Scandinavian observations and perspectives

[Tomiro]

The Finnish government has decided to stop funding peace organisations, like the Peace Union of Finland, starting 2025. Last time this happened was 1934. I spoke with a representative during the summer, and she said it was unclear if and how they are able to continue with their work.

I did a quick search on Swedish peace organisations, and the same the same seems to be true there.

 

[Seppo Ilmarinen]

I wonder what's the story with these drone strikes on the Murmansk region, which Ukrainians have apparently successfully carried out a few times in recent months. It's been speculated that the strikes may have been carried out via Finland or Norway, explaining how a Ukrainian drone has managed to strike Russian base at 1700 km distance from their border more than once. According to Moscow Times:

Given the vast distance that drones would need to travel to reach a region as far away from Ukraine as Murmansk, pro-Kremlin media have started to claim that the drones had flown from nearby Norway or Finland.

However, experts told The Moscow Times they doubt that the Nordic NATO members are being used as launching grounds for Ukrainian drone attacks on northern Russia.

“Finnish authorities not only wouldn’t approve of such an attack, but would try to disrupt it by all means possible,” Israel-based military expert David Sharp said, noting that such a move could risk bringing the Nordic country into direct conflict with Russia.

“Finland doesn’t want to get involved in this war. Therefore, organizing a drone attack from Finnish territory is theoretically possible, but only without the involvement of the Finnish authorities,” Sharp added.

That's not really true, since Finland is already deeply involved in the war, just like all the other US vassal states. And it depends what authorities we're talking about. Sure, likely at official government level they wouldn't be willing to go there, but the army and intelligence operatives cooperating with Nato, that's different story, these type of shenanigans are part of the playbook. Another possibility could be saboteurs inside Russia.

Whatever the case may be, the Finnish political elite have surely gone off the rails with their irrational hate towards Russia, while mainstream media is gaslighting the public with their nonsensical talking points how "Russian misinformation is aiming to create confusion and discord in the population blablabla".

Although it's mosty just empty can rattling and bizarre self-defeating economic decisions that have become virtue signaling competition, just like elsewhere in Europe. A fitting symbol of this is the Hartwall arena in Helsinki that has been closed due to sanctions (main owners are two Russian businessmen), and now the city has shut down the electricity, which means the building (which cost 70M euros to build at the time) may be successible to damage due to insufficent heating etc. Take that Putin!

While ago Finnish MEP Pekka Toveri (retired major general who is famous from his epically failed Ukraine war forecasts) stated that "Finland is already at war with Russia", so many politicians are quite arrogant with their statements, and of course president Stubb is doing everything to poke the bear, as few days ago he gave short interview to CNN, where he reiterates his orwellian "war is peace" logic by asking for US to "release the long range missiles".

But again, talk is talk, so I don't think Russians are putting too much weight on the barking of these tiny 'chihuahuas', though at the same time things are escalating in Ukraine, and West seems to try to get certain response from Russia.

What the European leaders apparently don't understand is that when the Ukraine is wrecked beyond the point if no possibility to continue the war, (which is closing in) the US will abandon them in a heartbeat and leave the aftermath for the weakened EU.

 

[XPan]

Isn't NATO building a NATO base high up in Northern Finland, close to the Russian border ?
Supposed to be lead by... 50 Swedish soldiers...

Which is curious to say the least.

 

[Seppo Ilmarinen]

Yeah, here's some latest details. A land command HQ will be based in Mikkeli, which is eastern Finland, and another Nato base in Northern Finland, possibly at Rovaniemi or Sodankylä:

A Nato Multi Corps Land Component Command (MCLCC) will be established in Mikkeli, Finland's Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen (NCP) announced at a press conference today.

The new headquarters will be under the authority of Nato's Joint Force Command (JFC) in Norfolk, Virginia.

"Establishing the new MCLCC in Finland is an important step towards making the Nato deterrence and defence posture even stronger," Häkkänen said in a press release, adding that the location also hosts the Finnish Army Command, providing synergy for Finnish and Nato personnel in defence planning.

From the earlier press briefing:

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen (both NCP) have welcomed news that Sweden is prepared to take leadership responsibility for future Nato peacetime ground forces in Finland.

Swedish Defence Minister Pål Jonson, made the announcement during the two defence ministers’ joint press conference on Monday in Stockholm, where the Finnish and Swedish cabinets held a joint meeting.

The northern base will indeed be led by Swedish officers (while being of course subordinate to US) so the Finns are being given subtle hints of the pecking order, it seems

 

[Tomiro]

I do wonder too if it's mostly virtue signaling, or if our "leaders" buy into the propaganda and believe that we could take on Russia with our new "allies".

Tuomas Malinen seems to think that we are being prepared for being the next proxy in a video from last month

He mentions the treaty that we have with the US, where they have a lot of leeway on what they can bring into the country. Potentially even nuclear weapons. And of course, our president is pro nuclear weapons too. And how there has been 0 discussion or objections to any of these things by the parliament, including the security agreement that we signed with Ukraine. Although I think a lot of countries have signed similar agreements. The situation is also compared with The Philippines, where the US has gained more of a foothold in a similar way in a potential war against China.

Anecdotally, most people that I talk with seem to completely buy into the media narrative, and don't seem to have an issue with these things, as they are for "defence and security" against the evil Russians. Still, I don't think that people are eager to go to war either. But then again, at the start of the Continuation War 1941, Finland was officially neutral, while we hosted some 200 000 German troops, and let them use our airfields to conduct bombing raids into Russia among other things. And Germany had drawn up maps of "Greater Finland", with a lot of new territory that we would gain once Russia had been defeated, and our leaders believed that this would be an easy war, that would be over in a month (Pekka Visuri has written some good books about this period). When the Soviet Union finally realized that we were not neutral, and responded, that was when we were officially at war.

What we are seeing today do look somewhat similar in that sense. One would hope that lessons from history have been learned, but hard to say.

 

[Seppo Ilmarinen]

Tuomas Malinen seems to think that we are being prepared for being the next proxy in a video from last month. He mentions the treaty that we have with the US, where they have a lot of leeway on what they can bring into the country. Potentially even nuclear weapons. And of course, our president is pro nuclear weapons too.

This is the direction they are trying to push things in here, I think. Here's a session 8 April from last year where question related to this was asked:

(Aragorn) Finland has now become a NATO member, and it has one of the more capable armies in Europe. Will the PTB try to turn Finland into a battleground against Russia?

A: Yes. Not with great success, however.

This seems to be the most logical ending, as Nato/US is so blatantly using Finland (and Sweden) to poke the bear, but Russians are surely aware of this, and as long as certain red lines won't be crossed (i.e acquiring nuclear weapons) it stays mostly in the realm of theatrics from the side of Nato; lots of blustering statements which Russians will mostly ignore followed by more economically self-defeating actions.

Alexander Stubb has been pushing nuclear weapons from the first day in the office (and even during his presidential campaign) but interestingly he is now singing a different tune, as he was just recently in Turkey where he gave statement that contradicted his earlier position on nuclear weapons:

"We are part of the alliance (NATO), and we know that the biggest nuclear power in the alliance is the United States, followed by the United Kingdom and France, and then six countries which have actually deployed nuclear weapons on their territory. But Finland is not in the business of taking nuclear weapons on its territory."

Notice that there was total radio silence in Finnish mainstream media of this and in the official Finnish presidential press release of the visit there is no mention of this statement. Maybe Erdogan pushed Stubb to ease with the nuclear weapon rhetorics and he felt humiliated.

My current thinking is that the most dire consequences for Finland in all of this will be mostly felt financially, as the budget deficit and government debt keeps skyrocketing while the economy is going deep into recession as politicians throw money into Ukraine, Nato and EU.

However the current political elite have taken huge gamble with pushing Finland into Nato without referendum, and as the situation deteoriates, the political landscape may be more open again for looking into diplomacy and stabilizing relations with Russia at some point. But this will likely take years if not decades.

 

[XPan]

It is a sh*t Show
[aka business as usual]

The politicians in Sweden, Finland as well in Germany are lying so blatantly, obvious and into our faces, that you can't have any conclusions made from a single (odd or different) "statement" done somewhere else.

When Finnish Alexander Stubb says something in Turkey, which contradicts to earlier statements he has made, it means nothing / has no value other than mudding the waters. And they know that the bought / corrupted media will cover their a**es. Conflicting statements, lies and insinuations are being accelerated to a level where the lies literally scream at you. (C-movie "talents")

Take for example articles, among others via Sott and German Nuoviso, etc, about Swedish Immigration; how the new government is far more restrictive. Those claims about Sweden's new policy really puzzled me for quite some time;

Uhm - nope sherlock, nada. nix. NEVER HAPPENED !

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has done everything the opposite of what was promised / touted. More blatant than ever; This is like a new low water mark, where you literally can't trust anything, not even the slightest. I think that is the new 'quality' for Swedish Politics.

Up until september 2024 Sweden gave out 73.000 residence permits. It will likely turn into 100.000 by the end of this year, and with that - its located at highest levels, like when Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt was at power doing the same thing; when he opened the Swedish borders with the awkward "Open your hearts campaign". By the way, he was the author of the book about Swedes "The sleeping people" in 1993 - quite ironic. But that's a different chapter.

Supposedly he is now also seen as 'the most popular Prime Minster Sweden ever had'. He even got a nicely made bust/ face statue which has been put into the Parliament foaia the other week.

In truth ? I believe it is just one of many media drives in which the establishment rubbs each others butts out, via false prizes and glorious claims . Many people see former Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt as a traitor to the country. In 2024 however, we've got many more of those... just saying.

Har beviljat 73.000 uppehållstillstånd hittills i år

Ca 100.000 får stanna även 2024. Fortfarande inga nämnvärda förändringar av invandringspolitiken.

www.friatider.se

Has granted 73,000 residence permits so far this year

Published October 6, 2024 at 08.32

With 73,000 residence permits granted up to the end of September, the Swedish Social Democratic Party and the government are aiming to bring immigration to just over 100,000 people again this year. This is according to new statistics from the Swedish Migration Agency.

The Swedish Social Democratic Party and the government are continuing to pursue immigration at the same high level that former Moderate Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt introduced in Sweden in the early 2000s.

The new figures suggest that immigration will reach around 100,000 residence permits in total by 2024.

On average, Fredrik Reinfeldt granted 103,375 immigrants residence permits in Sweden each year during his eight years as prime minister from 2006 to 2014.

For his part, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has promised a “paradigm shift” in Swedish immigration policy, but no significant changes have been made to immigration policy at all during the two years that the SD [Sweden Democrats] and the Tidö government have been in power.

 

[XPan]

Correction:

it is the Swedish Government together with the SD Party "Sweden Democrats" who aim to being immigration towards the 100.000 mark again this year in 2024.

 

[Seppo Ilmarinen]

Alexander Stubb has been pushing nuclear weapons from the first day in the office (and even during his presidential campaign) but interestingly he is now singing a different tune, as he was just recently in Turkey where he gave statement that contradicted his earlier position on nuclear weapons.

When Finnish Alexander Stubb says something in Turkey, which contradicts to earlier statements he has made, it means nothing / has no value other than mudding the waters.

I searched more and found a comment by Stubb from last month, where he replied to press that there will be no nukes coming to Finland. So this change of tone had already started bit earlier, I see.

It could be just muddying the waters, as you mention, and I'm not trusting anything that Stubb says, but it's still interesting to notice this change of tone compared to how he was talking just earlier this year.

Perhaps a hint of realism has arrived into heads of Finnish political leaders, as they are coming into realization of the true situation in Ukraine battleground.

 

[Tomiro]

I searched more and found a comment by Stubb from last month, where he replied to press that there will be no nukes coming to Finland. So this change of tone had already started bit earlier, I see.

It could be just muddying the waters, as you mention, and I'm not trusting anything that Stubb says, but it's still interesting to notice this change of tone compared to how he was talking just earlier this year.

Perhaps a hint of realism has arrived into heads of Finnish political leaders, as they are coming into realization of the true situation in Ukraine battleground.

Interesting about Stubb (seemingly) reversing his take on nukes. I haven't heard, but then I don't follow our media that actively anymore. After the war started, I just couldn't stomach all the lies and hysteria. I do remember that maybe a few months ago Stubb hinted that maybe Ukraine should begin to negotiate, and all our media went out of their way to explain how wrong he was.

On the other hand, our previous president said that of course there would be a referendum with regard to Nato early 2022. Then two months later it was agreed without a referendum. So words don't always match with actions.

As an anecdotal tangent, among all my friends, family members, work colleagues, etc. I don't know anywone who actually voted for him. The vast majority of them don't share my political views in any way otherwise. This just got me thinking about how secure (or not) are our elections really? If everyone trusts the system, and just the thought of "election fortification" in Finland would be unthinkable to even bring up, then wouldn't it be quite easy?

There were claims from some of the smaller parties about irregularities with regard to the votes, and also Paavo Väyrynen, who was applying as a presidential candidate in the last election claimed that he had collected the required 20000 signatures, but that that they disappeared after mailing them in. I don't know if there is any truth to these claims. Although interestingly Paavo Väyrynen's view was that we had to talk with Russia, and not fund endless wars.

 

[Aeneas]

I saw this story on RT, which reads like a story from absurdistan. It concerns a Nigerian pirate, who attacked a Danish patrol vessel in 2021, got injured, brought to Denmark, got asylum, an education and a job plan. His first name was, Lucky. He claim for compensation was however rejected but the state decided to pay for his prosthetic leg.

Danish taxpayers foot bill for pirate’s prosthetics after gunfight with navy

A Nigerian pirate who lost his leg in a gunfight with the Danish navy will have his prosthetics and an “integration plan” funded by Denmark

www.rt.com

Denmark will pay for a prosthetic limb and “integration plan” for a Nigerian pirate who attacked its navy, following lengthy litigation that cost Danish taxpayers the equivalent of $615,000, according to local media.

Lucky Frances, 42, was part of a group of pirates that attempted to board Danish frigate the Esbern Snare in 2021. The vessel was on a patrol mission in international waters in the Gulf of Guinea off the coast of Nigeria. Four pirates were killed in an exchange of gunfire, while Frances sustained a gunshot wound to his leg. He was taken to Denmark for treatment, where his limb was eventually amputated.

Frances was found guilty by a Copenhagen court of endangering the lives of naval personnel but was spared jail time due to his medical condition. Despite initially claiming he wanted to return to Nigeria, Frances later applied for asylum in Denmark and received a residence permit in January of this year.
https://www.rt.com/india/594868-india-arrests-35-somali-pirates/
As part of the “integration contract,” he received an education and employment plan to help him adapt to Danish society and the labor market, local media reported last week. While his request for compensation was rejected, the court ruled that the state should pay for his new prosthetic leg.

[...]

On the positive side, the money spent on him is not going to Ukraine, so there is that.

 

[Tomiro]

I saw this story on RT, which reads like a story from absurdistan. It concerns a Nigerian pirate, who attacked a Danish patrol vessel in 2021, got injured, brought to Denmark, got asylum, an education and a job plan. His first name was, Lucky. He claim for compensation was however rejected but the state decided to pay for his prosthetic leg.

Danish taxpayers foot bill for pirate’s prosthetics after gunfight with navy

A Nigerian pirate who lost his leg in a gunfight with the Danish navy will have his prosthetics and an “integration plan” funded by Denmark

www.rt.com

On the positive side, the money spent on him is not going to Ukraine, so there is that.

Perhaps he claimed to have body dysmorphia, and he identified as a one-legged pirate? It would be quite ableist to refuse.

 

[Tomiro]

Regeringen föreslår att lagen om hemlig dataavläsning görs permanent

Swedish government proposes that the law on secret data interception be made permanent.

This temporary law, introduced in 2020, allows police to access information from devices, such as breaking into mobile phones. A government review deemed it "absolutely necessary" to retain.

The government is also proposing adjustments to the law.

– "More types of data should be able to be collected even when there is no identified suspect,"

– "For example, the ability to turn on a camera on a computer to see who is using it when a sexual offense against a child is being committed online."

The government also seeks to expand police powers to collect DNA and fingerprints in more cases.

As the saying goes: "Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program"

 

[Jefferson]

The crackdown on free speech is no surprise to anyone, however it looks like Sweden has taken some further steps towards criminalizing certain types of speech. From what I can gather from social media and the documents about current conviction in Sweden, it looks like the court used very weak charges and evidence to convict a journalist by the name of Mats Dagerlind and the media outlet he's associated with called Sammnyt. Some ‘hate speech’ crusader dude named Thomas Åberg pressed the charges.

The three judgments against Dagerlind seemed to look like this (court document attached, it's in Swedish), summarized:

1. First Judgment: Dagerlind was convicted for publishing an excerpt from a court document explaining why Åberg sued someone else, not for any defamatory comment from Samnytt. Samnytt argues that this coverage was simply to inform readers about the legal process and was not intended to defame Åberg. They feel it’s unreasonable and contrary to free press principles to be sued for reporting on legal matters.

2. Second Judgment: This conviction was also based on Samnytt showing a screenshot of court documents explaining Åberg’s lawsuit against Joakim Lamotte. Samnytt claims they presented the information neutrally, without accusing or defaming Åberg, and argue that it’s unfair for a news outlet to face legal action for reporting on judicial processes.

3. Third Judgment: Dagerlind was convicted for publishing a video of Joakim Lamotte’s interrogation in the Åberg trial, in which Lamotte expressed his views. Samnytt contends that sharing such videos is common and views this conviction as unjustified for simply documenting court proceedings.

Sammnytt and Dagerlind obviously see these judgments as unfair restrictions on journalistic reporting of legal events.

Can you Swedish speakers make more sense of this? @XPan @Tomiro

Looks like more evidence that free speech is completely dead in our Scandinavian/Nordic countries if they can get away with these seemingly pathetic convictions.

 

[Tomiro]

I am not familiar with this case, and I didn't look into it extensively FWIW. From what I've gathered Mats Dagerlind works for Samnytt, a populist, right wing publication. Tomas Åberg works for Näthatsgranskaren, (online hate speech monitor) some organisation employing up to 10 people, and is at least partly state funded, having made 1500 police reports for online hate speech / defamation or similar that they have found on Facebook / Twitter and VK in both private and public groups. And with 300 convictions.

Dagerlind was convicted of 3 out of 4 cases of defamation. Most relate to claims that Åberg harms animals. The court does not make any statements about whether these claims are true or not and even writes that "It is therefore irrelevant whether the information was true or whether there was a reasonable basis for the information." A brief search turns up articles where Åberg's livestock starved to death on his farm 10 years ago.

Dagerlind has to pay ~20k€ in fines. Most of it is court fees. Some of it directly to Åberg. Åberg has also won previous court cases for other people calling him on on having harmed animals.

This reminds me a bit of the Finnish "journalist" Jessikka Aro, who rose to fame from nothing, after writing absurd claims about "Russian trolls" that allegedly were everywhere. She won a number of defamation cases some years ago against multiple people criticizing her or publishing factual information about her past.