Catégorie : Presse Finlandaise

Finland allies with France in EU defense – Juha Sipilä told Yle he had agreed with Macron

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Summary:
Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipilä (Centre) has said on the YLE’s Haloo Europe podcast that Finland has allied with France to build a common European defense, and that he had agreed on this with the French President Emmanuel Macron. Mr Macron has started his European tour in Athens, during which he intends to present his vision for reforming Europe. According to Mr Sipilä, the development of a joint European defence is expected to advance in leaps and bounds after the German election at the end of September.

Media:  Verkkouutiset / Nykypäivä
Date: 11.9.2017
Journalist: Sami Metelinen
Main source: Prime Minister Juha Sipilä

A win for Finland’s forest industry in the crucial vote – European Parliament’s stance making additional cuts possible

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Summary:
The European Parliament has voted to support the proposed change to the LULUCF decision regarding the Finnish forests. The vote will probably allow Finland to significantly increase logging in the coming years. The legislation will be later formulated in the negotiations between the European Parliament, the European Commission and the member states. Environmental organisations have criticised Finland for its effort to gain exceptional rights, which could endanger the efforts against climate change. MEP Nils Torvalds (ALDE) said that the change proposal will not undermine the goals of the Paris climate agreement.

Media:  Helsingin Sanomat
Date: 13.9.2017
Journalist: Pekka Mykkänen
Main source: –

Minister Kai Mykkänen: Juncker « bowing to France and giving China the finger » in the supervision of investments issue could provoke a trade war

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Summary:
Finland’s Minister for Foreign Trade Kai Mykkänen is concerned about European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s proposal to create a system on the EU level to supervise investments coming from third countries. Many member states are especially worried about Chinese investments in strategic sectors, but Mr Mykkänen says that the power should rest in the hands of the member states. Mykkänen is afraid that the measure might provoke a trade war. Mr Mykkänen does support Mr Juncker’s promises to advance free trade deals with Japan and Latin American countries.

Media:  Helsingin Sanomat
Date: 13.9.2017
Journalist: Pekka Mykkänen
Main source: Minister for Foreign Trade Kai Mykkänen

Arms trade is a hundred billion euro business

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Summary:
Member states of the international Arms Trade Treaty are gathering to Geneva this week. Finland has presided the agreement for a year with ambassador Klaus Korhonen as chairperson. The Finnish Committee of 100 criticises Finland for selling arms to Saudi-Arabia and the Arab Emirates while acting as chair of the treaty. Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini assures that the rules for arms export are very tight but notes that it is no use if Finland unilaterally and categorically bans arms export e.g. to the Middle East. According to Mr Soini, the most important thing now is to strengthen the treaty and that progress has already been made.

« These men do not come just for coffee »

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Summary:
President Sauli Niinistö met with Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov in Helsinki on 12 September. Mr Ryabkov thanked Finland for its constructive input in issued related to safety in the Baltic Sea region. Mr Ryabkov was in Finland to meet with US under secretary of state Thomas Shannon. Diplomat Jukka Valtasaari estimates that the negotiations between Mr Shannon and Mr Ryabkov are part of standard diplomatic dealings and negotiations which is why no details of the discussions were offered to the public. Mr Valtasaari estimates that Finland’s role in the negotiations comes from tradition. During and at the end of the cold war several negotiations between the superpowers happened in Finland.

Finland snatched Nordea from Sweden

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Summary:
Nordea’s board of directors has decided that the bank’s head office will be relocated to Helsinki. According to CEO Casper von Koskull, the fact that in Finland Nordea will become a member of the European Banking Union and enter ECB supervision was a major factor in the decision, as it provides the bank with a fair and predictable operational environment. With Nordea included the Finnish banking sector will double its size, which will bring more work to the Financial Supervisory Authority and increase supervision fees. The move will not bring significant changes to Finland’s tax revenue, but it will improve Finland’s image as a competitive country able to attract major companies.

A new proposal to calculate the carbon sink in forests is a relief for Finland

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Summary:
The European Commission is now proposing a new way to calculate the forests’ carbon sink, based on total growth. A certain share of the growth would be the amount of allowed felling. The new proposal is 85 per cent. If the proposals by the Environmental Committee of the European Parliament or the European Commission on carbon sinks were accepted, Sweden would benefit from increased felling compared to Finland.

Media:  Maaseudun Tulevaisuus
Date: 4.9.2017
Journalist: Kari Salonen
Main source: n/a

Mykkänen: Do not trade with firms that have connections to North Korea

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Summary:
Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen urges Finnish businesses to be cautious when trading with Chinese or Russian companies that have connections to North Korea. Mr Mykkänen believes US President Donald Trump’s threat of stopping trading with countries that trade with North Korea is unrealistic, but he says one option could be that the United States poses sanctions against companies that trade with North Korea in China and Russia. Mr Mykkänen estimates that stopping trade completely between the United States and China would be an impossible situation, and China’s countermeasures would affect Europe and the western world as a whole.