Nordics & Baltics
Despite China threats, Lithuania moves to recognise Uighur genocide
After Brussels moved to impose sanctions on China in March, Beijing retaliated by targeting four Lithuanian politicians among more than a dozen European diplomats and officials. Now, despite direct pressure on Lithuanian MPs, Vilnius is planning to recognise as genocide China's repression against Uighurs. EURACTIV's media partner LRT.lt reports.
Luxembourg, a tax haven for Finnish companies and the super-rich
Hundreds of Finnish companies, high profile business tycoons and CEOs have been seeking tax relief in Luxembourg, with assets managed by favourable agreements amounting to tens of billions of euros. The list of names, revealed by the Finnish Broadcasting Company’s...
A Swedish right-wing government starting to become likely scenario
As parliamentary elections are set to take place in Sweden in September 2022, the popularity of small parties, including the Liberals which are now polling at 3.3%, could mean the current minority government of Social Democrats and Greens could be...
Passenger train connecting Sweden, Finland may finally become reality
As if to highlight the European Year of Rail 2021, a functioning passenger train link between neighbouring Nordic countries Sweden and Finland looks to finally be moving forward. The lack of such a connection remains an anomaly in the European...
Lithuanian president joins Biden in calling Putin a ‘killer’
When Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda was asked by the Baltic News Service on Monday whether he, like US President Joe Biden, could call Russian President Vladimir Putin a ‘killer’, he said: “Unfortunately, yes.” “I see many signs of blatant disregard...
Finnish president suggests summit of major powers
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö has proposed that the 50th anniversary of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe could be harnessed to bring major powers such as the United States, China, and Russia around the same table to discuss...
Finland close to having Europe’s largest nuclear reactor
After years of delay, budget overruns and contractual arguments, the construction of Olkiluoto 3 – Finland’s fifth nuclear reactor built by French-German consortium Areva-Siemens – is finally nearing completion. It is set to become Europe’s largest nuclear reactor and arguably...
Finnish government requests parliament to tighten COVID-19 measures
The Finnish government submitted on Thursday a proposal to parliament, which would restrict freedom of movement and introduce mandatory face mask wearing for three weeks in the country’s most affected areas. The new measures would cover the Helsinki Metropolitan area...
Belarus’ radiation monitoring goes dark after alleged incident
After an alleged incident at the Belarusian nuclear plant in Ostrovets earlier this month, radiation monitoring stations across the country went dark, making the publicly accessible radiation monitoring data in Belarus disappear for several hours, Lithuanian officials said. On 7...
‘There is little left we can do’, says Estonia’s COVID-ridden PM
Speaking from her sickbed, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas admitted in an interview with ERR news on Wednesday, that everything possible to stop the coronavirus spread in Estonia has been done, and that all that is left to be done is...
Finland manages to attract more foreign companies despite pandemic
Finland has managed to attract a growing number of foreign companies during the pandemic despite leading politicians and economists stressing the country’s need for new investments, government organisation Business Finland has found. Business Finland was set up in 2018, for...
Swedish government to rectify tax loophole for pensioners in Sweden, Portugal
The Swedish government of Social Democrats and the Greens announced on Monday that it wants to dissolve the agreement which has enabled Swedish pensioners to benefit from tax exemptions in both Sweden and Portugal through a legal loophole. According to...
Chinese hacker group responsible for cyber-attack on Finnish parliament
The Finnish Security and Intelligence Service (Supo) has identified the group behind the cyber-attack against the Finnish parliament’s IT systems last autumn. A group called APT31 is responsible for the “state-run cyberespionage operation,” according to the intelligence service’s press release...
Swedish Security Police reports increase in domestic, foreign threats
Threats against Sweden both from abroad and from domestic extremist fractions have increased, according to the annual report of the Swedish Security Police (Säpo). According to the report published Thursday, the coronavirus pandemic has created fertile ground for extremist groups...
Finland ready for bigger role in African crisis management
A cross-parliamentary committee has recommended Finland increase its involvement and participation in crisis management operations, particularly in Africa. Approved by a majority of parties including the nationalist Finns Party, the “Effective crisis management” report published on Wednesday lists climate change,...
Australian-Finnish mining company finds cobalt deposit in Finland
Australian-Finnish mining company Latitude 66 Cobalt announced on Wednesday that it has found the fourth-largest cobalt deposit in Europe, with the highest cobalt density in the EU, in the eastern part of Lapland in Finland. The new discovery strengthens the...
Chemical weapons in Baltic Sea an ‘urgent threat’
A group of MEPs has called on Brussels to take action to tackle the issue of the chemical and conventional weapons laying dormant on the Baltic seabed. “We express our deep concern about the threat that is still posed by...
Finland plans to spend half its recovery funds on ‘green transition’
The €2.9 billion Finland will receive from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility will be divided between three sectors with 50% of the funding going to enhancing the green transition, and the remaining funds divided between digitalisation and research and...
Lithuanian town shuns AstraZeneca vaccine claiming safety fears
The predominantly Russian-speaking town of Visaginas, in Northeastern Lithuania, has shunned the 800 AstraZeneca jabs available, citing “conflicting information.” “Unfortunately, 800 AstraZeneca vaccines are sitting in the refrigerator and not a single resident of the city has been vaccinated with...
Finnish technology company to use ‘breath print’ for COVID-19 detection
Finnish healthcare technology company Deep Sensing Algorithms (DSA) has entered the production phase of their handheld device that measures exhaled breath, intended for healthcare professionals to screen large crowds outside hospitals. The device is said to detect molecules of biological...
NATO ill-prepared for large-scale war, finds Swedish report
NATO members are ill-prepared should a large conflict arise, according to the Swedish Research Agency’s findings published on Thursday assessing the military power of the Alliance and their partners in comparison to Russia. According to the report, Russia would overtake...
Denmark, Norway and Iceland suspend AstraZeneca COVID shots after blood clot reports
Health authorities in Denmark, Norway and Iceland on Thursday (11 March) suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine following reports of the formation of blood clots in some people who had been vaccinated. Austria earlier stopped using a batch of...
Denmark bans donations from anti-democratic sources
Denmark wants to ban donations from potentially extremist individuals, organisations and authorities that might turn the country’s Muslim citizens against society and erode human rights and basic freedoms. Initiated by the Social Democratic government, the law, which will come into...