As Russia’s war against Ukraine approaches for the third week, the All Points North podcast analyzes the response of Finnish society to the crisis.
APN is visiting the extradition center in Tampere, as the aid organizations say they have received "unprecedented" the level of donations after the deadly attack on Russia.
"People bring everything from food to insanely expensive goods like drones," donation coordinator and Ukrainian citizen Vitali Zabolotskyy told APN.
"They are just giving it away and participating in the defense of Ukraine. And it’s just amazing, the support is honestly superior."
You can listen to the entire podcast on the embedded player here, through Yle Arena, Spotify, Apple podcasts or anywhere you get podcasts.
The article continues after the sound.
NATO risks and benefits
Finland’s political leaders have also had a very active week, with more and more calls being made to Finland to apply for membership of the NATO military alliance.
In the last week, President Sauli Niinistö visited a colleague from the United States Joe Biden In Washington DC as Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) met with the Prime Minister of Sweden Magdalena Andersson In Helsinki before the trip to Tallinn to discuss with the Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas.
When the question of Finland’s possible application to NATO is at the top of the agenda of the meeting, Eoin McNamaraA security expert from the Foreign Policy Institute told APN that while the security benefits of membership in a military alliance are obvious, there are also risks.
"Russia would have the opportunity to try to intimidate Finland and complicate Finnish life, to try to destabilize Finnish society in various ways as a punishment for NATO membership, which Russia would definitely oppose." McNamara said.
Rising energy costs
In this week’s section, we will also continue our spring series, which examines the cost of living in Finland, and this time in the spotlight on rising energy prices.
Although consumers do not yet fully see the consequences, that may soon change Minna KuusistoSenior Financial Analyst at Danske Bank.
"These general increases in the prices of both energy and other goods and commodities mean that we all have less disposable income for other consumption. So it weighs on our standard of living here in Finland," Kuusisto said.
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This week’s presentation was presented by Ronan Browne and Veronica Kontopoulouproduced Mark B. Odom and the sound engineer was Panu Willman.
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Source: The Nordic Page