Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for Finland
Newsline: Finnish embassy seeks explanation
The Finnish embassy in Canberra wants an explanation of derogatory remarks by the Government minister Gerry Brownlee in Parliament about Finland and its people. Last Wednesday, Mr Brownlee attacked crime levels in Finland, its economy and the status of women. Mr Brownlee says the debate was humorous and satirical. The minister, who holds several posts including Leader of the House, accused the main opposition Labour Party of idolising the Nordic country. Then, after listing a series of ways in which he said Finland lagged behind New Zealand, Mr Brownlee argued that Labour would struggle to make this argument work. “You’d actually get someone to go out there and make the speech saying, ‘I want New Zealand to be like Finland which has worse unemployment than us, has less growth than us, can hardly feed the people who live there, has a terrible homicide rate, hardly educates their people and has no respect for women’.” The deputy head of mission at the Embassy of Finland in Canberra has written to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade seeking an explanation, saying he wants to know if there will be any reaction from the Government. The embassy is accredited to New Zealand. Juha Parikka says the things Mr Brownlee said were not nice to hear, and do not reflect life in Finland. He says the comments are being covered intensively in newspapers and broadcast media in Finland. Mr Brownlee has said his comments were humorous and satirical. A Finnish academic in New Zealand called Mr Brownlee uneducated. Lecturer Merja Myllylahti, who teaches at AUT’s School of Communications in Auckland, says Mr Brownlee’s remarks are wrong – especially regarding the status of women. “He hasn’t been well educated in these things, I think.”
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/101813/%27please-explain%27-request-from-finnish-embassy
Newsline: Finland embassy staff leaves Damascus over security
Finland’s staff posted to its embassy in Damascus has left Syria due to the deteriorating security situation in the country, the Finnish Foreign Ministry announced on Monday. “The staff posted to [the] embassy of Finland, Damascus, has left Syria until further notice due to (the) weakened security situation in the country,” the ministry said. The affairs of the embassy, which normally manages Finland’s interests in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq, “will be temporarily managed from Helsinki,” it said. “In addition, a Finnish diplomat has been transferred to both Amman, Jordan, and Beirut, Lebanon, on a temporary basis for the purpose of political reporting.” The embassy’s services related to entry to Finland have meanwhile been transferred to the embassy of Ankara, it added.
http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=377920
Newsline: UK closes visa services in Finland
On 8 March 2012 the UK Border Agency closes their visa application centre at the British Embassy in Helsinki. This will be replaced with a visa service that will be available weekly from 8 March 2012, in partnership with WorldBridge Service. A mobile biometric clinic will be set up in Helsinki to allow customers to continue to supply their biometric information, required to apply for a UK visa, without having to travel to another UK Border Agency office outside Finland. Using the new mobile biometric clinic will be simple. Applications can be submitted online. After the visa application fee has been paid, the option will be given to book an appointment at the biometric clinic at Hotel Scandic Marski, Helsinki. An appointment must be booked online before going to the clinic. The service will cost €146.17 plus local taxes in addition to the visa application fee. A pre-addressed envelope will be supplied for the posting of the application. Passports and supporting documents will be returned, by courier, directly to the customer once a decision has been made about the application. The visa processing time for applications submitted in Stockholm or at the clinic in Helsinki will remain in line with UK Border Agency published processing times. The British Embassy in Helsinki is unable to answer general enquiries about UK visas or requests for an update on your application’s progress. Please contact WorldBridge Service, by email or telephone, for this information.
http://www.relocatemagazine.com/immigration-a-visas/immigration-a-visa-news-main/3879-updates-to-uk-visa-service-in-finland-
Newsline: Finland to close embassy in Pakistan
Finland has decided to close its embassy in Pakistan over security concerns, the decision likely to have affect bilateral relations between the two countries. Finland embassy officials in Islamabad said they have informed the Pakistan foreign ministry about the decision. The decision to shut the diplomatic mission in Islamabad was taken after Pakistani authorities failed to provide a safe place for the Finland embassy. Pakistan foreign ministry officials said the decision to close the Finland embassy was taken because the Pakistani side failed to accommodate the embassy in the diplomatic enclave, which is a heavily-guarded area and considered a relatively safer place in the city that is under a constant threat of terrorism.
http://english.samaylive.com/world-news/676498485/finland-to-close-embassy-in-pakistan.html
Newsline: Finnish embassy warns of Thai floods
The Finnish Embassy in Bangkok has warned travellers in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos of rising flood waters. In some Thai provinces, foreign nationals are being ordered to contact local officials. Some 30 of Thailand’s 77 provinces are suffering from the worst floods in five decades. Provinces in the north and central areas of the country are the most severely affected. Floods are expected to peak inBangkoknext weekend. The Finnish Embassy in the city is encouraging those travelling to or currently in the country to exercise caution and follow local media, such as Bangkok Post and The Nation. In Cambodia, travellers are advised to follow local media and instructions given by local officials. In Laos, floods have washed out several roads, making travelling particularly hazardous.
Newsline: Finnish Union claims embassies exploit workers
A survey by the Federation of Special Service and Clerical Employees (ERTO) suggests that foreign diplomatic missions in Finland often disregard Finnish labour laws — sometimes flagrantly. Along with diplomats, about 1,000 clerical employees work at foreign embassies in Finland. Those who have been hired in Finland should be subject to Finnish labour laws. According to Foreign Ministry guidelines for diplomats published in June, “whenever a mission hires local staff, the mandatory and absolute provisions of the Finnish labour and social laws must be observed”. However the ERTO survey indicates that this is true at less than half of embassies. The union submitted its report on the subject to Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja. Employees at the other embassies have irregular work contracts based on a mixture of labour regulations fromFinlandand those of the country represented, chosen at will by the employers. Last summer ERTO carried out an anonymous survey of embassy workers. Responding were 74 people, nearly all of them hired in Finland. Fifty-nine were Finnish citizens. Their average reported monthly salary was around 2500 euros. Nearly 85 percent said they sometimes had to do overtime work, but 35 percent of those said they were not paid extra for it. They report shortcomings and direct violations of the law when it comes to contracts, holidays and overtime work. Some said that demanding their rights led to trouble at work or being fired. The Foreign Ministry’s Chief of Protocol, Mikko Jokela, says that Finnish officials’ hands are tied when it comes to investigating such claims, as embassy operations are protected by diplomatic immunity. However, he says, “after this ERTO survey we will consider what we can do about the issue.”
Newsline: Finland Wants to Open Baghdad Embassy
Foreign Trade and Development Minister Paavo Väyrynen would like to open a Finnish embassy in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. Väyrynen told YLE that Iraqi reconstruction and development could provide Finnish firms with contracts totalling hundreds of millions of euros in the next few years. Sweden has its own embassy in Iraq. Although the situation in Iraq is still unstable, Väyrynen says the country is developing, and that the security situation has improved. Väyrynen returned late on Wednesday from a trip to Baghdad. He took a delegation of businessmen on an export promotion trip.
Newsline: Finland temporarily moves its Tokyo embassy to Hiroshima
The Finnish Embassy in Japan was temporarily moved from the capital Tokyo to Hiroshima. The purpose of the move was to secure operations of the Embassy in all situations, says Embassy official Juha Niemi from Hiroshima. Niemi and two other Foreign Ministry employees travelled to Japan to supplement the Finnish staff working at the Embassy. The Finnish Embassy in Tokyo normally has seven Finns on staff, in addition to ten Japanese hired locally. “Now some of the regular staff members are on holiday. They will rest for a while and return refreshed next week”, Niemi said. On Thursday the Foreign Ministry urged Finns to avoid travel to Tokyo and Yokohama, and recommended that Finns move to safer southern areas, where the security situation is seen as better. Finland got temporary facilities in Hiroshima in the offices of the Danish Honorary Consul. “Denmark invited the other Nordic Countries to set up in the same space. So far no other Nordic embassies besides those of Denmark and Finland have moved to Hiroshima.” Niemi says that the Finnish Embassy will operate in Hiroshima for the time being. A decision on returning to Tokyo will be made when the situation in Japan starts to clear up.
Newsline: Finland embassy package a ‘false alarm’
A suspect package sent to Finland’s embassy to the Vatican on Monday was not a bomb, after a parcel bomb was intercepted and defused at the Greek embassy in Rome. The alert was “a false alarm.” Firemen and bomb disposal experts had been sent to the embassy, located in a picturesque street overlooking central Rome. There have been seven false alarms at foreign embassies so far on Monday. Two bombs sent to the Chilean and Swiss embassies went off last week, injuring two people in an attack believed to be the work of Italian anarchists.
http://m.news24.com/news24/World/News/Finland-embassy-package-a-false-alarm-20101227
Newsline: Finland grants asylum to former Iranian diplomat
A former senior diplomat at Iran’s embassy in Helsinki, who resigned and joined the opposition, said on Thursday he had been granted political asylum by Finland only weeks after applying for it. Hossein Alizadeh, deputy head of mission at the Iranian embassy until early last month, was at least the third Iranian diplomat this year to seek political asylum in Europe, all saying they were protesting against electoral and human rights abuses. Finnish authorities were not available to comment, but an unnamed official told the biggest daily, Helsingin Sanomat, that Alizadeh’s asylum application had been processed quickly because of the way Iran was treating members of the opposition. Iranian diplomats have also sought political asylum in Norway and Belgium this year.
