Prime Minister Antti Rinne (SDP) spoke to reporters upon his arrival to a summit of EU leaders held in Brussels on Thursday, 17 October 2019. (Anniina Luotonen – Lehtikuva)

PRIME MINISTER Antti Rinne (SDP) was careful with his words in commenting on the agreement found on Brexit by the EU and the UK on Thursday.

“We have no objections at the moment, knowing what we know and that [the agreement] has been reviewed by Coreper [the Committee of Permanent Representatives in the EU],” he stated in arriving for the EU summit in Brussels on Thursday.

Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services Krista Kiuru (SDP) spoke in a press conference dealing with the long-discussed social and health care reform in Helsinki on Tuesday, 15 October 2019. (Martti Kainulainen – Lehtikuva)

THE GOVERNMENT of Prime Minister Antti Rinne (SDP) has shed further light on its plan for the long-awaited social and health care reform in Finland.

The government yesterday unveiled its draft proposal for disbursing the roughly 70 million euros in state subsidies set aside for municipalities and joint municipal authorities for developing social and health care services in 2020.

Fortum, a Finnish state-owned energy company, announced last week it is increasing its stake in Uniper from 50 to 70.5 per cent. (Jussi Nukari – Lehtikuva)

HARRY HARKIMO (MN) has questioned the rationale behind the newly announced acquisition of Uniper by Fortum, a Finnish state-owned energy company.

Fortum on 8 October announced it is increasing its ownership stake in the German energy conglomerate, known for its fleet of coal- and gas-fired power plants, from less than 50 per cent to 70.5 per cent in a transaction worth approximately 2.3 billion euros.

Jussi Halla-aho, the chairperson of the Finns Party, was photographed during a question-time debate in the Finnish Parliament in Helsinki on 3 October 2019. (Markku Ulander – Lehtikuva)

THE FINNS PARTY has reinforced its position as the most popular political party in Finland, according to a new poll by Alma Media.

The populist, right-wing opposition party is presently polling at 20.4 per cent – 0.3 percentage points higher than in the previous poll – and has a lead of 3.2 percentage points over both the Social Democrats and National Coalition.

Sebastian Tynkkynen (PS), a first-term Member of the Finnish Parliament, has been found guilty of ethnic agitation for already the second time over a controversial social media post. (Martti Kainulainen – Lehtikuva)

SEBASTIAN TYNKKYNEN (PS) has been issued a fine of 4,000 euros for ethnic agitation, marking his second conviction for the offence.

Tynkkynen, a 30-year-old first-term Member of the Finnish Parliament from Oulu, North Ostrobothnia, on Thursday revealed on social media that the ruling is related to a writing on Islam he published on Facebook in 2016.

Finland has seen the birth rate fall for eight consecutive years, according to data from Statistics Finland. (Irene Stachon – Lehtikuva)

PEKKA AITTAKUMPU (Centre), a 38-year-old first-term Member of the Finnish Parliament from Oulu, has suggested that the poor availability of home-help services, importance placed on careers and glamorisation of same-sex relationships are reasons for the slumping birth rate in Finland.

Aittakumpu on Wednesday told Uusi Suomi that municipalities across the country should provide more home-help services to families with children.

Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo (right) and Dimitris Avramopoulos, the European commissioner for migration, home affairs and citizenship, attended a meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday, 8 October 2019. (Anniina Luotonen – Lehtikuva)

A MEETING of the EU’s interior and immigration ministers produced no breakthrough on expanding the mechanism for re-settling migrants rescued from the Mediterranean.

Several EU member states, instead, declared ahead of the meeting that they will not be participating in the temporary and voluntary burden-sharing mechanism devised at the end of last month by Germany, France, Italy and Malta.

Li Andersson, the chairperson of the Left Alliance, has voiced her bafflement with the suggestion that Finland experienced “a euro crisis” before it had even adopted the single currency. (Markku Ulander – Lehtikuva)

MEMBERS of the Left Alliance have expressed their bemusement with a group speech delivered by Jani Mäkelä (PS), a second-term Member of the Finnish Parliament from South-east Finland, in the Parliament House on Tuesday.

A group speech is defined as a speech in which the representative of a parliamentary group expresses the group’s position on the matter under consideration.

Migrants being helped by rescuers upon their arrival on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey on 16 September 2019. (Aris Messinis – AFP/Lehtikuva)

THE CENTRE and Swedish People’s Party have found themselves at odds over a recently proposed mechanism to help migrants rescued from the Mediterranean.

Germany, France, Italy and Malta stated late last month that they have struck an agreement on the temporary and voluntary burden-sharing mechanism, and that they hope that as many EU member states as possible will commit to the mechanism.

The Finnish government has unveiled its proposal for introducing a binding statutory staffing requirement for facilities providing intensive serviced housing services to elderly people. (Laura Ukkonen – Lehtikuva)

THE FINNISH GOVERNMENT has published its highly anticipated proposal for introducing a binding staffing requirement of 0.7 staff per client for facilities providing intensive serviced housing for elderly people.

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health on Thursday said in a press release the legislative amendment and minimum requirement would enter into force on 1 August 2020.