Sweden saw the meeting as a step forward despite Turkey’s blockade and objections. “The most important thing today is that we have gathered,” the Swedish negotiator Oscar Stenström told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Politico reported. Stenström added that the countries have agreed on further meetings.
The article also discusses the alliance’s speculation about Turkey’s continued blockade of Finland’s and Sweden’s membership efforts even after the countries signed a memorandum on measures to address concerns about Turkish arms exports and terrorism at the alliance’s summit in Madrid last summer.
The prolongation of the process is partly due to the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğann domestic political aspects and the effort to gain influence in Ankara’s relations with Washington, the article states.
“It is now time for all allies to complete the ratification and welcome Finland and Sweden as full members of the alliance before the NATO Summit in Vilnius,” Stenström said.
The original story was published in Politico on 09.03.2023 and can be found here.
Finland starts building a border fence with Russia
The start of construction of a 200-kilometer-long fence across the border between Finland and Russia was discussed in a BBC article on February 28. The article examines the details of the fence and the rationale behind the war between Russia and Ukraine.
The border guard told the BBC that the fence will be a 3-meter-high fence topped with barbed wire. The article mentions that the construction of the fence is due to the increase of Russians who want to escape conscription to fight in Ukraine.
The article states that the fence work at the Imatra border crossing started in February with forest clearing, while the fence installation work will begin in March.
In July 2022, the Parliament approved a bill on reforming the Border Guard Act so that restriction of cross-border traffic is possible in exceptional circumstances.
The original story was published by the BBC on 28 February 2023 and can be found here here.
Finland will vote next month
ERR news published an article on Finland’s parliamentary elections in April on March 9. The article compares the elections in Finland and the recently held elections in Estonia.
On April 2nd, elections for the 200-member chamber will be held in 13 constituencies in Finland. The article mentions the media attention the Prime Minister received Sanna Marin just like the Prime Minister of Estonia Kaja Kallas and brings up issues that will trouble future polls, such as Finland’s NATO membership, Russia’s borders, and sharply rising inflation and energy prices.
The government led by Marin was already in place when the Covid pandemic hit, while inflation and energy prices have been a problem there, the article says.
Finland uses d’Hondt proportional representation, the same system as in Estonia, while a successful coalition needs at least 101 seats between the participating parties, according to the article.
The original story was published in ERR news on 09.03.2023 and can be found here.
Finnair jumps into spring with an enhanced schedule
Finnair’s spring schedule, advertised as the largest since 2020, was discussed in an AviationSource article in March. The article discusses operators restoring their networks and preparing for a busy summer.
Finnair flies more than 8,500 flights in March, according to data from flight analytics company Cirium. The numbers are also almost 29% higher than at the same time last year.
The airline is expected to open four new routes this spring and serve 19 long-haul destinations this year in North America, Asia and the Middle East as the network expands.
“It’s great to see our spring schedule taking shape with the largest number of flights since February 2020,” Anssi PartanenFinnair’s UK and Ireland market leader said.
“As we expand our network, we are also excited to welcome back destinations such as Osaka and Ljubljana, which we know are popular with our customers,” added Partanen.
The original story was published on AviationSource on 03/09/2023 and can be found here.
Finland’s first geothermal plant starts operating
Finland’s first geothermal plant in Vantaa Varisto, built by QHeat for Vantaa Energia, was launched in a ThinkGeoEnergy article on March 10. The article tells about the details of the facility and the goal of reducing the carbon footprint.
The article says that the facility consists of three thermal wells about 800 meters deep. The estimated annual energy production of the wells is 2,600 MWh, which corresponds to the annual heat demand of approximately 130 detached houses.
In recent years, Vantaan Energia has invested in ensuring that the heating network’s heat comes entirely from renewable energy sources, according to the article.
“Geothermal heat emissions are up to 95% lower than fossil fuels. QHeat helps solve Vantaa Energia’s climate challenges, and at the same time, QHeat also accelerates the company’s customers’ journey towards carbon neutrality”. Erika SalmenvaaraCEO of QHeat said.
The original story was published by ThinkGeoEnergy on 10.03.2023 and can be found here.
Factor: Sonali Telang
HT
Source: The Nordic Page