Summary:
Prime Minister Juha Sipilä says the Finnish government is not under any particular pressure to make changes to immigration legislation after the terror attack in Turku. Minister for European Affairs, Culture and Sports Sampo Terho has demanded that Finland introduce new terorism legislation. Mr Sipilä, on the other hand, wants to speed up the reform of intelligence legislation and hopes the law will be passed under an expedited procedure.

Media:  STT Mediapankki
Date: 21.8.2017
Journalist: STT
Main source: Prime Minister Juha Sipilä

Summary:
President Sauli Niinistö has issued a statement after the terror attack in Turku on 18 August in which two people died and eight were injured. Mr Niinistö expresses his condolences to the families of the victims and wishes a speedy recovery to those injured. He urges the nation to think about how to deal with the brutal act and calls for a civilised discussion about immigration. Mr Niinistö emphasises that social peace in Finland is founded on trust in authorities and the justice system and their ability to make right and just decisions and hopes people will refrain from purposeful misunderstanding and hatred. He also asked people to remember the courage and kindness witnessed in Turku when bystanders put their own lives at risk in order to save victims of the attack.

Summary:
Professor Antti Asikainen of the Natural Resources Institute of Finland says Finland will suffer if the European Parliament sides with the proposal of the Parliament’s Environment Committee regarding forest economy. Implementing the Finnish government’s bioeconomy goals would diminish Finland’s carbon sink between 2021 and 2030 to 13 to 21 million tons which would have to compensated through emission cuts in other sectors or through buying emission rights. Mikael Ohlström of the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK) says that if carbon sinks can be compensated through emissions trading, Finland may face a bill worth as much as 300 million euros per year.

Summary:
President Sauli Niinistö announces his readiness to attend an electoral debate between presidential candidates in late October. The Centre Party’s presidential candidate, Matti Vanhanen, criticized Niinistö on Tuesday that he had previously said that he would not participate in a debate until after Independence Day in December. On Wednesday, Niinistö confirmed that he will of course join the debate, and significantly earlier than previous presidents had done in similar situations. The first round of presidential elections is due to be held at the end of January.

Media:  Etelä-Suomen Sanomat (E-edition, PDF)
Date: 13.7.2017
Journalist: –
Main source: Sauli Niinistö/ Finnish president

Summary:
Foreign Minister Timo Soini stated at the SuomiAreena event that the originally positive concept of populism has become negative in modern Finland. According to Soini, populism originally meant to work on behalf of people’s affairs, talk in their language and to care for people. The spreading of racist or fascist content on social media is not populism, or if it is, then the word is ruined. According to Soini, the disintegration of The Finns Party last month is due to the fact that the traditional values ​​of the party did not exist anymore after the Jyväskylä party congress. Soini emphasized the importance of co-operation in policy making.

Summary:
President Sauli Niinistö responded to citizens’ questions at Pori’s SuomiAreena event for about an hour on Wednesday. Many citizens were concerned about immigration. Niinistö rejected the idea that immigrants get more support than Finns. He said he understands people’s concern. If a situation like in 2015 would happen again, with tens of thousands of refugees arriving, it would be problematic for Finland’s overall economy. Asked about NATO, Niinistö said this is above all a question of security. He is satisfied that Prime Minister Sipilä did not close the door to Finland’s NATO membership. Niinistö also notes that he does not like to play war games, but that Finland would help Estonia in the event of a war.

Summary:
According to Finland’s Prime Minister Juha Sipilä, the tightening of EU defence cooperation is happening swiftly. He says that the goals of France and Germany are similar to Finland’s goals. There have been dreams about EU defence cooperation for decades, but the US President Trump has made EU countries start taking action. Finland was speaking for EU defence last summer, when Sipilä and former French President Francois Holland published a joint communique advocating the deepening of EU defence cooperation and Nato relations. EU leaders hope to agree upon structural cooperation at the end of the year.

Summary:
The twist on LULUCF details is about to take a turn that is positive for Finland, believes Sylvain Lhôte, Director General of the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) which is also striving to make changes to the proposal that would turn forest use into emissions. The Finnish government’s stance is that it is impossible to at the same time reduce emissions, increase the use of renewable energy and limit forest use, and also the extensive investments in bioeconomy in Finland require an increase in forest use. Recently there have been positive tones in the European Parliament. Lhôte says Finland should try to convice other member states that they too can utilise forests in a sustainable way.