Reactions to MP Olli Immonen's remarks on Facebook, perceived as racist by many and engendering a call for a criminal investigation, have filled the headlines in Finnish media for three days straight, with Finns Party chair Timo Soini speaking out at last on Monday. This morning's papers feature the verbatim reactions of Immonen's fellow MPs – who top daily Helsingin Sanomat says are "confused" by their colleague's "warlike" rhetoric.
Some choice reactions in the paper include stern backlash – such as Tom Packalén's stance that Immonen ought not be allowed to continue as MP – as well as a fair amount of internal confusion as to what the Finns Party's programme actually entails when it comes to questions of multiculturalism. MP Pirkko Mattila is quoted in the paper as saying: "I do not recognise any enemy against whom we should be fighting."
Many of Finland's dailies say that the party is "fracturing". Tabloid Iltalehti asks on its front page: "Will Soini's troop stay together?" and goes on to list every major Finns Party gaffe on its first pages.
Uni quotas in spring
The main headline of Tampere paper Aamulehti is on university entrance exams and the coming difficulty in switching majors after gaining entrance. Where previously students could more or less freely use certain subjects as springboards to tougher paths – such as studying chemistry before applying to medical school – the Ministry of Education is now mandating that all higher education institutes start reserving more places for first-time applicants, starting in spring, 2016.
The intention of the rule is to make sure students applying to universities straight from high school get a fighting chance at starting their academic career, Aamulehti explains. "No more reserving places to study," University of Tampere student services chief Mikko Markkola says brusquely.
However, the Ministry of Education says that although first-time applicants will increasingly be treated as special cases, those applying for a second or third time will not be cast aside either; "how is this possible?" the article asks.
"It's a two-system approach," says councillor Tomi Halonen, and mentions transferral of studies, siirto-opiskelu. "The idea is that people wanting to switch career or study paths wouldn't need to reapply in the joint call for third-tier applications or go to entrance exams."
But in reality, the Aamulehti report says, this transfer ideal is unlikely to affect the most favoured subjects, such as medicine, because the influx of transfers would be too great and universities decide case by case who gets in.
Wet Naantali tradition with roots
On the lighter – and wetter – side, a somewhat bizarre annual summer tradition in Finland coincides with what is known as Unikeonpäivä or National Sleepy Head Day. The tradition involves tossing a celebrity into the Naantali harbour, ostensibly to wake them up. This year's dunkable celeb was actor and film director Timo Koivusalo, many of whose movies are set in the picturesque city of Naantali.
"They usually choose Naantali locals to throw in the drink, but this year they adopted me," he jokes in daily Turun Sanomat. "This is a great place for filming, all we have to do is bring a camera and everything looks stunning!"
Known abroad as Seven Sleepers Day, the roots of this seemingly frivolous festivity are in ancient Christianity. The day marked the remembrance of a legend about seven youths who fled from persecution in Ephesus in Greece, hid in a cave and slept there for 200 years. The story's prominence is greatest in the Muslim world, where it is slightly altered. Modern sleepers, in Naantali anyway, carry on this historical idea in modern and secular style.
Turun Sanomat notes that the city of Salo now has its own Sleepyhead as well.