Six parties across the political spectrum united on Friday to form a government, saving Finland from the embarrassment of having no prime minister at a key EU summit next week.
Coalition talks had dragged on for weeks, marred by disagreements over economic policy and European bailouts, following an April 17 election that for a while appeared to have catapulted a nationalist party into power.
After a previous attempt failed, a relieved Finnish Prime Minister-designate Jyrki Katainen announced that six parties had agreed on the main priorities for a broad-based coalition government.
BROAD COALITION
Katainen’s National Coalition Party, which won the election, joined forces with the Social Democrats, the left-wing Left Alliance, the Greens, the Swedish People’s Party and the Christian Democrats. The coalition, dubbed “the six-pack” by Katainen, will command 126 seats in the 200-seat parliament.
The True Finns, a nationalist group that opposed bailout packages for debt-ridden EU nations, scored the biggest gains in the election, but were dropped from coalition talks because of disagreements on EU policy.
At the insistence of the small Christian Democrats — with close ties to the country’s state Lutheran Church — the coalition said it would consider tightening Finland’s abortion laws.
Katainen pledged to improve the competitiveness of the Nordic country’s economy and boost employment and entrepreneurship by lowering taxes, especially for lower income households. The government would raise some excise taxes and cut spending to balance the budget.
“Finland needs to get back on a growth track,” Katainen said at a news conference. “We need ... such economic policies that will boost employment and bring investments to Finland.”
The agreement paves the way for Katainen to be formally approved by parliament next week so that he can travel to an EU summit as prime minister on Thursday and Friday.
In their program, the coalition parties pledged not to change Finland’s EU policies, committing the country to be actively involved in key EU projects also in the future. However, in a nod to the euroskeptic sentiment that boosted the True Finns, they promised to also take into account views critical of European integration.
The coalition said it would not grant new permits to build nuclear power plants, dealing a blow to national utility Fortum Oyj, which has expressed interest in increasing its current nuclear capacity.
ALLOCATION
The conservatives will get six portfolios in the 19-member Cabinet, including the posts of prime minister and foreign trade minister. The Social Democrats will also get six portfolios including finance and foreign affairs.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
IN PURSUIT: Israel’s defense minister said the revenge attacks by Israeli settlers would make it difficult for security forces to find those responsible for the 14-year-old’s death Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday condemned the “heinous murder” of an Israeli teenager in the occupied West Bank as attacks on Palestinian villages intensified following news of his death. After Benjamin Achimeir, 14, was reported missing near Ramallah on Friday, hundreds of Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces raided nearby Palestinian villages, torching vehicles and homes, leaving at least one villager dead and dozens wounded. The attacks escalated in several villages on Saturday after Achimeir’s body was found near the Malachi Hashalom outpost. Agence France-Presse correspondents saw smoke rising from burned houses and fields. Mayor Amin Abu Alyah, of the