#FINLAND: Conservatives To Take Power After Parliamentary Elections

[world politics news]

Finland headed to the polls on Sunday and ousted once-popular Prime Minister Sanna Marin from office in the country's parliamentary elections, denying her a second term as the government.

Marin was looking to win re-election by keeping her liberal Social Democrats party in power. However, with 97.7% of the votes tallied, it was the conservative National Coalition party emerging victorious with 20.7%. In second place was the far-right, nationalist Finns party with 20.1 percent, with the Social Democrats garnering 19.9%.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#FINLAND: NATO Application Approved By Turkish Parliament

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Turkey’s parliament has ratified Finland’s application to join NATO, lifting the last hurdle in the way of the Nordic country’s long-delayed accession into the Western military alliance.

All 276 lawmakers present voted unanimously in favour of Finland’s bid, days after Hungary’s parliament also endorsed Helsinki’s accession.  The bid was publically endorsed by Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan over one week ago. 

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#FINLAND: Parliament Votes to Move Forward With NATO Application

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The Finnish parliament has voted overwhelmingly in favor of joining the NATO military alliance. The Nordic nation will need to wait for ratification from Turkey and Hungary but looks set to move ahead of neighbor Sweden.

The vote in Parliament was 184 to 7.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#FINLAND: Foreign Minister Hints At Solo NATO Application If Joint Entry With Sweden Blocked By Turkey

[world politics news]

Finland could consider joining NATO without Sweden if Turkey continues to block their joint bid to enter the military alliance. 

During a morning television interview, Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said that both Nordic nations joining NATO together was "absolutely the number one option," but that "we have to be ready to evaluate the situation." 

Both Finland and Sweden abandoned their longstanding neutrality in the face of Russian threats to both countries after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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#TURKEY: Vote On Swedish, Finnish NATO Membership Unlikely Until May

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Turkey is unlikely to vote on Sweden and Finland’s accession to Nato before pivotal domestic elections expected in May or June this year, according to a senior Turkish official.

“We are not in a rush here, they are in a rush to join Nato,” İbrahim Kalın, chief adviser to Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, told journalists.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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#FINLAND: Parliament Delays Implementation Of ID Law For Playing Lottery Games

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From 1 January 2023, operators will be required to carry out mandatory ID checks for all consumers playing coupon-based games such as Lotto and Eurojackpot.

However, due to the short turnaround time for licensees to adjust their ID systems, which has been made more difficult by a shortage of components as a result of the pandemic and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the government proposed a short transition period to allow operators time to ensure they are in compliance with the new rules.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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#FINLAND: Agrarian Centre Party Sinks To New Lows In Latest Poll

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Popular support for the Centre Party of Finland has slipped to a historically low polling level.

YLE has revealed that only 10.3 per cent of respondents to its latest opinion poll expressed their support for the conservative agrarian party, representing a decline of 1.4 percentage points from the previous poll.

Pictured above: The centre’s current and former chairs, Annika Saarikko and Juha Sipil

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#SLOVAKIA: Parliament Votes To Allow Sweden, Finland Into NATO

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Slovakia's parliament last Tuesday ratified the entry of Finland and Sweden to NATO, becoming one of the last countries to back the military alliance's expansion. The vote Follows Portugal's Parliament voting "yes" to the two countries entering on Sept.16th.

Finland and Sweden sought to join NATO this year in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

NATO's 30 members have been ratifying their entry since accession protocols were signed in July. With Slovakia's vote, only Hungary and Turkey remain to approve the expansion. Turkey's President, Recep Erdogan Renews Threat to Block the NATO Bids of both Sweden and Finland.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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#FINLAND: Parliament Speaker: Consider Joint Nordic Air Defense Control

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Finland, Sweden and Norway should consider organizing their air defence control jointly in territories north of the Arctic Circle in coming years, the speaker of the Finnish parliament Matti Vanhanen, said.

If Finland and neighboring Sweden's applications for membership in the Western military alliance NATO are successful, the Nordic nations could for the first time consider organizing parts of their defense jointly with their common neighbor Norway, which is already a NATO member.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#FINLAND: Country Will Apply For NATO Membership "Without Delay"

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Finland must apply to join NATO “without delay” in the wake of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, its president and prime minister have said, signalling a historic shift in the country’s security policy that drew a blunt warning of retaliation from the Kremlin.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#FINLAND: Parliament To Debate NATO Membership

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Finnish MPs will debate how to handle a petition calling for a vote on NATO membership on Tuesday as a poll showed a historic change in attitude in the traditionally non-aligned country after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Prime Minister Sanna Marin said in a Twitter post Monday evening that a planned debate in parliament the following day would cover the situation in Ukraine and was not intended as a "wider conversation on Finland's policy regarding military alignment or non-alignment".

But she added that since a citizen's petition requesting a parliament debate on a referendum had reached the necessary 50,000 signatories to trigger a debate in Parliament.

Russia has recently threatened both Finland and Sweden with consequences if it aligned itself with the West following the invasion. Such threats, ironically, have seemingly quickly moved public opinion towards a NATO alliance.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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#FINLAND: Report: Parliament Emails Likely Compromised Last Fall In Cyber Attack

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The data system of the Finnish Parliament was hacked in the autumn of 2020.

The Parliament’s communication department stated that the cyberattack was detected during internal technical surveillance and may have compromised the data security of some e-mail accounts, including accounts assigned to Members of the Parliament.

The Speaker of Parliament, Anu Vehviläinen, of the Centre Party said the cyber attack is a serious attack against democracy and society in Finland. The attack is being investigated by the National Bureau of Investigation.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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#FINLAND: Women Dominate Politics With Coalition Of Four Women-Led Parties

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In December, 34-year-old Social Democrat Sanna Marin was sworn in as prime minister, heading a coalition and a national cabinet dominated by women.

She is the youngest serving premier in the world, mother to a toddler, and heads a coalition of four other parties that are all led by women. Three of them, like her, are under 40.

Marin is expected to be elected Leader of the Social Democratic Party in June.

The woman-dominated cabinet is unprecedented, even in a Nordic nation that prides itself on gender equality, and goes further than even Canada's prime minister, Justin Trudeau, who ensured a 50/50 gender balance in his cabinet since he became that nation's leader in 2015.

Pictured, left to right: Li Andersson (Leader of the Left Alliance,) Katri Kulmuni (Leader of the Centre Party,) Sanna Marin and Maria Ohisalo (Leader of the Green League) (L-to-R)

[FULL STORY HERE]

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#FINLAND: Transportation Minister, 34, To Be Nation's Youngest Ever PM

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Sanna Marin, Finland’s 34-year-old transportation minister, has been selected as the country’s prime minister, making her the youngest leader to ever hold the job, and the world’s youngest sitting PM. M

She will be taking over from Antii Rinne, who resigned from the position last week after just six months on the job, following controversy over his handling of a postal strike.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#FINLAND: Populist Finns Party Wins Strong Second In Election

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The euroskeptic Finns Party won 39 seats in the 200-seat Finnish legislature in Sunday's election, one fewer than the center-left Social Democratic Party that received the most votes.

Finns Party chairman Jussi Halla-aho also received the most votes by far of any candidate who ran for the Eduskunta legislature. Finnish media are suggesting that could put him in the role of kingmaker in the next government.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#FINLAND: Finns Party Rises To Third Place In New Poll

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The support of the Finns Party continues to rise. In the most recent polling, the party's support is 15%, and the party is now the third most popular. That's up nearly 2% since a February poll. The party took third place in National elections in 2011, winning 19% of the vote.

Support for the party, which is Nationalist, but leans center-Left in many of its policies, is coming from unaffiliated voters.

The most popular party is still with the SDP's 20.1 percent share. The second place is held by the Coalition Party at 15.8%.

Pictured: Finns Party Leader Jussi Halla-aho

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#FINLAND: New Law Allows Concert-Goers To Get Refunds If The Show "Sucked"

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Concert-goers in Finland will now be able to get at least half of their money back from a concert that is widely agreed to be substandard.The law was sparked by a complaint to the nation's Consumer Disputes Board (CDB) who was so displeased with a performance of Chuck Berry’s that he filed to get his money back.

#FINLAND: Russia Withdraws From European Meeting After Duma Member Denied Entry

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Finnish authorities are refusing to allow Sergei Naryshkin, chair of the lower house of Russia's parliament entry to attend a Helsinki meeting of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, citing a travel ban. Russia has pulled all delegates from the meeting. The ban is due to Russian intervention in Ukraine.

#FINLAND: Oppo. Centre Party Ousts Coalition Gov't

[world politics news]

Finland's opposition Centre Party has ousted Prime Minister Alexander Stubb's left-right coalition after a campaign dominated by the country's economic woes. Centre Party leader Juha Sipila, an IT millionaire and newcomer to politics, will become the next prime minister.

#FINLAND: Poll-Leading Center Party Would Cut Spending, Devalue Currency To Spur Economy

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Spending cuts and devaluing the currency will lead Finland's economy out of its lost decade, according to the Center Party, which is leading by 10 points in polls before next Sunday's election. The party will also seek cuts in pension contributions by employers.

Pictured: Olli Rehn, former European Commission economics chief and former member of parliament, who's returning to Finnish politics as one of the group's top candidates in Sunday's election.