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by Sam KINGSLEY Agence France Presse HELSINKI, Finland (AFP) — Rattled by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Finland’s prime minister said Wednesday the Nordic nation would decide whether to apply for NATO membership “within weeks”, despite the risk of infuriating Moscow. Helsinki’s parliament will next week open a debate about joining the Western alliance after the Ukraine war sparked a dramatic U-turn in public and political opinion in Finland and neighbouring Sweden over long-held policies […]
by Sam KINGSLEY Agence France Presse HELSINKI, Finland (AFP) — Finland is preparing for a potentially historic decision “before midsummer” on whether to apply to join NATO as a deterrent against Russian aggression. The Nordic nation of 5.5 million has traditionally been militarily non-aligned, in part to avoid provoking its eastern neighbour, with which it shares a 1,300 kilometre (830 mile) border. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 saw public support for […]
by Pierre-Henry DESHAYES Agence France-Presse SETERMOEN, Norway (AFP) – In a muddy car park in Norway’s Far North, Finnish troops show off their military might, lining up rocket launchers, artillery and snowmobiles as they prepare to train alongside their NATO brothers-in-arms. While Finland and Sweden’s partnership with the Atlantic Alliance is nothing new, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has pushed the two militarily non-aligned nations to deepen their cooperation with NATO even further. Norway’s Cold Response […]
HELSINKI, Finland (AFP) — Finland has been named the world’s happiest country for the fifth year running, in an annual UN-sponsored index that again ranked Afghanistan as the unhappiest, followed closely by Lebanon. Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania recorded the biggest boosts in wellbeing. The largest falls in the World Happiness table, released on Friday, came in Lebanon, Venezuela and Afghanistan. Lebanon, which is facing economic meltdown, fell to second from last on the index of […]
by Sam KINGSLEY Agence France Presse HELSINKI, Finland (AFP) — It’s one of the few remaining routes from Russia to the EU: trains to Finland are packed with Russians fearful that now is their last chance to escape the impact of Western sanctions. After two years of pandemic, the 6:40 am from St Petersburg was full of largely Russian passengers as it pulled into Helsinki station on Thursday. “We decided with our families to […]
by Sam KINGSLEY Agence France-Presse HELSINKI, Finland (AFP) – It’s one of the few remaining routes from Russia to the EU: trains to Finland are packed with Russians fearful that now is their last chance to escape the impact of Western sanctions. After two years of pandemic, the 6:40 am from St Petersburg was full of largely Russian passengers as it pulled into Helsinki station on Thursday. “We decided with our families to go back […]
Finland has taken the “historic” decision to supply weapons to Ukraine following Russia’s invasion of its pro-Western neighbour, the country’s government announced Monday. Helsinki will send 1,500 rocket-launchers, 2,500 assault rifles, 150,000 rounds of ammunition, and 70,000 servings of field rations, said Defence Minister Antti Kaikkonen. “It is a historic decision for Finland,” Prime Minister Sanna Marin told reporters. Finland is a member of the European Union but not of NATO, although it does have […]
Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland Sunday said they would close their airspace to Russian planes, joining other European countries in ramping up sanctions over Moscow invading Ukraine. Finland, which shares a 1,300-kilometre (800-mile) border with Russia, “is preparing to close its airspace to Russian air traffic,” Transport Minister Timo Harakka wrote in an overnight tweet. He did not state when the measure would take effect. Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said on Twitter his country […]
HELSINKI, Finland (AFP) — Finnish telecoms giant Nokia performed better than expected last year and foresees further growth in 2022 as a supply chain crunch and inflation are set to ease, the network equipment maker said Tuesday. The announcement follows a string of quarterly earnings surprises for the network equipment maker, which last October managed to boost its third quarter profits despite a worldwide shortage of computer chips. The group largely met expectations with 22.2 […]
by Sam KINGSLEY HELSINKI, Finland (AFP) — Latte drinkers may in the future be sipping on java sourced from a petri dish rather than a plantation, say scientists behind a new technique to grow what they hope to be sustainable coffee in a lab. “It’s really coffee, because there is nothing else than coffee material in the product,” Heiko Rischer tells AFP, pointing to a dish of light brown powder. His team of researchers at […]
HELSINKI, Finland (AFP) — Finland’s last coronavirus restrictions will be lifted once 80 percent of over-12s have been fully vaccinated, the government said Monday, a target it expects to reach by October. “Our aim is to open up society and keep it open,” Prime Minister Sanna Marin told reporters in Helsinki after a cabinet meeting on the country’s coronavirus strategy. “The advancing vaccination coverage is our key to achieving that,” Marin said, adding that restrictions […]
European powers present in Afghanistan moved Sunday to evacuate their nationals and local staff as the Taliban were on the outskirts of the Afghan capital poised to take power. Germany moved dozens of diplomatic personnel from its embassy in Kabul to the airport ahead of an evacuation planned from Monday, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Twitter. “We are not going to risk our people falling into the hands of the Taliban,” Foreign Minister Heiko […]
