservative and Centre party MEPs should be part of a single European party.

At the moment Finland's National Coalition party is a member of the European People's Party, with Finnish Centre party MEPs flying the colours of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.

Finnish government plans cut in electric car taxation

2010-07-26T14:49:32Z

Finland's finance ministry is planning a considerable reduction in the taxation of electric cars and plug-in hybrids, according to a draft document seen by the Finnish News Agency.

The proposal to cut electric cars' tax burden to a fifth from the current level forms part of a range of changes in energy taxation.
The ministry is to unveil its draft budget on Friday.

STT

Kallis proposes end to church wedding's legal status

2010-07-26T08:15:48Z

Bjarne Kallis, the chairman of the Finnish Christian Democrats' parliamentary group, was quoted as saying by regional daily Aamulehti on Sunday that the Finnish Evangelical-Lutheran Church should give up its power of legal solemnisation if a same-sex marriage bill was passed into law.

"Personally I feel that this option would be good, but I do not know what the parishes, for example, think about this," Kallis told the Finnish News Agency on Sunday.

Heinäluoma says Kiviniemi is out of touch with working life -IS

2010-07-23T10:10:55Z

Eero Heinäluoma, the chairman of the opposition Social Democrats' parliamentary group, was quoted as saying by tabloid Ilta-Sanomat on Friday that Mari Kiviniemi (centre), the prime minister, was out of touch with the realities of working life.

Heinäluoma's comment comes after Kiviniemi accused him of "flirting with racism" by calling for further curbs on work-based immigration.
"[Kiviniemi] has truly become drunk with power and alienated from what is happening in Finnish working life," Heinäluoma was quoted as saying.
Kiviniemi was named Centre party leader and prime minister last month.

"An awesome transformation in a remarkably short time."
Heinäluoma went on to demand Kiviniemi to define racism.

STT

Fortum wants electric cars tax-exempted

2010-07-22T12:26:42Z

Esa Hyvärinen, a spokesman at Finnish government-controlled utility Fortum, said Thursday that electric vehicles should be exempt from the car tax, a registration levy, for a fixed period of time.
He drew a parallel to incentives enjoyed by wind power generation.

Speaking in Pori, Hyvärinen said that while the government's plan to lower annual duties levied from electric car owners was a step in the right direction, the incentives should be bigger than that.

Finnish leaders blast Russia's custody dispute proposal

2010-07-22T07:44:55Z

Finland's top party leaders joined forces in expressing outrage over a Russian official's recent proposal on cross-border child custody disputes during a debate in Pori on Wednesday.

Pavel Astahov, Russia's children's affairs ombudsman, had said that issues faced by Finland's Russian minority could not be addressed on the basis of Finnish legislation alone.

Finnish and Russian presidents vow to settle food row within fortnight

2010-07-21T16:03:51Z

The presidents of Finland and Russia pledged at a joint news conference on Wednesday to settle a dispute over food exports within a fortnight.

Russia announced last week it would impose an export ban on 14 Finnish food processing facilities.

Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, said at the Finnish president's summer residence that the quality of Finnish food was in order and that there was no need to politicise the issue.

Halonen and Medvedev to discuss state of Baltic Sea

2010-07-21T09:15:06Z

Baltic Sea pollution emerged as one of the key topics in talks between Tarja Halonen, the Finnish president, and Dmitry Medvedev of Russia on Tuesday.

Halonen said the presidents would discuss the Baltic Sea during the second day of the visit.
The two heads of state are to go on a cruise in the Turku archipelago on Wednesday.

Other issues expected to be raised during talks between the two leaders include Russia's export ban on a number of Finnish food processing facilities and cross-border child custody disputes.

STT

Vapaavuori says shoddy construction must be taken seriously

2010-07-20T14:13:10Z

Jan Vapaavuori (cons), the Finnish housing minister, said Tuesday that poor-quality construction work was a problem that must be taken seriously.

Vapaavuori added that shoddy workmanship faced more lenient sanctions than those applied to food safety lapses even though the former had a long-term impact on health and carried great costs.

But instead of proposing fines the minister urged consumers to be more demanding than before.

(STT)

Finland's Salolainen blasts Russia's Astahov -Verkkouutiset

2010-07-20T14:09:52Z

Pertti Salolainen (cons), the chairman of the Finnish Parliament's foreign affairs committee, has expressed outrage over a comment by Pavel Astahov, Russia's children's affairs ombudsman, Finnish Conservative party organ Verkkouutiset reported Tuesday.

Astahov had told the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) on Monday that Russian citizens living in Finland could not be subject to Finnish legislation alone as they were not Finnish citizens.

Astahov was referring to cross-border child custody rows.

Salolainen was quoted as saying by Verkkouutiset that Astahov's notion was out of the question.

"In Finland one obeys Finnish laws, and that is an utterly clear matter," Salolainen was quoted as saying.
Salolainen went on to criticise Russia's recent decision to place some Finnish food processing facilities under an export ban.

(STT)

Finnish PM pledges active foreign policy role -HS

2010-07-20T11:00:56Z

Mari Kiviniemi (centre), Finland's new prime minister, was quoted as saying by national daily Helsingin Sanomat on Tuesday that she would assume an active foreign policy role.

Kiviniemi told the paper that EU issues would be emphasised and added that relations with Russia would be handled jointly with the president.
She went on to highlight Russia's significance for Finland.

"There is no great reason to worry but some things do need to change," Kiviniemi was quoted as saying about Russia.

FinnChurchAid sees radical cut in aid

2010-07-19T14:27:10Z

Antti Pentikäinen of FinnChurchAid was quoted as saying by Conservative party organ Verkkouutiset on Saturday that the finance ministry was quietly drafting considerable cuts in aid spending.

"The scale of the cuts is much greater than anything that has been spoken about in public in any other field," Pentikäinen was quoted as saying.

Pentikäinen added that the ministry had kept quiet about the matter because politicians did not want to see a public debate about aid in the run-up to next year's election.

STT