Helsingin Sanomat political reporter Teemu Muhonen writes that Tuesday was a turning point in the four-party negotiations on forming a new government in Finland, when the Finns Party got through its demand that talks now focus on immigration and climate issues for the time being.
The view of the Finns Party leader Riikka Purra is that too little progress has been made on these matters and, according to the HS reporter this delay is seen within the Finns Party as a conscious choice by the National Coalition Party.
The NCP is trying to leave the most difficult disputes to the final stages of the government negotiations. Once all other issues have already been resolved, the threshold for the Finns Party or the Swedish People's Party to walk out of the talks would be very high.
The Finns Party still remembers government negotiations in 2015, when in the opinion of some party members, the Centre Party and the NCP led the party around like a puppy on a leash. On Tuesday, Purra made it clear that this time, the Finns Party will not play a mere supporting role.
HS also sees a great deal of frustration within the Swedish People's Party with the way the NCP has been handling the talks. In background briefings with Helsingin Sanomat, SPP members say that the NCP itself does not want to fight for its immigration and climate views but want to leave that battle to the Swedish People's Party.
If progress on the most difficult and controversial issues is not achieved this week, pressure on PM-designate Petteri Orpo (NCP) will naturally increase. However, he has quite safely set midsummer as the deadline for the completion of a government programme. According to Helsingin Sanomat political reporter Teemu Muhonen there is still plenty of time to make that happen.
For an explainer on Finland's government negotiations process, click here for Yle News' YouTube channel.
Russia-Finland agreement terminated
Ilta-Sanomat reports a notice from the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying that Russia has announced termination of a bilateral agreement between Finland and Russia on military inspections.
According to a release from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Finland was informed of Russia's decision on Tuesday. The agreement is to be terminated as of 1 June.
The agreement provided for one annual Russian military assessment visit to Finland and one Finnish assessment visit to Russia in the area of the Leningrad Military District.
The agreement supplemented the Vienna Document adopted by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and was signed in 2000.
The last military inspections carried out by Russian representatives in Finland were in 2019–2021. Finland's last inspection in Russia under the terms on the agreement was in 2019.
Finland has a similar agreement with Sweden. According to Ilta-Sanomat, Russia has had no other bilateral agreements of this type.
Gifts for teachers?
Celebrations marking the end of the school year are again around the corner, and the Joensuu daily Karjalainen writes that many families are now thinking about whether or not they should get a gift for a teacher.
Ira Hietanen-Tanskanen, a lawyer at the teachers' union OAJ, told the paper that there is no rule about this, official nor unofficial.
"Under no circumstances does one have to give a gift and there is no need to stress about it," she says.
Hietanen-Tanskanen adds that many teachers are happy to just get wishes for a good summer.
"However, if you want to remember a teacher with a gift, then homemade cards are a good way to do that," she advises.
Other typical gifts are, for example, flowers, chocolate and small gift cards.
"Teachers are subject to the same rules as other civil servants, that means ordinary gifts can be accepted. On the other hand, particularly valuable gifts must be refused. It is everyone's own responsibility to judge what can be considered normal," Hietanen-Tanskanen notes.
Most of the teachers who responded to a survey on the subject by Karjalainen have a neutral or positive attitude towards the gift tradition. However, a small minority took the view that the custom of giving gifts should be stopped.
"Gifts easily put teachers and students and families in an unequal position. Children compare the gifts they have given, "compete" for the teacher's favour, even though this should not be the case," responded one teacher.
"For many children, it is a really important occasion when they have made a card themselves and excitedly give it to their teacher," another pointed out.
Cold snap
The weather forecast in Iltalehti shows plenty of warm and sunny weather around Finland on Wednesday.
Southern and central parts of the country can expect pleasant 20C–24C degree temperatures, with mostly 15C–20C in the north.
However, weather will cool on Thursday with temperatures topping at no more than 20C even in sunny parts of southern Finland.
According to the forecast, by the end of the week, daytime temperatures may to drop by as much as 10–15 degrees from the readings seen over the past few days.
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