“If we want to keep the country united against all external threats, including Russian threats, it is very important that we can handle these types of topics nationally because otherwise these are misused against us and all kinds of provocations can appear. It’s important that we grow in tolerance as Finns,” Pekka Haavisto says.
The election of the next Finnish president, taking place against a backdrop of escalating geopolitical drama on the country’s border with Russia, is seen as crucial to Finland’s future direction. The head of state and commander-in-chief of the army is responsible for foreign policy, in cooperation with the government, and represents Finland at Nato summits, as well as in meetings with international leaders.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The Nordic country, which is governed by a coalition including the far-right Finns party, needs to “grow in tolerance”, said Pekka Haavisto, a former foreign minister who would become Finland’s first green and first out gay president if he is elected.
In addition to being a pressing social issue, reducing the volume of hate speech aimed at making people of colour and others feel “scared of expressing their opinions” was key to national security, he added, saying external actors might seek to exploit domestic divisions.
The election of the next Finnish president, taking place against a backdrop of escalating geopolitical drama on the country’s border with Russia, is seen as crucial to Finland’s future direction.
Tensions have heightened in recent months, with Finland temporarily shutting its eastern border – which remains closed until at least 11 February – and accusing Russia of using asylum seekers in a “hybrid operation”.
But he has called for a rise in refugee quotas for women and girls from Afghanistan and Iran, and criticised those who use Russia’s actions on the border to support rhetoric against asylum seekers.
Last year, Finnish politics took a dramatic shift to the right when the former prime minister, the Social Democrat Sanna Marin, was ousted in a parliamentary election and replaced by a coalition including the far-right Finns party and led by the conservative Petteri Orpo.
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