Finland's President Alexander Stubb has given his first address to the UN General Assembly, appearing before world leaders late on Wednesday, Finnish time.
Helsingin Sanomat summarised the three points that President Stubb focused on:
1. What unites rather than divides us.
2. How to end the current wars, especially those in Ukraine, Palestine and Sudan.
3. And how to reform the UN to reflect the world we live in today.
HS wrote that Stubb offered the same basic remedy for all three - multilateral cooperation, with less self-interest and more majority interest.
This was the perspective he emphasised, for example, in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, where he said that we have to ask ourselves in whose interest it is to foment war. It is in the interest of the majority of the world to build peace, he pointed out.
"Ending wars would benefit most — if not all of us — but currently we do not have the mechanisms to drive the interest of the global majority. Many countries do not feel they have a say in global institutions. As a result, the institutions are losing their legitimacy," Stubb said, according to a transcript of his speech published by the president's office.
Stubb recalled that Finland's success has been built on UN principles, a rules-based world order and respect for international law.
However, Stubb acknowledged that the UN as it stands is no longer working. The most practical part of his address came when he reiterated to the Assembly his ideas for reforming the Security Council. Stubb has suggested abolishing vetoes by Security Council members and adding five new permanent members. He would also like to see the introduction of the possibility of expulsion from the council any country waging an illegal war of aggression.
Helsingin Sanomat did note, though, that Stubb acknowledged that many people consider these proposals to be overly optimistic.
Post-protest clean-up
Environmental activists from Finland and Sweden on Wednesday defaced the pillars and walls of Finland's Parliament House with red paint, doing so they said, to draw attention to peat harvesting in Sweden by the Finnish state-owned company Neova.
The clean-up started almost immediately, and although protesters said that the paint used was water soluble, Pertti Rauhio, Parliament's Director of Administration told Iltalehti that the building's facade is made of a porous granite that might make the job more challenging than first thought.
"But I can already tell you that there will be not a mark left on it. The building will be cleaned, no matter what technical solution is needed," Rauhio told the paper.
Johanna Björkman, head of the restoration guidance unit of the Finnish Heritage Agency's Cultural Environment Services, said there are several possible cleaning methods that could be used. Laser scrubbing has already been mentioned, and although the technique has not been used in Finland before, Björkman pointed out that it has been used successfully in places such as Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.
Rauhio was unable to give Iltalehti a firm estimate of the final cost. He guessed that it would run into five figures.
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Tensions smoothed over
Ilta-Sanomat told readers that a storm had been brewing inside the coalition government since Finland voted last week in favour of a UN General Assembly motion declaring Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories illegal.
The vote drew criticism first from the Christian Democrats and then from the Finns Party.
According to IS, the dispute escalated to the point that Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen (NCP) was facing a formal request to explain Finland's vote and why the parliamentary groups of the governing parties were not informed before the decision was made public. This, the paper pointed out, would have been an exceptional move by coalition partners.
But now, IS wrote, it looks like the matter will be settled by a joint discussion on the government's rules regarding the internal flow of information, bringing together party leaders, Petteri Orpo (NCP), Riikka Purra (Finns), Anders Adlercreutz (SPP) and Sari Essayah (CD).
According to the paper, it has been difficult for the Christian Democrats and the Finns Party to understand why Finland appeared on the same side as Russia and Iran in the vote on Israeli settlements. The issue is perceived as an embarrassment by these two groupings.
Valtonen herself has already publicly stated that the decision on Finland's vote was taken in the normal manner and is in line with Finnish policy on both the settlements and decisions by the International Court of Justice.
Ho,ho,ho, already?
Helsingin Sanomat expresses no small degree of shock that, "As the hot days of summer are just beginning to fade Santa Claus is already staring at us from the shelves of the supermarket. At the furniture store, a Christmas display is being hastily built and artificial Christmas trees are peeking out of boxes."
According to HS, at least three retail chains, Prisma, Tokmanni and Lidl have already started displaying and selling Christmas items, Advent calendars, holiday chocolates and decorations.
The paper wonders if supermarket purchasing agents have skipped three months of the year, so it asked Tuula Loikkanen, CEO of the Finnish Grocery Trade Association just what is going on.
"I remember when I moved to England in the late 1980s. It was 30 degrees and I went to the shops for the first time. I noticed Christmas decorations and calendars. I think this is a global trend that has gradually spread to Finland. I myself went to the Netherlands last week, and they already had Christmas goods on display," Loikkanen told HS.
Is there already a demand for Christmas goods before Father's Day and Halloween?
"The consumer segment is heterogeneous. We used to follow the same fashions and follow the same trends. Today, there are many more differences among consumers. People like different things. There is also a group of people who are already excited on social media that it's only three months to Christmas. We really have a lot of Christmas people. We want to remember and serve this segment as well at this stage. In the meantime, Father's Day, Halloween and Black Friday are still more prominent."
So are they a kind of mega-Christmas people?
"Yes. I think that's the kind of consumer group we're talking about. And, of course, at the same time, it's a reminder to others that Christmas is on the way."
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