Prime Minister Antti Rinne’s (SDP) “careless” comments have raised questions about Finland’s position on Brexit, according to seven members of the National Coalition. (Ludovic Marin – AFP/Lehtikuva)

MEMBERS of the National Coalition have asked Prime Minister Antti Rinne (SDP) to clarify whether or not the government has changed its position on Brexit.

Rinne stated on Wednesday that the United Kingdom has until the end of the month to submit written proposals on the conditions and implementation of the so-called Irish backstop, a draft agreement to prevent a hard border between Ireland and the UK after Brexit.

Petteri Orpo, the chairperson of the National Coalition, voiced his alarm with the economic and employment policy decisions of the government in the Parliament House on Thursday, 19 September. (Roni Rekomaa – Lehtikuva)

PETTERI ORPO, the chairperson of the National Coalition Party, has criticised the government for raising the tax burden of low- and middle-income earners.

“A middle-income couple is losing 320 euros, paying [320 euros] more [a year]. Fuel taxes and housing costs are rising, and they’ll also hit pensioners. Why are you making ordinary Finns pay for your spending, your promises?” he asked Prime Minister Antti Rinne (SDP) in the Parliament House on Thursday.

A migrant with a child is helped arriving on Lesbos, an island in the north-eastern parts of the Aegean Sea in Greece, on 16 September 2019. (Aris Messinis – AFP/Lehtikuva)

THE REFUGEE QUOTA will be increased by 100 to 850 in Finland.

The Finnish government announced its decision to raise the quota for next year in the wake of its newly concluded budget session, revealing that it will accept 400 Syrian refugees from Lebanon and Turkey, 200 Congolese refugees from Zambia and 130 refugees from Niger.

Jussi Halla-aho, the chairperson of the Finns Party, was interviewed by Pirjo Auvinen on YLE TV1 on Saturday, 21 September. (Martti Kainulainen – Lehtikuva)

JUSSI HALLA-AHO, the chairperson of the Finns Party, views that the current legislation on hate speech is so broad and ambiguous in terms of its scope of application that it is undermining legal certainty in Finland.

“People must be able to know clearly what’s illegal and what isn’t after reading the section of the law,” he stressed in an interview on YLE TV1 on Saturday.

Increasing employment among the over 50-year-old population will be key to meeting the employment target of 75 per cent, says Martti Hetemäki, the most senior official at the Ministry of Finance. (Martti Kainulainen – Lehtikuva)

THE PREREQUISITES for meeting the government’s employment rate target of 75 per cent are still in place, insists Martti Hetemäki, the permanent state secretary at the Ministry of Finance.

A number of economists have reiterated their reservations about the attainability of the employment target in the aftermath of the first budget session of the government of Prime Minister Antti Rinne (SDP).

Farmers scraped peat on a bog in Seinäjoki on 29 August 2019. (Anni Reenpää – Lehtikuva)

ENVIRONMENTAL EXPERTS have expressed their disappointment with the climate actions laid out in the first supplementary budget of the government of Prime Minister Antti Rinne (SDP).

Marita Laukkanen, a senior researcher at VATT Institute for Economic Research, told YLE on Wednesday that the first measures agreed on by the government represent only a minuscule step towards achieving its carbon neutrality goal by 2035.

Damaged buildings and cars in Tirana on Saturday (Image: Lehtikuva)

A 5.6 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE hit the Albanian capital of Tirana on Saturday, causing dozens of injuries and destroying buildings and infrastructure in the downtown area. The quake is thought to be the most powerful to hit the country in close to 30 years. 

Prime Minister Antti Rinne (left) and French President Emmanuel Macron (right) greeted reporters at Élysée Palace in Paris on Wednesday, 18 September 2019. (Ludovic Marin – AFP/Lehtikuva)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION has clarified that no deadline has been set for the withdrawal proposals of the United Kingdom.

Finnish Prime Minister Antti Rinne (SDP) stated in Paris, France, on Wednesday that the country will have to present written proposals for the conditions and implementation of the so-called Irish backstop by the end of the month, drawing attention all across the European Union.

The penguin shortly after discovery on Philip Island, south of Melbourne (Image: Lehtikuva)

AN ADVENTUROUS PENGUIN has been rescued by Australian responders after swimming more than 2500km from its home in New Zealand across the Tasman Sea to Victoria, in Australia. 

Finnish soliders simulate a mustard gas attack on Friday (Image: Lehtikuva)

THE FINNISH ARMY is currently simulating chemical weapon attacks as part of a training exercise in Säkylä. The Pori Brigade conscripts are learning how to handle mustard and sarin gas, among other weapons currently prohibited by the Chemical Weapons Convention. 

Veikkaus had to reduce the number of its slot machines in public places by 3000 after being criticised for its marketing. Lehtikuva

It’s often said that close neighbours mimic each other, and this is certainly the case for Sweden and Finland.

The two countries may be fierce rivals on the hockey rink or Eurovision stage, but they do have a similar approach to governance. After all, both Finland and Sweden have economies based on the Nordic Model, mixing capitalism with social welfare.

The Finnish government is reducing the net earnings and purchasing power of wage earners, says Teemu Lehtinen, the CEO at the Taxpayers’ Association of Finland (TAF). (Vesa Moilanen – Lehtikuva)

THE TAX RATE of middle-income earners will creep up by 0.4 percentage points during the course of next year, according to the Taxpayers’ Association of Finland (TAF).

Its estimate takes into account the effects of both the competitiveness pact introduced by the previous government and the tax policy decisions made in the newly concluded budget session of the government of Prime Minister Antti Rinne (SDP).

A protester on the steps of Parliament on Friday (Image: Lehtikuva)

THE LARGEST CLIMATE STRIKE IN HISTORY took place today, with over 3600 actions taking place across the globe. A large number of protestors gathered in central Helsinki on Friday to protest government inaction in the face of mounting ecological catastrophe. 

An artist's rendering of the Pohjanmaa-class vessels (Image: Lehtkiuva)

THE FINNISH MINISTRY OF DEFENCE has ordered the construction of four new Pohjanmaa-class naval vessels, for the total cost of €1.3 billion. The Finnish shipbuilder Rauma won the contract, whilst the Swedish company Saab will be supplying the battle systems for the ships. 

Members of the Finnish government talked to the media after wrapping up their first budget session in Helsinki on Tuesday, 17 September 2019. (Jussi Nukari – Lehtikuva)

THE GOVERNMENT of Prime Minister Antti Rinne (SDP) has expressed its commitment to utilising immigration to improve the employment rate in Finland.

The government announced yesterday it will reduce the processing time for work permit applications to one month and move work permit-related issues from the purview of the Ministry of the Interior to that of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy.