Revisiting the Security and Defence Policy

A working group has been assembled to research and report on Finland's stance militarily in an international system that "has entered a new development phase." At issue will be NATO, the UN and EU security guarantees, the defensive policy of non-alignment, and an eye towards an increasingly unknown player directly to the east, i.e. Russia. The group's report will be presented sometime in 2008, though I'm already a bit nervous about revisiting the NATO question. I guess we'll just have to wait a few months.

Left Alliance and Greens speak in favor of sending troops to Darfur

While Finnish PM Matti Vanhanen has voiced his political support for the African Union-UN joint venture in sending troops to Darfur, there are those in Parliament and in his government who believe he has once again come up short. As if being the man who made the text message breakup famous wasn't enough...

Sirpa Puhakka (Left Alliance) and Labour Minister Tarja Cronberg both made calls for Vanhanen to put his money where is mouth is and add Finnish troops to the ranks. Finland (and much of Scandinavia) has long harvested the image of the Jiminy Cricket of the world- the ideal security community where fighting is unthinkable among it's members but willing to go elsewhere to help maintain the peace and bring a little piece of their culture to the world. I'd have to agree with these two- even only a few symbolic troops to demonstrate commitment would be better than what Vanhanen is currently doing.

And speaking of text message breakups...

(don't ask)

Parliamentary Elections- Advancedvoting begins today

I know all my friends back in Finland were already standing in line waiting on the doors to open in order to cast their ballots in the 2007 Parliamentary elections, but for everyone else, here's a little quick info from Helsingin Sanomat International Ed.

Advance voting in Finland’s Parliamentary elections began today - Wednesday - and continues until Tuesday next week.
The actual election day is Sunday March 18th, while advance voting is arranged in Finland on March 7 to 13 and abroad on March 7 to 10.

With so many days to vote, everyone can find time. For a recap of how the elections played out last year, and for a look into how things are shaping up this year, check wikipedia.

If I were a Finn, I think it's pretty clear who I'd vote for. But since I'm not I have to count on my Finnish friends in Helsinki to do it for me. Still, everyone can have a look at Anni Sinnemäki's official page [here] (for my non Finnish speaking friends I would even be willing to translate the important parts of the page in order to enlighten) and the Helsinki Green's [here].

The death penalty, the EU, and the World

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - On his first overseas visit as the new UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon indirectly welcomed an initiative within the bloc to push for a global moratorium on the death penalty - in line with Europe's ban.

Italy has been pushing with its temporary seat on the UN security council to start the discussion on an international ban on the use of execution as a criminal punishment. I don't imagine this will go anywhere, but it's a nice thought. The state where I was born, Ohio, executed the 2nd most inmates of all the US states. This EU initiative would be a nice reality, but it's unlikely to get anywhere