Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) heads to Copenhagen on Wednesday for two days of European meetings, after cancelling a public event on Monday due to a fever. However he may have been awakened early on Wednesday by protesters outside his home, reports the Tampere daily Aamulehti.
Aamulehti wrtes that demonstrators gathered in front of his official residence, Kesäranta in Helsinki’s Meilahti neighbourhood, before 6am. In a statement, the protesters said they wanted to "wake up" the prime minister to "stop the genocide in Gaza" and guarantee the safety of Finns on an aid flotilla that is approaching the war-torn area.
The Global Sumud Flotilla said around 3am Finnish time that activists’ boats had moved into a high-risk zone and that drone activity around the flotilla had increased. Around 5:30am, the vessels approached an area where ships aiming to break the blockade of Gaza have previous been attacked or stopped. The flotilla hopes to deliver medical supplies, dry food and school supplies to Gaza.
Meanwhile the daily Helsingin Sanomat reports that Orpo’s administration has abandoned the idea of bringing child patients from Gaza to Finland for treatment. In August, Orpo said that the government is was looking into the idea, but it was rejected by Finance Minister Riikka Purra (Finns), among others.
On Tuesday, Orpo’s office told HS it had decided that a direct donation would be more beneficial than bringing patients to Finland. In early September, the government earmarked five million euros for humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Children lead a late-night car chase
The Oulu daily Kaleva carries an item on an unusual car chase early on Wednesday that could have ended tragically.
Around 1:20am, a 13-year-old girl fled from police by car in Kajaani, southeast of Oulu. Her 10-year-old brother was in the front seat next to her. Local patrol noticed the car outside a store and decided to check on it, prompting the girl to drive away at high speed. She drove onto a pedestrian and bicycle path before the car crashed into a tree. The children were taken to hospital for check-ups. Authorities have not released details of their conditions.
Police reported the incident to the children's parents and social services. A criminal report has been filed, but individuals under the age of 15 are not criminally liable in Finland. Therefore further investigation of the incident will be carried out by social services, police said.
Last week, the All Points North podcast examined the trials and tribulations that foreigners in Finland can face when seeking out mental health care. Listen to the episode via this embedded player, on Yle Areena, via Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
A 3rd female flag day
Salon Seudun Sanomat in southwest Finland remembers Miina Sillanpää (1866–1952), who has been honoured with a national flag day on 1 October since 2023. The government first proposed such a day in 2016, spotlighting civic engagement.
Sillanpää was a labour activist and Social Democrat who in the 1920s became the first female cabinet minister in Finland, and only the second in Europe, the paper notes. Sillanpää also established protective homes for single mothers in four Finnish cities.
Sillanpää's birthday is 4 June, but 1 October was chosen as the date because it marks the day in 1906 when the Parliament Act and Election Act came into force in the Grand Duchy of Finland, giving both women and men the right to vote and stand for election, the first such law in a European country.
There are now nine national flag days honouring individuals. Such days only paid tribute to men until 2007, when playwright, novelist, journalist and women’s rights activist Minna Canth (1844–1897) was added to the pantheon. The venerable University of Helsinki almanac adopted the annual equality day at the recommendation of the Interior Ministry, which recommended that flags fly each 19 March in commemoration of Canth.
In 2020, the ministry recommended the designation of 9 August to celebrate author and artist Tove Jansson (1914 –2001) and Finnish art, followed by the Sillanpää addition two years ago.
