Tag: Matti Vanhanen
EU nation’s MEPs green light joining NATO
Meanwhile, two members of the bloc have not yet ratified Helsinki’s bid Finland’s Riksdag voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to join NATO. The vote was held before Hungary and Turkey had the chance to ratify the Nordic nation’s accession to the US-led military bloc. The bill was supported by 184 MPs in the 200-seat parliament, while […]
Halla-aho: Erdoğan’s extradition demand “pulled out of a hat”
Jussi Halla-ahothe chairman of the parliament’s foreign affairs committee on Monday evaluated at YLE A-studio, that the number is not based on anything concrete. “It’s more or less a number pulled out of a hat that was used to raise the stakes in response to the provocation in Sweden,” he analyzed, referring to a recent […]
MOT: Former president Halonen, three former prime ministers used private planes of Russian banks
Former president Tarja Halonen and three former prime ministers of Finland have used airplanes owned by Russian banks and businessmen on their official trips, Yle’s MOT unit investigation found. MOT’s investigative journalist team found that Halonen flew via Russian aircraft at least 12 times between 2007 and 2011. Matti Vanhanen (Cen), Mari Kiviniemi (Cen) and […]
Parliament banned the vice-president of VKK because of a secret image of a colleague
The second vice-chairman of the People’s Party (VKK) is in power Jarno Vähäkainureceived a ban from parliament on Monday after secretly taking a picture of a member of parliament Iiris Suomela (green) and publishing it on social media. The ban will run until the end of this parliamentary term. However, according to a statement from […]
Thursday’s newspapers: courage and perseverance, forest fire warnings, banned from parliament
The cost of living in Finland will rise, and this Thursday Helsingin sanomat newspaper interviews the Minister of Finance Annika Saarikko (Cen) government’s difficult decisions in this exceptional situation. The country’s consumer prices rose by seven per cent year-on-year in May as euro area inflation peaked. "The coming months will be difficult, ”the minister acknowledged, […]
Niinistö and Stoltenberg discuss NATO offer at Kultaranta Talks
Gold Coast Talks, hosted by the President Sauli Niinistöstarts on Sunday in Naantali, southwestern Finland. About 100 people from various walks of life have been invited to the annual Kultaranta Talks series, which is held annually at the President’s official summer residence. The main guests are the Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg and the […]
Vanhanen: Finland’s NATO membership would increase stability in the Baltic Sea region
The Speaker of the Finnish Parliament, Matti Vanhanen (Cen), said that Finland’s pending NATO membership will increase stability in the entire Baltic Sea region. "We believe that Finland’s NATO membership would increase the stability of the Baltic Sea region and strengthen security in the transatlantic region." he said, adding that Finland was "security producers, not […]
Haavisto: Resolving the NATO dispute between Finland and Turkey will take weeks of negotiations
Turkey has also called on countries to lift their arms embargo imposed because of its military intervention in Syria. “I said a few days ago [that it’d take] days or weeks, but maybe as a precaution I will now say that it will take weeks, ”Haavisto told YLE in Joensuu on Sunday. “I’m optimistic that […]
Finland’s top lawmakers detest Turkey’s NATO threat
The President of Parliament says that Helsinki can not change its laws and extradite “innocent people” to allay Ankara’s concerns about terrorism Finland’s top lawmaker has ruled out reassuring Turkey to gain approval for the country’s NATO membership, saying parliament cannot change laws and extradite “innocent people” whom Ankara considers terrorists. Parliament Speaker Matti Vanhanen, […]
Niinistö vaatii Erdogania "avoin ja suora" Nato-keskustelu
Suomen presidentti Sauli Niinistö soitti turkkilaiselle kollegalleen Recep Tayyip Erdogan lauantaina. Niinistön toimiston mukaan presidentit keskustelivat "Suomen Nato-jäsenyys, koko euroatlanttisen alueen turvallisuus ja terrorismin torjunta". Myöhemmässä twiitissä Niinistö sanoi, että heillä oli ollut "avoin ja suora" keskustelu. "Totesin, että Nato-liittolaisina Suomi ja Turkki sitoutuvat toistensa turvallisuuteen ja suhteemme vahvistuu siten. Suomi tuomitsee terrorismin sen kaikissa […]
Vanhanen: Finland will remain in Sweden even if Turkey slows down NATO offers
Speaker of Parliament Matti Vanhanen (Cen) said he is not worried about Finland’s threat of vetoing despite Finland’s application for NATO membership. Finland, which applied for NATO membership last week, was waiting for quick talks, but Turkey has delayed things. The former prime minister interviewed in Yle’s Ykkösaamu Ajantualista program on Saturday said that Finland’s […]
FM Haavisto: "No exact dates" NATO’s decision, but Finland, Sweden could announce within the same week
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland Pekka Haavisto (Green) has said that it is possible that Finland and Sweden could announce their decision to join NATO at about the same time or within weeks or even days of each other. "It would be useful for Finland and Sweden if we go through this process at […]
Speaker of Parliament Vanhanen returns to Åland’s comments
Speaker of Parliament Matti Vanhanen (Cen) said on Monday that he has not heard a serious debate about the desire to deploy troops in the autonomous and demilitarized island region of Åland, which is a Swedish-speaking maritime province in Finland. The newspaper Etelä-Suomen Sanomat (ESS) said on Sunday that Vanhanen said he hoped Åland would […]
Tuesday’s newspapers: Russia’s gas unloading, parliamentary support for NATO and royal visit
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shifted the debate around energy in Finland, as much of Finland’s energy needs are sourced from Russia. Li AnderssonChairman of the Left Alliance and Minister of Education, spoke to Iltalehti paradox that Finland finances the Russian military machinery. "Europe will continue to fund Putin’s military operations and the Putin administration […]
NCP MP Ilkka Kanerva died at the age of 74
Finland’s longest-running Member of Parliament Ilkka Kanerva (NCP) has died after a serious illness. The Coalition Party informed about the matter on Thursday night. Kanerva had been a legislator since 1975, when he was first elected to Southwest Finland. He served as a minister on three separate governments, and was awarded the title of “Minister” […]
Watch live: Ukrainian President Zelensky is speaking in parliament
Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky will address Parliament on Friday, April 8 at 1 p.m. According to the Speaker of Parliament, Zelensky’s speech to the legislators was at Finland’s request. Matti Vanhanen. "We informed Ukraine two or three weeks ago that we were ready to give the President the opportunity to speak here." Vanhanen explained and […]
Yle’s presidential election: Rehn Finland’s new favorite
Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn has risen to the top of the poll as the most likely winner of Finland’s next presidential election in a survey conducted by Taloustutkimus. Foreign minister Pekka Haavisto (green) and the Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) ranked second and third in the survey. The results of the […]
The Ambassador of Ukraine will receive standing applause in Parliament
Ambassador of Ukraine to Finland Olga Dibrova Finnish MPs applauded him on Thursday after receiving an invitation to a parliamentary plenary session. "The purpose of the invitation is to show parliamentary support and solidarity with Ukraine," Speaker of Parliament Matti Vanhanenwho had requested the presence of the ambassador at the hearing, stated. In his speech, […]
The Speaker of Parliament criticizes Halla-aho "military intervention" comments
Speaker of Parliament Matti Vanhanen (Cen) has told Yle that he does not take comments into account Jussi Halla-aho (Finns) that Western military intervention in Ukraine is appropriate. Halla-aho, the new chairman of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, said on Tuesday that Western military intervention in Ukraine could not be ruled out. He also told […]
Former Prime Minister Vanhanen was elected Speaker of Parliament
Ex-PM Matti Vanhanen (Cen) has been elected Speaker of Parliament when the MPs return to the spring session of the Finnish Parliament on their Christmas holidays. The former leader of the Center received 157 votes in the election. Movement Now’s only Member of Parliament Harri Harkimo received one vote, as did the NCP MP Ilkka […]
The Turkish NGO won the Finnish Equality Award
The Turkish NGO We Will Stop Femicide, which focuses on combating violence against women, was awarded the Finnish International Equality Prize on Monday 2021. The grant, first established by the Finnish state in 2017, is given to a person or organization with "promoted gender equality in a significant way worldwide." The value of this year’s […]
Finland will receive the first tranche of the EUR 2 billion Covid stimulus package
Finland will receive the first tranche of the European Union’s EUR 750 billion Covid-19 stimulus package in October, Yle has learned. Several knowledgeable sources have told Yle that the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) announces the approval of Finland’s national coronavirus recovery plan in […]
News Finn: Marin is Finland’s most popular prime minister in this century
The Head of the Government of Finland, Sanna Marin (SDP), is by far the most popular prime minister in the country this century, says the results of a study conducted by the news group Uutissuomalainen. About one in three respondents considered Marin to be Finland’s best prime minister in the 2000s, and he received widespread […]
Wednesday’s newspapers: Sote reform, broadband investigation
Yesterday, Parliament’s social affairs committee concluded its review of the government’s proposed reform of health and social care – or Sote – according to a report on Wednesday. Helsingin sanomat newspaper. The committee approved proposals to transfer responsibility for health and social care from about 300 municipalities in Finland to 21 new regional authorities and […]
Finland presents a plan to use the EU’s share of the Covid-19 incentive
The Treasury minister Matti Vanhanen (Center) estimated at yesterday’s press conference that the plan is not a recovery plan in the traditional sense of the term, but rather a reform program. “Past national recovery efforts have supported existing ones; reforms are key priorities here,” he explained. The plan consists of four pillars, of which € […]
The Central Party appoints a new Minister of Science and Culture
Antti KurvinenThe chairman of the Central Party’s parliamentary group will take over the role of Minister of Science and Culture as the party’s leader Annika Saarikko intervenes as Minister of Finance. The newly elected Minister of Science and Culture, a native of Southern Ostrobothnia, said he was an avid supporter of the Finnish baseball and […]
The government is preparing an additional € 2.4 billion budget to fund vaccines and Covid’s recovery
The government is preparing an additional budget of € 2.4 billion, which will be submitted to Parliament for approval on Thursday. The draft proposal includes many of the terms agreed in last week’s tense, week-long budget negotiations, as well as other measures decided earlier in the year. In the proposal, the government sets aside a […]
Monday’s newspapers: Vanhanen’s departure, Helsinki companies in danger, tram fever
Ilta-Sanomat has an afternoon newspaper published an interview with the Minister of Finance Matti Vanhanen (Cen), following Saturday’s news of his resignation and giving instructions to the leader of the Central Party and the current Minister of Science Annika Saarikko. Vanhanen, who began his political career as a member of the Espoo City Council more […]
Paper: Matti Vanhanen resigns as Minister of Finance
Minister of Science and Culture Annika Saarikko take possession of Matti Vanhanennext week’s financial portfolio, reports the Rural Future magazine on Saturday. The transition will officially take place at the party meeting next Wednesday, when Saarikko will appoint himself to the party meeting. In a joint interview, Vanhanen and Saarikko told MT that this was […]
Friday papers: government budget agreement, asking for travel documents, cool May day
Helsingin Sanomat is one of the magazines that perform a check at a government briefing on Thursday night where key cabinet ministers outlined the main points of the coalition’s hard-fought budget. The document states that the main decisions taken concerned the main features of expenditure, employment measures and peat production due to the closure of […]
Finland will exceed the expenditure framework by 900 million euros in 2022, by 500 million euros in 2023
The ruling five-party coalition agreed severely delayed negotiations to exceed the previous expenditure framework by about € 900 million in 2022 and € 500 million in 2023. in state aid for basic municipal services. The Board also agreed to reduce previously planned expenses for 2023 by EUR 370 million. Almost a third, or EUR 110 […]
The Finnish government is still looking for a common basis for future spending
“It’s good that we’re still at the negotiating table and able to talk about things together,” he commented as he left the estate house. Marin on Friday suspended the talks for one day, because of differences of opinion between the five party turned out to be bulky, which pushed the government to the question of […]
Friday’s newspapers: Progress in budget negotiations, security concerns in Russia and Ukraine, mobile Covid testing
Tabloids Ilta-Sanomat borrows its sources government talks on next year’s state budget framework, saying progress has been made, but also on Wednesday’s late Thursday Annika Saarikko described the progress "mouse steps". At the same time, Helsinki every day Helsingin Sanomat writes that, in addition to the budget itself, these negotiations can determine whether or not […]
The parties will collide when budget talks begin on the second day
Party leaders and government ministers have arrived at the Estate House on the second day to negotiate the future of the national budget. The debate on the budgetary framework was suspended on Wednesday night and ministers said little progress had been made. "The administrative parties are quite far apart," said the Minister of Finance Matti […]
Friday papers: SDP tickets in the poll, new restaurant rules, basketball history
Last voter poll commissioned daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat shows that support for the Social Democratic Party has fallen below 20% for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. In the HS-Gallup poll in April, the Finnish party had the most voter support, 21.6 per cent. The Finnish party also ranked at the […]
Finland is delaying the submission of the recovery plan to the EU
Read more: Mikkonen: EU stimulus package enables the largest ever climate investment in Finland (March 16, 2021) “Discussions with the European Commission have progressed well, but are still complete. There is a lot of technical work, so more time is needed to complete the final recovery and resilience plan.” said The Treasury minister Matti Vanhanen […]
Wednesday’s newspapers: Helsinki coron bus, mystery virus variant, climate action
Helsinki residents will soon have faster access to rapid coronavirus testing, reports Huvfudstadsbladet in Swedish (HBL). The authorities of the Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District HUS are to introduce the so-called "Corona bus" which acts as a mobile test station for the townspeople. "The purchase is now complete and the bus will be ready for […]
Mikkonen: The EU’s stimulus package enables the largest ever climate investment in Finland
Yesterday, the government announced its sustainable growth program, which outlines the use of financial support of about 2.1 billion euros. The European Union pays out funding among its member states, not only to speed up the recovery from the shock caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but also to promote investment in measures that increase employment, […]
EU stimulus funds will enable the largest single climate investment in history, the minister says
On Monday, the Finnish government unveiled plans on how to introduce EU coronavirus crisis incentive financing. Half of Finland’s share of the nearly EUR 3 billion recovery and adaptation instrument will be used to help create the country "green transition" dependence on fossil fuels, while a quarter of funding is spent on digitization, according to […]
Most government ministers plan to run in the local elections
Most Finnish MPs, including 14 ministers out of 19, are preparing to run in next spring’s municipal elections. Central Party Secretary Riikka Pirkkalainen told Yle that the candidacy of MPs and ministers could play a key role in local elections. "They often produce a significant number of votes because they have proven to be credible […]
A small opinion on the EU recovery plan in the debate in the Finnish Parliament
Most parliamentary groups have expressed their support for Finland’s participation in the EU’s Covid recovery plan. The Treasury minister Matti Vanhanen (Cen) said that the EU’s joint plan supports Finland’s and the EU’s recovery from the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. SDP MP Johannes Koskinen highlighted the broad view of economists that Finland, […]
Agencies study the idea of Finland as a “teleworking paradise”
The sparsely populated country and the relatively stable coronavirus situation make Finland an attractive destination for more and more teleworkers, according to some government agencies. There is pandemic emigration in California, Stefan Lindström, The Consul General of Finland in Los Angeles, told Yle. "One of my friends, an Native American, will move to Estonia next […]
Yle: The government is considering new job search requirements for the unemployed
In order to increase employment, the Finnish government is working to implement a program that requires people receiving unemployment benefits to apply for or participate in a maximum of four “job opportunities” each month, according to Yle. Each of these “opportunities” is not necessarily limited to just looking for a job, but also, for example, […]
According to the Minister of Finance, next year’s budget deficit will be “much higher than EUR 7 billion”
prime minister Sanna MarinThe five-party coalition government (SDP) began talks on next year’s state budget on Monday. Negotiations are expected to be particularly difficult due to the economic disruption caused by the coronavirus crisis. On Monday night, Marin said the government discussed, among other things, employment plans, the financial situation of municipalities, energy taxation and […]
