Latest Finland News

An expanding NATO uses its diversity as strength. Member troops know Russia is watching

Mar. 12, 2024 01:37 AM EDT

ABOARD THE FRENCH FRIGATE NORMANDIE (AP) — The French navy frigate, bristling with weaponry and powering through frigid Norwegian seas not so far from Russia, awoke at 7:30 a.m. sharp to what, in the circumstances, was a surreal sound. The 1967 “ Summer of Love " hippie anthem...

Sweden’s flag is raised at NATO headquarters to cement its place as the 32nd member of the alliance

Mar. 11, 2024 17:42 PM EDT

BRUSSELS (AP) — Sweden’s flag was raised at NATO headquarters on Monday, cementing the Nordic country’s place as the 32nd member two years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine persuaded its reluctant public to seek safety under the alliance’s security umbrella. ...

Climate-conscious travelers are jumpstarting Europe’s sleeper trains

Mar. 06, 2024 11:54 AM EST

After being gently rocked awake in her sleeper cabin, Sarah Marks spent the morning of her 29th birthday watching the Alps zip past the windows of her overnight train to Zurich. “The train comes in right next to the lake, with the mountains coming up behind it,” Marks said...

Newly enlarged NATO starts drill in Finland, Norway and Sweden in defense of its Nordic turf

Mar. 04, 2024 06:45 AM EST

HELSINKI (AP) — NATO kicked off an exercise on Monday to defend its newly expanded Nordic territory when more than 20,000 soldiers from 13 nations take part in drills lasting nearly two weeks in the northern regions of Finland, Norway and Sweden. With over 4,000 Finnish soldiers...

Finland's new president Alexander Stubb says the Nordic country enters 'a new era' as a NATO member

Mar. 01, 2024 13:23 PM EST

HELSINKI (AP) — Alexander Stubb was sworn in Friday as Finland’s new president and said that the Nordic country "is facing a new era" after becoming a NATO member — something he will demonstrate by making his first foreign trip to inspect the military alliance's drill in neighboring Norway's...

Polish prime minister says his country and Finland want changes on EU border policies on migration

Feb. 16, 2024 06:54 AM EST

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s prime minister said on Friday that his country will upgrade the wall on its border with Belarus to better insulate the frontier against unauthorized migration. Donald Tusk also said that Poland and Finland both see the need for changes in the...

Sweden won't reopen an investigation into 1994 Baltic Sea ferry disaster

Feb. 15, 2024 08:03 AM EST

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden won't reopen an investigation into a 1994 ferry sinking in the Baltic Sea that killed 852 people in one of Europe’s deadliest peacetime sea disasters, after investigators in Estonia, Finland and Sweden found no indication of a collision or an explosion, the prosecutor...

New NATO member Finland elects a president set to keep up hard line on neighboring Russia

Feb. 12, 2024 10:20 AM EST

HELSINKI (AP) — Former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb has narrowly won a runoff vote to become Finland's next president, who will steer security policy that includes integrating the new NATO member into the alliance at a time of concern over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The final...

Former PM Alexander Stubb wins Finnish presidency, narrowly defeating ex-top diplomat Pekka Haavisto

Feb. 11, 2024 16:26 PM EST

HELSINKI (AP) — Former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb won Finland’s election runoff Sunday against ex-Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto in a close race for the presidency and the task of steering the Nordic country’s foreign and security policy now that it is a member of NATO, following...

Finnish carrier Finnair is asking passengers to voluntarily weigh themselves before boarding flights

Feb. 09, 2024 04:54 AM EST

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Almost everything that gets onto a commercial plane — fuel, checked-in baggage, cargo and meals — is weighed. For passengers and their cabin bags, most airlines use average data. But Finland's national carrier Finnair said Friday that it started...