A previously unannounced meeting between US President Joe Biden and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö in Washington was the top story in multiple newspapers on Friday, with most focusing on the latter's optimism regarding Finland's bid to join Nato.
Niinistö said he was still sure that Finland and Sweden's applications will be ratified by the upcoming Nato summit held in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July, according to newspaper Helsingin Sanomat.
"In what order, together or separate, that's something I won't make any guesses on," Niinistö told reporters.
Tabloid Ilta-Sanomat added that Niinistö was asked about his thoughts about the US possibly using the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey as leverage towards ratification of Finland's Sweden's Nato applications.
"Bilateral issues between the US and Turkey, such as the fighter jet deal for example, are not the subject of our discussions. Nor are they elements of Finland and Sweden's Nato memberships," he said.
The Finnish president will end his five-day, bi-coastal US visit on Friday, after a trip to the state of Virginia where he'll head to the US Navy's Fleet Forces Command headquarters, Norfolk Naval Station.
Niinistö is also scheduled to meet Virginia state Governor, Glenn Youngkin.
He spent the beginning of the week on the west coast of the United States, in Washington state and California's San Francisco Bay Area.
Party attitudes towards forestry
Finland's forest management has been regularly making headlines in recent months.
According to data confirmed by Statistics Finland and the Natural Resources Institute (Luke), the country's forests have turned into a carbon emitter rather than a carbon sink, due to excessive logging and slower tree growth.
The coalition government found itself in a series of disputes last autumn over the European Commission's biodiversity strategy, which seeks to protect 30 percent of the EU's land and sea areas by the year 2030.
Agrarian newspaper Maaseudun Tulevaisuus (MT) asked representatives of political parties running in the upcoming spring elections, for their stances on the issue.
The Social Democrats, Green Party and Left Alliance pledged to reform the Forestry Act in favour of laws that better protect biodiversity and enhance the carbon sink function of forests, including that of managed forests, the paper writes.
"We need to restore stricter age and diameter requirements before trees are allowed to be cut down," the Left Alliance told the paper, adding that landowners should be given economic incentives to cut their trees later.
Meanwhile, the Centre Party did not endorse law changes that would limit sustainable forestry. The party primarily seeks to ensure landowners' rights to their property, MT explained.
The Movement Now party said that "logging levels can be maintained at current levels," while the Swedish People's Party aimed to "promote an active forestry sector that is economically, socially and ecologically sustainable," according to the paper.
Christian Democrats and the Finns Party say that Finland should have more jurisdiction over its own forestry policy and not be bound by EU-set goals, according to MT.
The Finns Party would also like to see the operations of the Ministry of the Environment transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
"The idealistic policies of the Ministry of the Environment have been given too much weight," Finns Party representatives told the paper.
A cold, overstaying guest
"There's no sign of spring, when looking at the weather forecast," tabloid Iltalehti wrote on Friday.
Temperatures are expected to stay well below freezing across the country over the next few days, while 10-20 centimetres of snow is expected in the south with 2-10 centimetres in southern and eastern areas, according to the paper.
"Next week, the possibility of temperatures momentarily climbing above zero and precipitation of various forms is more likely in the south, however frosty temperatures are expected to largely persist," Foreca meteorologist Joanna Rinne said.
The meteorologist also warned those planning to be on the road during the weekend to be cautious of poor driving conditions.
