Europe’s exclusion from Ukraine talks in Saudi Arabia is causing frustration in Finland.
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Pictured here: Meeting in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, Russia and the US agreed to start working toward ending the war in Ukraine. Image: Venäjän ulkoministeriö / EPA
Finance Minister Riikka Purra is urging the European Union to bolster its financial and military support for Ukraine, Kauppalehti reports. Her comments came after the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin) and Eurogroup meeting in Brussels on Tuesday.
The Finns Party leader warned against any deals between the US and Russia that could undermine sanctions or security in Europe.
“It is extremely important for us to ensure that sanctions and restrictions are upheld especially at this stage,” she said, adding that “it’s important to remember why the sanctions system is in place.”
She also emphasised that Europe is not as weak as current sentiments may suggest.
“We hold a significant portion of Russia’s frozen central bank assets, and we can seize them if support for Ukraine is withdrawn,” she explained.
France is set to convene a second meeting on Ukraine with other European leaders on Wednesday.
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This week, the All Points North podcast explored why an increasing number of foreigners in Finland are engaging with Finnish politics. Listen to the episode via this embedded player, on Yle Areena, via Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Why should you care about local politics?
Creative class
In recent months Helsingin Sanomat has carried several stories on rekindling kids’ interest in reading amid declining skills. On Wednesday it cites a longitudinal study showing considerable variation in teens’ Finnish language and literature skills after completing basic education in ninth grade.
Espoo-based Finnish language arts teacher Nina Manu told the paper that identifying the culprit is easy: the deterioration is due to a lack of reading, use of smart devices and large classroom sizes.
To improve things, she gets creative — and down on the floor with the kids. This means incorporating drama and art to help middle schoolers learn adjectives. The pupils seem to like this method, which includes doing pantomimes.
“Sometimes it would be easier to just do exercises from a book, but this way, things stick in my head better,” said pupil Niklas Manner.
He told HS that what stayed with him the most was learning parts of speech by drawing cities.
“That will probably help me remember word classes forever,” he said.
Kitchen castaways
Maaseudun Tulevaisuus catches up with Ella Suojalehto of Kontti secondhand outlets, who said cookware is among the largest product categories at the chain operated by the Finnish Red Cross, with 12 charity shops across the country.
According to Suojalehto, home appliance trends eventually show up at Kontti. Right now many people are offloading water carbonators and capsule coffee machines. Donations also tend to be seasonal, with ice cream machines and juicers often arriving after summer.
Air fryers are, however, still retaining their popularity, according to Suojalehto, who said hardly any had been donated.
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Publish date : 2025-02-18 23:19:00
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