NordenBladet — The European Union responded to Belarus’ involvement in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by imposing new sanctions on it. The EU Member States approved further sanctions against Belarus on 2 March 2022. These sanctions complement the sanctions adopted on 24 June 2021.The EU’s decision concerns expansion of the sectoral sanctions that have been imposed earlier. The import restrictions will apply to the production and manufacturing of tobacco products, mineral products and all potassium carbonate (“potash”) products. Further restrictions were also imposed on the import of aluminium, steel and cement as well as on wood and rubber products. In addition, exports of certain machinery and equipment will be prohibited. For the export of dual-use items and technology, the same prohibitions were adopted to apply to Belarus as is the case with Russia.The EU imposed sanctions on Belarus for the first time in 2004. Since the presidential elections in August 2020, the EU has issued five sanctions packages targeting 183 individuals and 26 entities. Additionally, the existing EU sanctions on Belarus, imposed in June 2021, include a ban on arms exports, Belarusian airlines’ overflights, take-offs and landing in the EU area, and certain sectoral sanctions.On 2 March 2022, the EU added 22 individuals from the Belarusian defence administration to the so-called individual sanctions regime against Russia. These individuals will be subject to asset freezes and travel and transit restrictions.Sanctions on mediaCOUNCIL DECISION (CFSP) 2022/351COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) 2022/350Exclusion from SWIFTCOUNCIL DECISION (CFSP) 2022/346COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) 2022/345Individual sanctionsCOUNCIL DECISION (CFSP) 2022/337COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2022/336
NordenBladet — Minister of Defence Antti Kaikkonen will make a working visit to the United States on 7-9 March 2022. In Washington, D.C., Minister Kaikkonen will meet the United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and other representatives of the administration. The discussions will focus on the relations between the defence administrations of the two countries, Ukraine and the security situation in Europe. Minister Kaikkonen will also meet representatives of the United States Congress in Washington. During his working visit to the United States, Minister Kaikkonen will also visit Lockheed Martin’s plant in Fort Worth, Texas. Lockheed Martin will deliver the F-35A Lightning II multi-role fighters to Finland. From Texas, Minister Kaikkonen will continue to Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, where he will familiarise himself with the F-35 fleet, training and maintenance. The working visit is pre-planned as of early February.
The European Union Affairs Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) approved Estonia’s positions and supported by consensus granting Ukraine a clear accession perspective and the status of a candidate state of the European Union at their extraordinary sitting today.
Chairman of the European Union Affairs Committee Siim Kallas noted that Estonia had always supported Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. “Now that the country is fighting not only for its own freedom and survival, but also for the whole Europe, granting this perspective is even more important. We have to send Ukraine a clear signal that they are welcome in the European Union,” Kallas said. He added that Ukraine and the majority of the population of the country had expressed the wish to join the European Union.
Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Marko Mihkelson recalled that on 23 February, the Riigikogu adopted the Statement in which it called on the member states to grant Ukraine the status of a candidate state of the European Union and a roadmap to membership in NATO. Mihkelson noted that getting the status of a candidate state would be a great help to Ukrainians in the face of Russian aggression. “It is important that the EU supports Ukraine in its preparations for EU membership. Estonia is ready to share its experience of accession to the EU and support Ukraine in their accession process to the EU,” Mihkelson said.
The positions approved by the Committees also highlight that Estonia considers it important that the European Union would quickly agree on the next specific and ambitious steps on Ukraine’s path towards EU integration.
Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee Henn Põlluaas underlined that Ukraine’s NATO membership should also be supported and a proposal should be made for discussing it. “Ukraine is a European country, a strategically important country, and their security matters to everyone. The Ukrainians have shown that they are not afraid to fight against Russia, and already only this proves that Ukraine deserves to be a NATO member country,” Põlluaas said.
Ukraine submitted an application for EU membership on Monday. After that, the Presidents of nine Member States adopted a Joint Statement in support of granting the status of a candidate state to Ukraine. On Tuesday, the European Parliament endorsed the need to give Ukraine a clear EU perspective.
It was noted at the sitting that giving Ukraine the EU accession perspective and the status of a candidate state must be in line with Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union, and that becoming a member state was a complex and time-consuming process. The precondition for becoming a member is that the candidate state has stable institutions ensuring democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights and national minorities, as well as a functioning market economy and the capacity to cope with competition and the pressure of market forces within the European Union. In order to become a Member State, the candidate state has to be able to take on the obligations arising from membership, including the fulfilment of the objectives of political, economic and monetary union.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Eva-Maria Liimets participated in the sitting and gave an outline of the positions approved by the Government yesterday. The European Union Affairs Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu decided to support the positions. Prime Minister Kaja Kallas will ask the leaders of the EU to support granting the status of a candidate state to Ukraine also at the meeting of the EU heads of state and government held in France next week.
Today, during his visit to East-Viru County, President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Jüri Ratas participated in the video conference of the Nordic-Baltic (NB8) Speakers of Parliaments on Ukraine, and in the video meeting of the Speakers of the European Union’s National Parliaments hosted by President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, which was also attended by Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk.
All Speakers of Parliaments who took the floor at the video meetings underlined that Russia’s attack was a brutal war crime and Putin’s regime had to end bloodshed and military activities in Ukraine immediately.
Ratas told his counterparts that the European Union had to give Ukraine all the assistance it needed in the accession process, and Estonia was ready to share its accession experience and support Ukraine’s development.
At the meeting of the Nordic and Baltic Speakers, Ratas said that the countries of our region had to coordinate supporting of Ukraine as much as possible. “Today, Ukraine needs our strong political and economic support. As well as direct military aid and humanitarian aid,” Ratas said. “Many thanks to all the countries that have shown admirable unity and have already stretched out a helping hand, but the assistance must go on and there is still much to be done, because Putin’s war continues and Ukraine needs our help now more than ever.”
Ratas thinks that the Western countries have to present a united front to isolate Russia and Belarus in all spheres, from suspending of their membership in international organisations to economy, culture and sports. “It is not only Ukraine’s war, but they are also fighting now for the security and democracy of the whole Europe,” Ratas pointed out.
The Speakers of all parliaments expressed support to Ukraine and highlighted the need for joint strong sanctions in order to stop Russia’s aggressive military activities and information war. The Speakers of the Nordic and Baltic Parliaments presented an outline of the humanitarian and military aid provided. The Speakers from Finland and Sweden admitted that, for them, granting military aid was an exceptional decision. The Baltic and Polish Speakers also described how they helped the war refugees.
The video conference of the Nordic-Baltic Speakers was followed by the video meeting in the European Parliament, which was attended by Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk, who gave an overview of the current situation in the country. He thanked the Member States for their support and introduced Ukraine’s application for membership in the European Union. The Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada underlined that the sancions had to continue and also strongly extend to Belarus. In conclusion, he expressed hope that green corridors would be established soon for giving humanitarian aid because several cities were without electricity and there was a shortage of foodstuffs.
The participants of the video meeting expressed complete support to Ukraine and stressed that granting of the EU membership perspective and the status of a candidate state had to take into account the criteria of accession to the Union and be in line with Article 49 of the Treaty on the European Union.
NordenBladet — The Nordic Council of Ministers is suspending its co-operation with Russia and Belarus. This decision has been made in response to Russia’s military attack on Ukraine.(Originally published at Norden.org)The Ministers for Nordic Co-operation condemn the unprovoked, unlawful, and illegitimate Russian invasion of Ukraine in the strongest possible terms. Russia’s acts of war constitute an attack on the European security order. The Nordic countries are united in their solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.The Nordic Council of Ministers has therefore decided to immediately suspend all co-operation with Russia and Belarus. The Ministers for Nordic Co-operation are united in this decision. This means that all programmes, projects, and activities in Russia and Belarus are suspended until further notice.“Russia’s military attack on Ukraine renders it impossible to continue co-operation in the current circumstances. The Nordic Council of Ministers’ co-operation activities in Russia have been underway since 1995. These activities have resulted in hundreds of projects in areas such as health, the environment and climate, and journalism and media, as well as meetings between Nordic and Russian parliamentarians. The aim of this co-operation has always been to build trust, mutual understanding, and development in the region,” say the Ministers for Nordic Co-operation.Despite several setbacks, the Nordic Council of Ministers has managed to maintain contact with Russia where others have been banned. The focus of the programmes has been on people-to-people co-operation, which has served as a valuable support for Russian civil society.Together with the rest of the global community, the Nordic Council of Ministers is sending a clear message to the Russian government. The Ministers for Nordic Co-operation stress that this statement is aimed at the Russian government and not at the Russian people.All news relating to Russian attack on UkraineRead moreNordic cooperationNorden.org: Nordic Council of Ministers
NordenBladet — Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will meet the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Wopke Hoekstra, who will pay a visit to Helsinki on 7 March. At their meeting, the Ministers will focus on the Ukraine crisis and the rapidly changing security situation in Europe.“The very exceptional and rapidly evolving foreign and security policy situation accentuates the importance of close dialogue between the EU Member States. I am therefore very pleased that I have the opportunity to discuss with my Dutch counterpart. The Netherlands is an important partner for Finland in many ways and a like-minded EU country,” says Minister for Foreign Affairs Haavisto.
NordenBladet — Finland’s assistance includes emergency accommodation equipment for 5,000 people and a field kitchen to help people who have fled to Moldova from Ukraine. Material assistance was provided through the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism.On 25 February, Moldova requested accommodation capacity, vehicles and communication equipment through the Mechanism to help people fleeing from Ukraine to Moldova. The Ministry of the Interior has cooperated with the National Emergency Supply Agency and the Finnish Red Cross in the procurement of aid supplies. The EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre coordinates the assistance delivered to Ukraine and Moldova through the Mechanism.
NordenBladet — On Monday 7 March, Prime Minister Sanna Marin will visit Tallinn and meet with Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas. In their meeting, the prime ministers will discuss the security situation in Europe, bilateral relations between Finland and Estonia and cooperation on topical EU matters.The prime ministers will also receive a report on Finnish-Estonian relations, which was commissioned jointly by the countries’ governments and has been drawn up over the past year. The study was led by former ministers Anne-Mari Virolainen from Finland and Jaak Aaviksoo from Estonia with support from the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) and the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute (EFPI). The report offers recommendations on the future development of cooperation between Finland and Estonia in areas such as the economy, the green transition, digital cooperation, culture and education.During her visit, Prime Minister Marin will also meet with Speaker of the Estonian Parliament Jüri Ratas.
Chairs of Foreign Affairs Committees of European Parliaments call on social media platforms to curb Kremlin misinformation and strengthen European and Russian information space.
“We address you amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – the largest war in Europe since World War II, a war of aggression against a democratic nation. With Ukraine under siege, we have seen a continuation of Russia’s use of both overt and covert means to sow confusion and fear about the conflict and promote disinformation narratives that aim to justify and rationalise Russia’s illegal acts in Ukraine both in the international community and within the Russian domestic information space.
Domestically, the Russian government has sought to control information about the Ukraine war and prevent manifestations of anti-war sentiment. Russia-backed media reports falsely claiming that the Ukrainian government is conducting genocide of civilians ran unchecked and unchallenged on Twitter and Facebook. Videos from the Russian government — including speeches from Vladimir Putin — on YouTube received money from Western advertisers. Unverified TikTok videos of alleged real-time battles were instead historical footage, including doctored conflict-zone images and sounds. Russia’s top five international state-backed media outlets have used Facebook and Twitter to share false reports claiming that the Ukrainian military had committed unprovoked attacks on Russian-allied forces. They also suggested NATO countries would carry out so-called false flag chemical weapons attacks on Donetsk and Lugansk to tarnish Russia’s reputation. This information warfare has been front and centre in creating the pretext for this invasion and continues to be a significant piece of the Kremlin operation to justify its war of aggression and hide the crimes being committed in its course.
With the savagery of the Russian forces growing by the day and Russian airpower raining destruction down on Ukrainian cities, the Russian government and its state-sponsored outlets continue to circulate false and misleading claims to support the ongoing invasion. By casting the Ukrainian government and the country as a whole in the most negative possible light – and officially linking Russia’s official war aims to “de-Nazification” and “demilitarisation”. The case for the war is built on lies, both about Ukraine’s history and it’s present.
We implore you to act now and prevent your platforms from being exploited, thus becoming complicit in a criminal war that has already brought unimaginable suffering, death and destruction.
We call on you to significantly expand efforts to detect Russian falsehoods and prevent your platforms from being exploited in the conflict.
We urge you to pro-actively suspend or block all accounts engaged in denying, glorifying or justifying wars of aggression, war crimes and crimes against humanity, the official accounts of Russian and Belarusian government institutions, state-controlled media as well as personal accounts of these countries’ leadership and their close associates, follow the decision to restrict Russian state-controlled media and prevent them from using your services to circumvent these restrictions. In addition, we implore you to urgently adjust your recommendation algorithms to help users find trustworthy information on the war in Ukraine and inform users exposed to disinformation.
We stand in full solidarity with you in your attempts to resist the Russian government’s efforts to censor or restrict access to your platforms on Russia’s territory for Russian citizens, civil society and independent media. We stand ready to provide any assistance we can.
During the Cold War, neither the governments nor the people in the West would have allowed publishing Soviet propaganda outlets such as “Pravda”. We need to defend the free world, together, once again.”
NordenBladet — The Government approved the proposal for the new Climate Change Act on 3 March. The Act has been reformed to make sure that Finland’s carbon neutrality target for 2035 and other international and EU climate objectives will be reached. In addition to the carbon neutrality target, the Act sets emission reduction targets for 2030, 2040 and 2050. The Act lays down provisions on climate policy plans, and the reform will extend the scope of the Act to the land use sector. A target to strengthen carbon sinks will also be included in the Act.“The decision on the Climate Change Act is the measure by this Government that will have the most permanent impact. It will ensure that the carbon neutrality target 2035 is maintained and that climate work continues beyond electoral terms. The Climate Change Act is also a strong signal to companies that in this country clean solutions are worth investing in. I am particularly proud that the preparation of the Climate Change Act has been carried out in close cooperation with researchers, and the objectives set in the Act are based on scientific recommendations,” says Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Emma Kari.“Finland’s aim to build a fossil-free welfare state is a question that is related not only to the climate crisis but also to security policy. The faster we phase out our dependency on fossil resources, the better for the climate and for the security of Finland and Europe as a whole,” Kari continues.The previous Climate Change Act entered into force in 2015, and it set an emission reduction target only for 2050. The new Climate Change Act will include emission reduction targets for 2030 and 2040 that are based on the recommendations of the Finnish Climate Change Panel, and the target for 2050 will be updated. The emission reduction targets are -60% by 2030, -80% by 2040 and at least -90% but aiming at -95% by 2050, compared to the levels in 1990.The new Climate Change Act is to enter into force on 1 July 2022.Climate policy plans are key means to reach targetsTo reach the emission reduction targets, the Climate Change Act lays down provisions on national climate change policy plans that aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Finland and promote climate change adaptation.The key plans are the Medium-term Climate Change Policy Plan, the Climate Change Adaptation Plan and the Long-term Climate Change Policy Plan. As a new plan, the Act introduces the climate plan for the land use sector, i.e. carbon sinks and emissions from land use will also be covered by the Climate Change Act, and the Act sets a target to strengthen sinks. The aim in all climate policy plans is to ensure sustainable development and a just transition.The Act also lays down provisions on the monitoring of the implementation of the plans, which means that the Government must follow the achievement of Finland’s climate objectives and the need for additional measures.After the reform, the Annual Climate Report to Parliament will be even more comprehensive than before. The general public will also be kept better informed about the trends in emissions and adequacy of climate measures.Sámi Climate Council gives opinions on climate issues from Sámi culture perspectiveDuring the process to prepare the new Act, a key focus was on groups that are particularly vulnerable to climate change and groups that as a rule do not participate in consultations, such as children and young people. In particular, opportunities were provided for the Sámi people to be heard as the progress of climate change is the fastest in the north. The livelihood and culture of the Sámi are particularly vulnerable to climate change.By the new Climate Change Act, a Sámi Climate Council will be set up as an independent expert body that will produce information and give opinions on climate policy plans from the perspective of the Sámi culture. The Act would also obligate the authorities to negotiate with the Sámi Parliament when drafting climate plans.Act to be supplemented by municipal climate policy plans in autumnIn the budget session of autumn 2021, the Government decided on a statutory obligation for municipalities, regions or counties to prepare climate policy plans. The supplementary government proposal for the Climate Change Act should be issued in the autumn. This is also when the provisions on requests for review under the Climate Change Act will be laid down. A report on this is to be completed during March.Questions and answers about the reform of the Climate Change Act (in Finnish)
