🇫🇮 Finland Mentioned

Visit Finland is inviting international singles to explore the country’s food culture on four-day trips. Visit Finland will pick 16 international travellers for four-day, all-expenses-paid food trips in February 2027. Eight travellers will head to Helsinki and eight to Tampere. Each group will share a tasting menu with two local Finnish singles on a blind group date.

When Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store called Russian President Vladimir Putin on October 27, they took an unusual diplomatic step at a time when direct high-level contact between European governments and Moscow has been limited.

Finnish police said on Friday they had launched a pre-trial investigation and arrested nine people on suspicion that Chinese workers who came to work at a battery factory in the Nordic country were victims of human trafficking. Police also suspected criminal activity in arrangements related to the employees’ entry into Finland. The pre-trial investigation concerns the activities and personnel of a Finnish staffing agency and a Chinese client company. The Chinese embassy in Helsinki did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A mobile network outage in France this week has raised questions about the reliability of Finnish telecoms giant Nokia’s products against the backdrop of continued European Union efforts to phase out Chinese suppliers Huawei Technologies and ZTE over security concerns.

Finnish police have launched a criminal investigation into suspected breaches of environmental law at the construction site of a planned Google data centre. The Oulu Police Department said on Thursday it had launched an investigation into Google's Finnish subsidiary, Tuike, over work conducted in Muhos in northern Finland. Tuike cleared about 330 hectares of forest in Muhos and nearly 200 hectares at a second site in Kajaani before mandatory environmental impact assessments were completed. Google recently announced a US$15 billion ($21 billion) investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure in Finland, described by the company as its largest investment in Europe. Documents seen by Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat (HS) revealed that logging at the Muhos site began in March and continued for months. Finland's Supervisory Agency (LVV) responded to correspondence from Tuike in May, saying environmental impact assessments had to be completed before logging could begin. In September, Google announced its plans to invest $21 billion over two years to build data centres in Finland. A week later, Finnish news agency STT reported on allegations by an environmental organisation that Google had cleared forest illegally at the Muhos and Kajaani sites. Google's Finland country manager, Antti Järvinen, apologised for the clearances and said the company believed the clear cuts complied with the law.

Finnish police have launched a criminal investigation into suspected breaches of environmental law at the construction site of a planned Google data centre in northern Finland. The project is part of a $15bn deal announced last month by Alphabet’s Google to invest in AI infrastructure in Finland. Authorities have said Tuike Finland, a local subsidiary of Google, conducted forest clearing and drainage at a planned site near the town of Muhos, before the environmental impact assessments required under Finnish law had been completed. Videos and photographs showing the scale of the forest clearance at the site of the data centre, and Google’s initial reluctance to address the issue in the days after the news broke, have prompted widespread anger in Finland. Finnish authorities ordered Google to stop work at the data centre site at the start of October.

Finnish police have launched a criminal investigation into possible breaches of the country’s environmental laws at the site of a planned Google datacentre in rural northern Finland. Authorities allege that Tuike Finland, a Google subsidiary, cleared and drained 330 hectares of forest at the planned site in Muhos before environmental impact assessments required by Finnish law had been completed.

But a 90-minute phone call this week to Vladimir Putin by the leaders of Finland and Norway drew an unusual rebuke from their Danish and Swedish neighbours. On Tuesday, Finland’s president, Alexander Stubb, and Norway’s prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, spoke with Putin, in a rare high-level conversation between the Russian leader and Ukraine’s European allies. Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said she was very sceptical about the independent initiative by Norway and Finland and questioned what they thought they could achieve. “Instead of looking like a firmly united, homogeneous group, we see a rift,” said Arkady Moshes, director of the Russia programme at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs.

Finland’s Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen visited New Zealand on Oct. 21 to discuss security issues with officials there. His travel agenda also included Australia and Japan, signaling the Northern European country’s interest in the region despite the geographical distance. In a statement released by the Finnish government ahead of the trip, Häkkänen said: “We are reinforcing our relations with partners in the Indo-Pacific region. In addition, we see plenty of opportunities to deepen defense materiel cooperation.” Asked what NATO assets Finland is prepared to host, he replied: “When we joined NATO we were prepared, nationally, to defend ourselves. We have established NATO’s northern Europe’s land headquarters in the Arctic area, on Finnish soil. So we are leading the land defense.” Häkkänen was also asked about Finland’s defense priorities. He replied: “The first one is that Finland, by itself, has to be always, always, ready to defend our own country.” He said Finland has civil shelters for almost 5.5 million people—much of its total population—and added: “The Finnish way to do things is cost-effective, high-quality and win-win.”

The leaders of Norway and Finland have held a rare call with Russian President Vladimir Putin to push for an end to the war in Ukraine, ahead of a planned round of United States-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi next month. Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre spoke with Putin for 90 minutes.

Gina Tran wants a new association in Finland to bring generations of Vietnamese people together and give Finnish residents opportunities to experience Vietnamese culture through the traditional áo dài dress. Tran spoke on behalf of the founders when the Vietnamese Ao Dai Association in Finland launched in Helsinki on 24 October, with support from the Vietnamese Embassy. ScandAsia previously reported on Finland-based Nguyen Thuong Thuy winning a European áo dài title in June.

Finland’s President and Norway’s Prime Minister held a “frank and substantive” discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday about efforts to end the war in Ukraine, the Nordic leaders said.

Norway’s prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre (l) welcomes Finnish president Alexander Stubb during a meeting in Oslo on 20 October 2026. The Finnish-Norwegian call was “not coordinated with any of us [allies]” in advance, said Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen on Tuesday – directly contradicting Finland’s Alexander Stubb and Norway’s Jonas Gahr Støre. “I really don't understand what these two countries think can be achieved this way,” she said. Finland’s president has caused a minor EU diplomatic fiasco by phoning Russian president Vladimir Putin out of the blue. Finland’s Alexander Stubb sat down together with Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre in Helsinki on Tuesday (27 October) and “initiated” the call to Putin, in what was already a submissive gesture in protocol terms.

Finland and Norway held a 90-minute call with Vladimir Putin to explore ways to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. HELSINKI – Finland’s president and Norway’s prime minister held a “frank and substantive” discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Oct 27 about efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Speaking to reporters in Helsinki, where Nordic leaders are meeting, Store said the 90-minute call highlighted “big differences in views” on Ukraine. Stubb confirmed the talks with Zelensky in a social media post and commented: “Finland and Norway will continue to support Ukraine, and the efforts to find a just resolution.”

Finland's President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre have held a joint call with Vladimir Putin - a rare contact between the Russian president and European leaders. The Ukrainian leader said he was grateful for the "active support" of his Finnish and Norwegian counterparts. Tuesday's phone call was held from the Finnish capital Helsinki. "Finland and Norway border Russia," Stubb and Støre said.

Finland and Norway have called Putin to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, drawing Danish criticism. Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen criticized Finland's and Norway's leaders on Tuesday after they held a joint phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin about ending the war in Ukraine. Frederiksen said Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre had gone “solo.” “I'm very sceptical about this Norwegian and Finnish initiative. It hasn't been coordinated with any of the rest of us,” she said. Finland and Norway both border Russia and have supported Ukraine throughout the war. “Finland and Norway will continue to support Ukraine and efforts to find a just and lasting peace,” Stubb wrote on social media.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. Moscow confirmed the call shortly after officials in Helsinki and Oslo released statements about the conversation. Stubb’s office said he and Støre initiated the call to discuss Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and diplomatic efforts to end the war and promote peace and stability in Europe. Both Finland and Norway said their leaders were speaking as representatives of their respective countries and did not speak on behalf of Europe as a whole.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere on Tuesday held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the war in Ukraine, Stubb's office said in a statement.

The two defense ministers discussed the Nordic country's decision to allow nuclear weapons onto its soil as Japan weighs a similar policy shift. Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and his Finnish counterpart, Antti Hakkanen, inspect an honor guard before their meeting at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Monday.

Kone tries to limit asset sales as it seeks Brussels’ approval for €29bn megadeal.