Chances are slim that Finland would be able to back away from international agreements about how it handles asylum seekers, according to the country's former president, Sauli Niinistö.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's (NCP) government has proposed controversial legislation that would allow authorities to quickly deport people from the country in situations that pose a national security threat.
Niinistö spoke about the "extremely difficult question" on Yle's current affairs TV programme A-studio on Wednesday evening.
The legislative proposal — which current President Alexander Stubb expressed approval for on Wednesday — has received a good deal of criticism from human rights groups due to its conflicts with a number of international agreements.
On A-studio, Niinistö revealed he also considered similar law changes in 2016, after a large number of asylum seekers had arrived on the eastern border.
"When I brought it up in Parliament, there was a lot of harsh criticism," he recalled.
Labour market mediator?
Yle also asked the former president whether he might help mediate the stubborn conflict between employee unions and the government, prompted by the government's labour market plans.
Earlier on Wednesday, the country's biggest labour federation, the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), announced plans to extend the ongoing political strikes for at least another week.
Niinistö said that he has not been asked, and responding to a question whether he would like to do so, the former president said he had a number of other tasks to deal with at the moment.
Niinistö said the labour market dispute had raised unpleasant feelings, and that the situation had inflicted financial damage on people who were not involved.
The former president added that he hoped the situation would not cause deep wounds.
Niinistö stepped down after serving as president for a dozen years at the beginning of this month, when Stubb took the post.
Last week it was reported that Niinistö had been asked for a comprehensive report on the European Union's crisis resilience.
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