Evening paper Evening News on the Swedish television program STV on Sunday night, criticizes the president Sauli Niinistö gave a positive picture of what NATO membership would mean for Finland.
The program presented the report described on the Finnish-Russian border in Nuijamaa, as well as the MP’s views on security issues. Erkki Tuomioja (SDP) and President Niinistö.
Tuomioja justified his argument as to why Finland should not join NATO, at least for the time being.
"We have an independent opportunity to mobilize if war breaks out. We have 280,000 reservists. No other European country, not even the big ones, has more [reservists]. We have a relatively safe situation," he told SVT.
According to Tuomioja, the border between Russia and Finland has been and is stable. However, Putin’s regime is unpredictable.
He stated that Finland should build even deeper security co-operation with Sweden and that the United States could be a third party in this co-operation.
President Niinistö presented a different view of Finland’s possible future in security policy. Ilta-Sanomat estimates that in the long run, NATO membership can guarantee that Finns feel safe in their own country and that foreign countries see Finland as a safe and stable state.
"In the long run, NATO would provide a positive response to both of these issues." Niinistö stated.
SVT’s journalists interviewed several Finns about their views on NATO membership. Members of the Finnish Reserve Association interviewed spoke in favor of membership, but an elderly Finnish war veteran suggested that while NATO membership could be a good option, its timing should be carefully considered.
Helsinki Evening paper reports comments on the NATO membership debate from the former Coalition Party Prime Minister Alexander Stubbwho is currently the director and professor of the School of Transnational Management at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.
"History can be affected, but geography is not," Stubb told the newspaper, adding that geography is now in favor of NATO membership.
"It is clear that the Finnish government is currently preparing short-term security guarantees with the United States, Britain and Sweden, or with whom they are now doing so. At the same time, the Finnish leadership is preparing to apply for NATO membership by consulting all NATO members and ensuring that there are no surprises or backlash. They can’t say publicly that “yes, let’s go to NATO now,” Stubb pointed out.
Stubb did not increase his voice to those who criticize national leadership for not openly expressing their support for membership.
"Looking back is not profitable. Finland was never built afterwards, but in an instant. Of course, there will come a time when we will go through the old positions of who said what. But that time is not now," Stubb stressed.
Mother burnout:
Helsingin sanomat newspaper includes a review of recent scientific research that reveals what it calls "surprising paradox" – In Finland, mothers suffer from burnout more than in less equal countries.
A study that was published Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychologyabout 11,500 respondents from 40 countries participated in the survey.
Matilda Sorkkila, A docent from the Department of Psychology at the University of Jyväskylä told Helsingin Sanomat that the result is surprising and paradoxical.
"It feels like something doesn’t fit together. Equality doesn’t really work out if it doesn’t show up at home," he said.
On closer inspection, however, she sees several possible explanations for the high level of burnout of Finnish mothers.
There is a “double pressure” – the desire to participate in working life on an equal footing, but also with a lot of responsibility for the home and the children.
In addition, there may be more subtle reasons, such as unfulfilled expectations.
"When you see equality in other areas of life but not at home, the contrast may be clearer and the experience of inequality at home may be greater," Sorkkila pointed out.
According to researchers, expectations about motherhood in Finland are very high and even unrealistic.
Shortage of interpreters
Helsinki local newspaper Helsinki News considering what it writes is a "huge shortage" qualified interpreters in Finland.
This has become even clearer with the large number of Ukrainians who have arrived in Finland. Older Ukrainians in particular do not speak much English, and on the other hand there are very few Ukrainian interpreters in Finland.
By Gun-Viol VikDirector of Interpreter Education at Diakonia University of Applied Sciences, a shortage of qualified interpreters can lead to problems in the healthcare sector, for example.
He pointed out that a survey conducted a few years ago on hundreds of doctors and nurses showed this to be a concern.
"Some respondents considered that patient safety was compromised in situations where a professional interpreter was not used." he said.
There are also problems with more commonly spoken languages such as Russian, Arabic, Kurdish and Somali.
"These languages are, of course, used by a larger number of interpreters, but their educational backgrounds are also quite varied. It can be tempting to use your own relative or even a child as an interpreter," Vik pointed out.
"For example, in social or health matters, friends or relatives should not be used as interpreters. Officials provide a professional interpreter. The interpreter is committed to professional ethics and interprets comprehensively and impartially," he pointed out.
Diakonia University of Applied Sciences has trained interpreters in various languages for the past ten years, during which time about 120 have graduated. This summer, about 25 have completed special training in legal interpreting.
Sunny but cool Easter coming
Daily Karelian, Published in the city of Joensuu, contains an object that looks to the coming week and the weather for the upcoming Easter holiday weekend.
The week begins with a mix of sun and rain, but also warms up, especially in the south.
Colder air from the north may drop temperatures below the seasonal average when the holiday week arrives.
Easter weather is now forecast to be mostly sunny and daytime temperatures in the south are 6-7 degrees, at night -5 to -10 degrees nationwide.
Source: The Nordic Page