THE RESIGNATION OF THE FINNISH GOVERNMENT dominated international headlines about Finland this week, with editorials displaying a mixture of surprise, concern, and bafflement at the decision.

Juha Sipilä’s resignation over a failure to deliver promised wide-ranging reforms to health and social care has been described by the international press as cynical, justified, and unnecessary in equal measure. 

Finland’s efforts to increase its hydrogen capabilities were highlighted this week, with hydrogen-focused magazine H2 View reporting that the country is set to construct its first green hydrogen production plant.

The plant, which will have a capacity of 20MW, will be built in the municipality of Harjavalta in Western Finland. When commissioned, it will generate green hydrogen to power industrial applications. 

FINLAND CAPTURED THE ATTENTION of sports desks around the world this week following their stunning victory at the world hockey championship finals in Bratislava. Much of the focus was on how Finland managed to beat firm favourites Canada despite not having a single NHL player on their roster, something which has only happened once before in the history of the tournament.  

According to reports by the international media, Finland needs to practically double its current immigration levels to meet a potentially critical workforce shortage.

The country has the second-highest aging population in the world, which means that it needs 20,000–30,000 immigrants a year to prevent a pension deficit and meet the need for public services.

International newspapers coveredthe launch of Finland’s new icebreaker model–the Calypso–this week. The sustainable vessel is fitted with a hybrid motorised removable bow, which is capable of cutting through ice upto 70 cm thick.

The motorised bow is the largest of its kind and is powered by technology developed by Danish multinational Danfoss. 

A WIDELY-READ ARTICLE published this week in the British newspaper The Telegraph attracted plenty of commentary for its comparison of WW2-era Finland to the current state of politics in the United Kingdom.  

The lengthy piece, written by a prominent historian, argues that the Finnish government’s response to successive crises should serve as a role model for a post-Brexit UK, concluding that the country “needs its own General Mannerheim”.  

Finland’s iconic and ubiquitous "lonkero" (a traditional gin-based drink) was the subject of discussion this week, with Forbes publishing an article on the growing popularity of Long Drink—an alcoholic beverage inspired by lonkero—in the U.S.

The brand has recently become a trend amongcelebrities such asKim Kardashian, and has received financial backing from the likes of actorMiles Teller.

A MAJOR NEWS STORY in the international press this week concerned Thursday’s announcement that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will be heading to Finland to participate in the 22nd annual meeting of the Arctic Council on May 7. 

THIS WEEK IT WAS REVEALEDthat the scale of undocumented refugees and asylum seekers in Finland is much greater than anyone anticipated. Recent reports have shown that as many as half of the 30,000 asylum seekers that entered Finland at the height of the refugee crisis may have “slipped underground”, with authorities having little to no details on their whereabouts or wellbeing.

This has been attributed to Finland’s notoriously strict laws on seeking asylum and gaining legal residency in the country.

The Finnish national football team has received significant coverage from international media after they qualified for the finals of the 2020 edition of the UEFA European championship (Euro).

This is the first time that Finland has made it to the finals of a major tournament, with their biggest achievement till now being a fourth-place finish at the 1912 Olympics when the country was still part of Russia. 

Onkalo, Finland’s spent fuel repository, made headlines this week when the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency called the project a game-changer for the nuclear industry. 

Onkalo will be the world’s first deep geological repository for spent nuclear fuel. It is currently under construction in Eurajoki, West Finland, and will be situated close to the Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant. 

The international pressrevealed that Finland will soon be home to the largest nuclear reactor in Europe this week. The Olkiluoto 3 (OL3) nuclear power plant unit was granted a charging permit on 26 March.

Located in Eurajoki, Southwest Finland, the unit is expected to produce around 14 per cent of the country’s electricity and will likely begin commercial operations in February 2022.

The Finnish town of Sallamade headlines this week when it launched a bid to host the 2032 Summer Olympics. Located in Lapland, temperatures in what is sometimes called Finland’s coldest town often drop to -50℃.

The bid is actually a humorous attempt to draw attention to the effects of climate change. The video depicts residents playing summer sports such as beach volleyball and swimming in winter conditions. 

A new reporthas revealed that Finland’s female-led government has repeatedly been the target of misogynistic harassment and abuse online.  

The report, which was published bythe NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence based in Latvia, states that the five ministers most frequently attacked were all female.

Finnish supermarket chainK-Citymarket hit the headlines this week when it announced plans to establish an onsite brewery at its Vantaa outlet.

According to the retailer, the onsite microbrewery will be the first of its kind in Europe and will manufacture beers under the Rosendahl brand from May onwards.

Finnish filmCompartment No. 6 sparked discussions this week, with an article in Euronews questioning whether it could be Finland’s first contender for an Oscar nomination in 20 years. 

The film, directed byJuho Kuosmanen and based on a novel by Finnish authorRosa Liksom, has been praised for its humour and won the runner-up Grand Prix award (shared withAsghar Farhadi’s A Hero) at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

The news that Finnish scientists accidentally unleashed butterflies that contained parasitic wasps created a buzz this week, with several international newspapers, including The Guardian and Independent covering the story. 

Researchers had introduced a new kind of caterpillar to a small island in the Åland archipelago in the hopes of studying the behaviour of the beautiful Glanville fritillary (Melitaea cinxia) butterflies once they emerged. 

A new studyput Finland in the spotlight this week when it was unveiled as the most physically active country during the pandemic.

Published in the Journal of Frontiers in Psychology, the study examined cross-cultural health behaviors and the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on perceived wellbeing. It also analysed how different confinement measures in multiple countries led to differences in health outcomes.

Finland’s library culture was in the spotlight this week, with Helsinki’s latest addition Oodi receiving special attention. The government invested 98 million euros in the central library, which received 3.1 million visits in its first year alone.

Finland’s Library Act, which aims to make culture and learning accessible to everyone, guarantees that libraries are free and open to anyone who wishes to use them.  

Finnish rallydriver Kalle Rovanperä made history this week when he became the youngest-ever winner of a World Rally Championship (WRC) event.

The 20-year-old, who drives for Toyota, beat Hyundai’s Irish driverCraig Breenby 59.9 seconds at the rally, which was held in Estonia on Sunday. Rovanperä’s father is also a former WRC rally winner.