Finnish EU policy has been on the agenda after Finance Minister Annika Saariko (Cen) signed a joint letter demanding tighter fiscal policy from other member states.
The letter is an opening shot in a battle over a return to fiscal discipline rules after two years of lighter enforcement to allow states to borrow more to deal with the Covid pandemic.
That has seen average state debt rise from 79 percent of GDP in 2019 to 94 percent in 2021, and the letter's signatories want to reverse that trend.
"Reducing excessive debt ratios has to remain a common goal, not only because the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU obliges all Member States to avoid and correct excessive deficits," reads the letter, which is published in multiple European newspapers.
According to the Financial Times, the letter has been signed by Austria, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Latvia, Finland, Czech Republic, Denmark and Sweden.
That it was not also signed by Germany brought criticism from Erkki Tuomioja, an SDP MP and former Foreign Minister. Helsingin Sanomat reports that he took to Facebook to voice his discontent.
"Finland has now fallen into the wrong crowd if the Finance Minister has added her name to the letter signed by eight "frugal countries'" demanding stricter fiscal policies that would endanger Europe's growth and employment. Is there a desire to seek distance from Germany, which didn't sign the letter, luckily enough?" wrote Tuomioja.
Saarikko denied endangering economic growth, but said she thought it important that Finland joins efforts to set the stage for forthcoming debates on budget rules. She also said the main message was consistent with Finland's EU policies.
Official delay
All the papers are now covering a story first reported by Helsingin Sanomat about an official at the Minister for Health and Social Affairs who seems to have delayed answering questions about online alcohol selling for years.
The parliamentary ombudsman reprimanded Ismo Tuominen for failing to answer the questions for two and a half years, but said it believed he had not delayed his response deliberately.
Finland has highly restrictive laws on selling alcohol online, and the request concerned EU opinions given to the government on whether Finland's rules were compliant with EU laws.
The documents requested were marked 'limited', that is, only for a restricted audience. So the ministry had to obtain permission from the EU to publish them but that was received on 29 September 2017, just two weeks after the request was received.
Despite that, the documents were only passed on in April 2020.
The ministry says this was due to 'human error', and Tuominen was given a formal warning for not handing over the documents within the one month deadline.
Warm October?
As the evenings lengthen and the temperature dips in September, long-range weather forecasts can start to look depressing. But they are still a staple of tabloid reporting.
Ilta-Sanomat's latest effort suggests that the end of September is likely to be cooler than average, but high pressure could make the conditions clear, crisp and pleasantly autumnal.
In October, however, things might start to warm up. A new weather system in Europe could bring warmer air to Finland, offering higher temperatures.