According to a recent survey by Helsingin Sanomat, support for Finland’s accession to NATO is higher than ever, at 65 per cent. paper reports on Thursday.
A similar survey conducted by the magazine in early April showed that 59 percent of respondents are in favor of joining a military alliance.
The survey further showed that women’s and young people’s support for Finland’s accession to NATO has increased, HS says.
59 per cent of women want Finland to form an alliance, and the number has increased by nine percentage points from the previous survey. According to a new study, support for men remained at 70 percent.
Although the older groups were most enthusiastic about Finland’s accession to NATO, more than half of the respondents over the age of 30 stated that they were in favor of such activities.
About 13 percent of the survey’s approximately 1,000 respondents said they opposed joining, while 22 percent said they were unsure.
By party, support was strongest among Coalition Party voters, at 86 per cent. A clear majority of voters in the Social Democrats, the Center Party and basic Finns were in favor of joining.
Voters in the Left Alliance were anomalous in the survey, with less than half in favor of joining NATO.
The NATO debate is coming to an end
The ongoing NATO debate in Parliament will end in the coming days, Iltasanomat writes.
The afternoon newspaper tells about it that once prime minister Sanna MarinSocial Democrats reveal their position on NATO membership, with a government decision coming soon. The Social Democrats are due to make their decision in two weeks’ time at a party board meeting.
IL writes that the Foreign and Security Policy Committee is expected to meet with the President Sauli Niinistö decide on the matter in the days following the meeting.
Niinistö has emphasized the importance of the parties’ commitment to Finland’s membership, so that the decision will not be revoked in Parliament once NATO members have ratified the country’s accession.
The Left Alliance has refused to reveal its position before the June party conference, but it will decide next week whether the party will continue in the coalition government if it decides to join NATO.
Shortage of nurses in Finland
On Thursday Iltalehti has analysis The reasons for the shortage of health care workers in Finland.
IL writes that although Finland has a larger number of nursing staff than most other EU countries, there is still a shortage of health care workers.
Referring to a Eurostat study, the magazine says that in the EU countries, nurses make up three per cent of Finland’s total workforce. Only Germany exceeds this, with nurses accounting for 3.4 percent of the workforce.
Despite these figures, Finnish healthcare is still struggling with staff shortages. This is largely due to service planning in the Finnish health care sector and the extent of the nurse’s employment, Iltalehti says.
However, the number of doctors working in Finland is lower than the European average, and nursing staff perform tasks that are often the responsibility of doctors in other European countries. This makes sense, especially if there is a doctor on hand to consult Timo Sinervo From the Department of Health and Welfare (THL).
Although health care in Finland is efficient, Sinervo says it is also on the brink. This means that there are not many additional resources and it is also difficult to fill vacancies, Sinervo added.
Source: The Nordic Page