A police handout of a bag containing narcotics seized as part of a pre-trial investigation conducted in Finland in connection with Greenlight, a global clampdown on crime led by law-enforcement authorities in Sweden, the Netherlands and the US.(Handout – Police of Finland)

TWELVE PEOPLE in Finland have been charged in connection with Greenlight, a global clampdown on crime that resulted in substantial drug and firearms seizures in June, according to the National Prosecution Authority.

The National Prosecution Authority on Tuesday revealed that most of the charges are for aggravated drug offences and that six of the suspects remain in pre-trial detention.

Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary general of Nato, (left) and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö held a joint press conference after their discussions in Helsinki on Monday, 25 October 2021. (Vesa Moilanen – Lehtikuva)

JENS STOLTENBERG, the secretary general of Nato, on Monday assured that the doors of the political and military alliance remain open for Finland.

“Finland is one of Nato’s closest partners, and we very much appreciate the fact that we have been able to strengthen this partnership over the last years. We share the same values, we share the same security challenges,” he stated in a joint press conference with President Sauli Niinistö in Helsinki on Monday.

A white-tailed deer basking in the sun in Porkkala, Kirkkonumi, Finland in August 2020/Lehtikuva

Finland’s white-tailed deer were the subject of discussion in an article published by Star Tribune this week. According to the article, the animals were first introduced into Finland’s forests by two Finnish-Americans from Minnesota, U.S.

The deer were brought to Finland in 1934, at a time when the country’s reindeer, roe deer and elk populations were declining due to urban expansion and poverty. Finnish-Americans Eino Saranen and Lester Ketola initiated the transportation of three bucks and four does by train and ship from the U.S. to Finland.

Topi Manner, the CEO of Finnair, reacted at the earnings call of the state-owned airline in Vantaa, Southern Finland, on Monday, 26 October 2021. (Heikki Saukkomaa – Lehtikuva)

THE FLAG CARRIER of Finland, Finnair, on 22 October celebrated the take-off of its inaugural long-haul flight from Stockholm Arlanda, to Bangkok, Thailand.

The Finnish state-owned will during the winter season operate flights from Stockholm to Bangkok and Phuket in Thailand, and Miami, New York and Los Angeles in the United States, in an attempt to fill the void left by Norwegian Air.

Commuters at Helsinki Central on Friday, 15 October 2021. (Markku Ulander – Lehtikuva)

HELSINKI Region Transport Authority (HSL) and VR, the Finnish state-owned railway operator, have announced their decision to do away with the requirement that passengers wear face masks on public transport.

HSL on Monday clarified in a press release that it continues to urge passengers to wear a face mask on public transport in accordance with national recommendations.

A nurse prepares a vaccine at a vaccination point in Espoo/Lehtikuva

According to a gallup poll by Finnish language magazine Maaseudun Tulevaisuus (MT), 43 percent of Finns believe that all citizens should be obligated to get vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus by law. Just over 40 percent were against the notion, and around 16 percent were undecided.

The poll found significant differences in opinions among age groups as well as regions. While 44 percent of those living in Southern Finland were in favour of compulsory vaccination, the figure rose to over half for rural municipalities. 

A bouncer checked the coronavirus pass of customers outside Wallis’ Karaoke Bar in Helsinki on 16 October. The pass is presently available to businesses only in circumstances where their operations are affected by restrictions adopted to limit the spread of the virus. (Antti Aimo-Koivisto – Lehtikuva)

KIRSI VARHILA, the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, views that the coronavirus pass will likely remain in use also next year.

“Discussions with [Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare] THL have pointed in the direction that the extension would make sense. If and when that’s the case, we’ll probably propose that the pass be available also after the turn of the year, as long as the requirement of necessity is met,” she said to YLE on Tuesday.

An armoured modular vehicle (AMV) by Finnish arms manufacturer Patria/Lehtikuva

According to the latest Finnish Arms Control Report by independent think tank SaferGlobe, Finland granted export permits for nearly 140 million euros worth of military vehicle parts to the UAE in March 2020. 

The report revealed that the value of Finnish arms exports fell sharply last year compared to previous years, and the UAE deal accounted for a significant majority of the country’s total arms exports—29.8 million out of a total of 160.9 million euros—in 2020.

A 12-year-old boy received his first dose of the Pfizer-Biontech vaccine in Espoo on 24 September 2021. (Emmi Korhonen – Lehtikuva)

DESPITE signs of the overall epidemiological situation improving, the coronavirus is continuing to spread at an alarming rate among the unvaccinated in Finland, according to the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.

The incidence of infections is presently about 700 per 100,000 for the unvaccinated and 138 per 100,000 for entire population.

The Town Hall Square in Tallinn, Estonia in June 2021

STT reports that Baltic countries are facing record levels of hospitalisations and deaths due to the COVID-19 virus. In an interview with television channel TV3, Latvia’s Minister for Health Daniels Pavluts revealed that the number of COVID-19 hospital patients in the country jumped to over 1,400 on Monday—the highest recorded so far.

Pavluts stated that if the burden on Latvia’s health system continues to grow, the country will require foreign aid, which would include bringing in healthcare staff from abroad and transporting intensive care patients to other countries if necessary. 

Food prices in Finland are forecast to jump by 1.8 per cent in 2022. (Antti Aimo-Koivisto – Lehtikuva)

THE PRICES of natural gas have skyrocketed around the world, putting a strain on the finances of agricultural producers by driving up the prices of fertilisers.

The price increases are one reason for the expectation that food prices are set to balloon also in Finland. Pellervo Economic Research (PTT), for example, is forecasting that food prices will start to pick up pace toward the end of the year and surge by 1.8 per cent in 2022, outpacing the rise in consumer prices.

President Sauli Niinistö was photographed outside Helsinki Cathedral on 10 October 2021. (Roni Rekomaa – Lehtikuva)

PRESIDENT Sauli Niinistö has expressed his concern about the coronavirus situation in Finland.

Niinistö on Thursday stressed to Ilta-Sanomat that Finns should exercise the same kind of rational caution toward the still rampant virus that they did while widespread restrictions were in effect. Finland, he reminded, has witnessed its epidemiological situation deteriorate from one of the best to one of the worst in Europe.

The ranks of the jobless decreased by about 11,000 between September 2020 and September 2021, reveals preliminary date published by Statistics Finland. (Antti Aimo-Koivisto – Lehtikuva)

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION in Finland did not improve as markedly as many were expecting in September, writes STT.

Statistics Finland revealed this morning that its labour force survey suggests that the ranks of the employed swelled by 17,000 year-on-year, nudging the trend of the employment rate to 72.5 per cent in September.

Fennovoima, a Finnish consortium of energy and industrial company, has applied for a permit to build a nuclear power plant in Pyhäjoki, North Ostrobothnia. (Markku Ulander – Lehtikuva)

THE MINISTRY of Defence has called for an analysis of the risks associated with the nuclear power project undertaken by Fennovoima, a consortium of energy and industrial companies in Finland.

STT on Saturday reported that the ministry has requested that the analysis take into account the geopolitical risks associated with the project and the role of Rosatom, the Russian state-owned energy company with a minority stake in the project, in the security policy goals of Russia.

Students in overalls lined up to enter Maxine, a nightclub at Narinkkatori Square in Helsinki, on 14 October 2021. (Teemu Salonen – Lehtikuva)

JARI PETÄJÄ, the acting chief medical officer at the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS), views that restaurant restrictions are the most effective way to reach unvaccinated segments of the population.

“For us to have as few restrictions as possible, every single restrictions must be as effective as possible,” he outlined in an interview on YLE A-studio on Thursday.