Today, the members of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) elected the Board of the Estonian Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), which consists of President Toomas Kivimägi and Vice-Presidents Marika Tuus-Laul, Helmen Kütt and Helle-Moonika Helme.
The main aims of the activities of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) are to promote cooperation between parliaments and members of parliament, to participate in the processes of ensuring global peace and security, to protect human rights and to develop representative democracy. Estonia was a member of the Union in 1921–1940 and restored its membership after regaining independence in 1991.
All members of the Riigikogu belong to the Estonian IPU Group, and elect the board of the group. The Board, which includes the President, who received the most votes from the plenary assembly, and three Vice-Presidents, constitutes the Riigikogu delegation to the IPU.
The aim of the activities of the delegation is to develop inter-parliamentary relations, and to introduce in international forums the Estonian state and the positions of our state on topical issues.
NordenBladet — Defence Ministers Antti Kaikkonen and Peter Hultqvist will visit the Swedish Navy’s main exercise SWENEX21 on Wednesday 27 October 2021. Some 320 Finnish troops will participate in the exercise.The exercise is part of a programme for the North Atlantic Council (NAC), consisting of NATO Secretary General and ambassadors of NATO Member countries. The aim of the visit to Finland and Sweden is to learn about the defence cooperation between the two countries.“The 30 + 2 cooperation between NATO, Finland and Sweden is an integral part of Finland’s partnership with NATO,” says Minister of Defence Antti Kaikkonen.
NordenBladet — The Artists’ Association of Lapland was a scholarship recipient of the Barents Scholarship for Cultural Cooperation. The scholarship amounts to EUR 10,000. The Barents Scholarships for Cultural Cooperation were awarded on Tuesday 26 October in Tromsø, Norway. Four scholarships were awarded.The Artists’ Association of Lapland is the central organisation for professional artists and artistic associations within the cultural field in the Barents region. At the heart of the organisation’s activities are not only on gallery and exhibition activities but also art lending, international activities and the production of art-based services. Maria Huhmarniemi, Chair of the Board of the Lapland Artists’ Association, explains how important the scholarship is for the organisation: “We have worked hard in engaging in cultural cooperation in the Barents region. For us, crossing borders means the mobility of exhibitions and works, the production of international exhibitions in Finnish Lapland for local audiences, as well as friends and kindred spirits in the Barents region. The scholarship is an important sign of recognition.”In 2021, two significant exhibitions produced by Lapland Artists’ Association were held that involved cooperation in the Barents region. The ‘Wiping the Ice-Cream Off Your Face’ exhibition in Rovaniemi marked the 30th anniversary of the Artists’ Association of Lapland, to which Nordic and Russian artists and members of the Association were invited. The exhibition invited to reconsider notions about the North and contemporary Arctic culture outside the mainstream, conventional way of thinking by dismantling stereotypes of the Arctic as a barren wintery destination and sparked discussion on the need and means for de-arcticfication. The fourth Young Arctic Artists exhibition, under thematic umbrella of Fight / Kamppailu”, was arranged in Rovaniemi, and it is currently in Alta, Norway. The exhibition builds on the concepts of multiculturalism and multilingualism in the Barents region. In addition to indigenous peoples and national majorities, there are also other linguistic and cultural minority groups in the region. The Fight / Kamppailu exhibition showcases cultural richness in the region, but also cultural conflicts and the experiences of cultural minorities in the past and today.The Artists’ Association of Lapland was founded in 1990. The Association has cooperated in the Barents region throughout its existence, for example by financial support from the Nordic Culture Fund and the Russia programme for arts and culture granted by the Ministry of Education and Culture. In earlier years, the Rovaniemi office of the Arts Promotion Centre played a significant role in cooperation in the Barents region.Barents Scholarship for Cultural CooperationThe Barents Scholarship for Cultural Cooperation is awarded every two years. It is granted simultaneously in each of the four countries in the Barents region: Finland, Sweden, Norway and Russia.The purpose of the scholarship is to highlight cooperation across borders and recognise artistic excellence and encourage people to work together in the Barents region. The scholarship also serves to make artists and cultural activities in the Barents region better known.The Barents Scholarship for Cultural Cooperation was first awarded in 2017. At that time, it was awarded to Jaakko Heikkilä, a photographer from Tornio.Related linksBarents Euro-Arctic Cooperation
NordenBladet — Claudia Mahler, Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons at the UN Human Rights Council, will visit Finland from 26 October to 4 November. This is the first time that an Independent Expert on the human rights by older persons, mandated in 2014, visits the Nordic countries. The purpose of the visit is to prepare a report on the legislation related to the rights of older people and on the implementation of their rights in Finland for the UN Human Rights Council. The Independent Expert will present her report and recommendations concerning Finland to the Human Rights Council in its autumn session of 2022, where Finland will participate in the interactive dialogue.During her visit to Finland, Independent Expert Mahler will meet with Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto, Minister of Social Affairs and Health Hanna Sarkkinen and Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services Krista Kiuru. In addition, she will have several meetings with senior government officials, Finnish authorities and representatives of organisations, researchers and relevant stakeholders in the sector.The mandate of the Independent Expert on the human rights of older persons is part of the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council, which are strongly supported by Finland. The independent experts report and issue recommendations to the Human Rights Council and to the government in question.
NordenBladet — Ministers from digitally advanced EU countries will meet in Luxembourg to discuss how digital technologies can contribute to the green transition and the achievement of the Paris climate objectives.The ministerial meeting of the D9+ countries, i.e. digitally advanced EU countries, will be held in Luxembourg on 27 October 2021. Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel will chair the meeting. State Secretary Jukka Ihanus will represent Finland on behalf of Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä. In addition to the nine countries belonging to the D9+ group, Lithuania and Slovenia, which currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, have been invited to the meeting.The debate on the digital green transition is timely in the entire EU, with the ministers’ discussion taking place just days before the UN’s COP26 climate change conference. Thomas Kallstenius, Chief Executive Officer at the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, will present a digital twin project that focuses on Luxembourg’s national energy sector. In addition, a representative of the European Commission will introduce the EU’s Green Deal proposal. The group’s meeting in January was chaired by Lintilä, who emphasised artificial intelligence, quantum technology and future connectivity as key areas in the European Commission’s roadmap for the digital decade.D9+ countries focus on digitalisation D9+ is a ministerial group of digitally advanced EU countries that aims to promote the implementation and use of digitalisation and the sharing of its best practices. The group includes the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Poland, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Czech Republic and Estonia. All of the countries rank high in the Commission’s DESI index, which measures digital capacity and its development among the EU member states. DESI monitors digitalisation in the EU countries in five areas: connectivity, human capital (including digital skills), use of internet services by citizens, integration of digital technology by businesses, and digital public services.
NordenBladet — According to a recent survey, 68 per cent of Finns consider development cooperation very or fairly important. About a quarter of Finns say that their attitudes have become more negative recently. The majority believe that Finland’s development cooperation has improved the position of women and girls in Afghanistan over the past 20 years. The results are based on a survey carried out for the Foreign Ministry by Taloustutkimus.A clear majority of Finns support development cooperation. However, attitudes towards it are strongly disaggregated by respondents’ gender and party affiliation. The majority of the respondents felt that their opinions had remained unchanged in recent years. At the same time, 27 per cent of the respondents considered that their attitudes towards development cooperation had become more negative, against 14 per cent of people who had started to hold a more positive attitude. “More than four out of five Finns consider eradication of poverty and inequality from the world very important. This is goal number one among the objectives of Finland’s development cooperation. The same objective must be pursued by other means, such as trade,” says Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari. Although reducing poverty and inequality, and support for development cooperation are considered important, the majority of the respondents do not believe that the activities are efficient and effective. “We must listen to this concern carefully and make sure that people get enough information about our work and its effectiveness in future. Prolonged conflicts and disasters, for example, may give rise to doubt whether we can achieve sustainable results at all. Based on our own monitoring, we know that we have achieved results,” Minister Skinnari says. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs will submit a comprehensive report on the results and effectiveness of development cooperation to Parliament in autumn 2022. Afghanistan causes concern, support believed to be effective Taloustutkimus conducted the survey at the end of August when news from abroad focused on the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan. A clear majority (86%) of the respondents was worried for the position of women and girls under the Taliban regime. The majority (65%) of them believe that Finland’s development cooperation has improved the position of women and girls in Afghanistan over the past 20 years. Humanitarian assistance to Afghans is considered important by 75 per cent of the respondents. However, scepticism was expressed towards the start of long-term development cooperation with Afghanistan: Of women, 48 per cent and of men 31 per cent were in favour of long-term development cooperation. New method introduced in opinion polls The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has examined Finns’ opinions on development cooperation annually for nearly twenty years. In recent years, the surveys have been conducted in the form of personal face-to-face interviews. This year, the method was replaced by an online panel. Therefore, this year’s results are not comparable with the results from previous years. “In surveys where we used both an online panel and face-to-face interviews simultaneously to ask the same questions, the online panel as a method has explained the number of negative and doubtful views of development cooperation and the shift compared to previous years. It appears that in a faceless online environment it is easier to give critical answers than in a one-to-one encounter, where respondents admit the interviewer into their home and may, as a rule, find it easier to be more receptive and sympathetic,” says Juho Rahkonen, Research Director at Taloustutkimus.There are significant differences in the results with regard to some of the questions, even though the population groups are represented by the same percentages in both methods, for example according to age, gender and party affiliation.A total of 1,173 people participated in the survey in different parts of Finland. With a 2.7 per cent margin of error, the confidence interval (CI) of the survey results is at 95 per cent.
NordenBladet — The number of unemployed jobseekers decreased by 50,500. The number of new vacancies reported in September totalled 96,500. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies amounted to 170,300, which is 67,300 more than a year ago.At the end of September, a total of 265,300 unemployed jobseekers were registered at the Employment and Economic Development Offices and municipalities participating in the local government pilots on employment. This is 50,500 less than a year earlier, but 39,300 more than in September two years ago. The number of unemployed jobseekers was down by 15,700 from the previous month. Of the unemployed jobseekers, 143,200 were customers of municipalities participating in the local government pilots on employment. The number of unemployed jobseekers also includes those fully laid off. These figures are from the Employment Bulletin of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.At the end of September, the number of people laid off was 31,500 in the whole country, which was 42,100 fewer than at the same time the year before. The number of people fully laid off totalled 21,100, representing a decrease of 35,700 from September the year before. The number of people fully laid off decreased by 3,500 from August.109,400 unemployed in the long termThe number of long-term unemployed — that is those who had been unemployed without interruption for at least a year — amounted to 109,400, up 28,300 on the previous year. The number of unemployed jobseekers aged over 50 was 101,800, or 11,700 fewer than at the same time a year earlier.The number of unemployed jobseekers aged under 25 totalled 29,400, representing a decrease of 8,700 from September last year. Of the unemployment periods of youths, 60.1 per cent ended before reaching three months between January and September. This is 3.6 percentage points less than a year before.Increase in new vacanciesThe number of new vacancies reported during September totalled 96,500, or 38,500 more than in September the previous year. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies in September amounted to 170,300, which is 67,300 more than a year ago.At the end of September, the number of persons covered by services included in the activation rate amounted to 110,800, down 3,100 on the previous year. These services include pay subsidies, labour market training, work trials and self-motivated studies.Statistics Finland: The trend of the unemployment rate 7.6%According to the Labour Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, in September the number of people in employment was 17,000 more than on the previous year. The trend of the employment rate was 72.5%, which was 2.6 percentage points higher than in September the year before. According to the Survey, the unemployment total was 191,000, which is 11,000 less than a year ago. The trend of the unemployment rate was 7.6%, or 0.7 percentage points lower than the previous year.Key differences between Employment Service Statistics and the Labour Force Survey This information is based on the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment’s Employment Service Statistics and the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland. The Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry are compiled on the basis of the information in the Employment and Economic Development Offices’ customer register, while the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland is based on sampling. In the Ministry’s Employment Service Statistics, people that are not in an employment relationship or employed in business are listed as unemployed. Persons fully laid-off but not full-time students are also categorised as unemployed in the Employment Service Statistics. The Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland has a stricter definition of being unemployed: a person is unemployed if he or she has actively sought employment during the preceding four weeks and is available for work over the coming two weeks. The figures of the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland are internationally comparable and thus they are the official Finnish unemployment statistics. Further information on the differences in the statistics https://tilastokeskus.fi/til/tyti/tyti_2019-09-13_men_001_en.html
NordenBladet – We had a wonderful weekend. Friday (22 October) was one and a half years since we met with Allan. You can read the hymn to our love HERE 🙂 I woke up with a miraculous view – three little deer were under the apple tree behind the bedroom window, eating apples! So romantic! To have your house in such a picturesque place yet so close to the city is a mega blessing! I love nature! And yes, today’s blog again has lots of food talk and food pictures… It looks like our lives largely spin around nourishment.
In the morning I served the cake that I myself made, with pistachio halwa and strawberry whipped cream, using a new recipe that I myself created! Yummy, this is probably the best cake that I have made this far… and I have made more than a million cakes! I value putting effort in the relationship. I am convinced that you must take care of the relationship, respect your partner, and develop your home atmosphere with full awareness. I wish my home to always be a very pleasant place with a friendly climate, with the feeling of wellbeing and everyone here being happy, safe and well. Now when talking about food, then I must admit my dishes almost always turn out extraordinarily delicious (I know, it is not a good thing to boast!). Never have I been schooled in gastrology, but here the creative mind and the gut feeling will lend a helping hand. Had you told me ten years ago that I spend many hours each day in the kitchen, and also do this voluntarily, I would have found it laughable. Today I feel that homemade food belongs to the kernel of a home and this is also a way to share your love with your loved ones. Today I even think I am not miles away from publishing a cookbook. Were I not already busy with a thousand things and in the midst of a million projects, I would seriously consider this option. Friends always inquire what I will be baking this time, when they visit us.
But now back to the morning! We enjoyed breakfast, scratched our Juubeliloterii lottery tickets (we won 5 euros and the net loss was 5.- euros) and then started off towards Pärnu. Since the previous evening there had been a great storm, then the sunny weather on Friday was more like a surprise. Estella Elisheva went to Viimsi to play football on Thursday (with that horrible storm) and today the results are there… but more about this later.
After arriving in Pärnu we went straight to the Port Arthur department store (Hommiku 2, Pärnu 80010) to find a swimsuit for me. I completed the shopping with three new swimsuits. Hahaaa.. We proceeded to visit the Steffani pizza restaurant (Nikolai 24, Pärnu 80011) to have dinner. It had a very cozy-clean-nice atmosphere, the prices were rather good, the service was friendly and the food was very tasty. A really fine place, I definitely recommend it!
And then it was time to go to our hotel. We spent the evening in Viking SPA sauna center and water park, and since we were still full from breakfast and lunch, then we declined the booked supper. The water park as well as the entire hotel was very crowded. I actually do not really understand why hotels do that. There are two extremes, either due to covid restrictions they close the hotels completely, or they let in as many people as the rooms can take. Yucky… honestly I do not like this and next time I do not choose to go to a SPA during a weekend. It is pleasant to be with Allan wherever, but I am not that kind of an „overcrowded” type of person. In the future I would rather visit the SPA during the week, then there will be less people. Ah yes… and imagine having two teenage children and how you desire some silence for a change, I strongly recommend an 18+ SPA (remind me to follow this guideline myself!!!)… I am a greater than average friend of children, but lately it has been somewhat annoying to hear all the crying kids and the shouting teenagers outside the home 😀 This statement coming from me indicates that I have a grave DEPRESSION!
Well yes… nevertheless we soaked well in the Viking water park and spent a beautiful evening. We went to bed early since I had a sore throat.
On Saturday we went to have dinner at a Georgian restaurant named Kolhethi (Kuninga 36, Pärnu 80014). Allan has told so many good stories of his travels to Georgia, and also we have been watching the TV3 series „Kethi with mommy in Georgia” and we also enjoyed the Channel 2 broadcast „The fast and the handsome in Georgia”. I have become quite obsessed with visiting Georgia myself and perhaps will even live in Tbilisi with my entire family for one month. Why? Oh, there are various factors here. First, of course, thanks to the great marketing work done by Allan, then the change, the warmer weather compared to Estonia, the good prices, the friendly yet not too aggressive Georgians, the inexpensive Georgian cuisine, the reasonably-priced hotels, etc. It also appears to be a safe country. Besides, I dreamt of having all the more expensive beauty care procedures done there – for instance the full body epilation costs ca 30-50 euros there while in Estonia it is 500-600 or even more. Not bad?!
Ok, so all this knowledge in our mind, we excitedly headed towards the Georgian restaurant in Pärnu. I am honest with you, I cannot really describe this emotion. The waiter serving the tables was very nice and friendly – while we stayed there he spoke fluent Estonian, Russian, Finnish and English. He smiled and was cordial… The dishes were tasty, the portions were huge, the khachapuri prepared by the chef Manana Keburia was slightly too salty but still very nice… but the place itself was somewhat gloomy and the prices were way too expensive, I think. We ordered two main courses with meat (those included a pile of French fries but quite a symbolic portion of meat), khachapuri (Georgian cheese bread), a cup of black tea and 2 Georgian beers. The bill for the dinner was 50.- EUR. We packed half of the khachapuri for takeaway. I am not sure if perhaps we are too poor or maybe the prices were a bit high… anyway it felt like we liked it and also didn’t really. Everything was almost ok, yet for this price we would have expected something extra.
So what else?
I already posted HERE that my younger daughter Ivanka Shoshana (13) is a great fan of The Loud House. Every now and then she comes to me, showing black-and-white pictures from videos that she wants to print out for colouring by herself. I decided that via Amazon I can buy her The Loud House colouring book. There were several and I ordered as many as seven – all in all for 72.12 EUR. Unfortunately, receiving the first package, I realized that though the covers of the books were different, many of the pictures inside were the same… not fun at all! Four of the books already arrived and I handed two of them to Ivanka! She pampered the books for several days and only today took the brave step to colour the first picture.
Today, Monday, greeted us all with a feeling of being unwell. A running nose, cough, etc. My sore throat started already in Pärnu. It is just Ivanka who is completely well. Estella most probably caught a cold last week at her training and shared the microbes with us, too. I decided that I won’t let the children out before all of us are fully well. The children have been vaccinated with the first shot (read more about children’s vaccination HERE) and on 30 October they will be receiving the second Covid-19 vaccine shot. I definitely do not wish to risk my own or others’ lives and I am pro isolation. Also instead of grocery-shopping I ordered food from e-selver. By the way, ordering food over the internet (from the shop as well as from the restaurant) is more and more fashionable in our family. We are regular clients of e-selver and Laagri Chopsticks that offer Chinese cuisine.
Children have their school holiday this week and so it is not too terrible that we are all here quite ill. We didn’t make very important plans for the holiday – we will rest, read books, watch movies, just so… Estella Elisheva applied for studies abroad in the United States (read HERE) and made it to the next round! Yeah! It is a very tight competition, we do hope she continues on to the third round and then gets to study abroad. Fingers crossed!! Me and Allan both had several business meetings today and now Allan is following the news, I am blogging and afterwards we watch TV. The plan is to see BBC Earth “North America with Simon Reeve” and “Mediterranean with Simon Reeve”. 🙂
Until the next blog, where I will elaborate on the children’s room renovation, training plans and a lot more! Hugs!
NordenBladet — The North Atlantic Council (NAC), composed of ambassadors from NATO member states and the chair of the council, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg visit Finland on 25–26 October 2021. Photo: NATOThe visit begins with bilateral discussions between President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö and Secretary General Stoltenberg, and with discussions between the President and the Council.Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland Pekka Haavisto meets with the North Atlantic Council for lunch discussion. Minister Haavisto and Secretary General Stoltenberg will also have a bilateral meeting.During the day, the NATO ambassadors visit Parliament, where they meet with Speaker of Parliament Anu Vehviläinen and representatives of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Defence Committees. The programme also includes a visit to the Guard Jaeger Regiment, hosted by Minister of Defence Antti Kaikkonen and General Timo Kivinen, Commander of the Finnish Defence Forces.In the evening, Prime Minister of Finland Sanna Marin meets with Secretary General Stoltenberg bilaterally and hosts dinner for the NATO ambassadors.On Tuesday, 26 October the programme includes a meeting with Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo and a briefing of the activities of the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats.The visit provides an opportunity to promote NATO’s understanding of the security situation in the Baltic Sea region and in Northern Europe. Furthermore, the visit manifests close partnership of Finland and Sweden with NATO and bilaterally with each other.From Finland, the North Atlantic Council and the Secretary General will continue their journey to Sweden, which they will visit on 26–27 October.
NordenBladet — Monday 25 October 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Finland and Luxembourg.On 20 October 1921, Luxembourg gave its approval to Finland’s request for an agrément, i.e. the request to appoint a diplomatic representative of the Finnish Government to Luxembourg. On 25 October 1921, President of the Republic K. J. Ståhlberg appointed Georg Achates Gripenberg, Finland’s acting Chargé d’ Affaires in Brussels and the Hague, to serve as a non-resident Chargé d’Affaires also in Luxembourg. On 20 October 1921, Luxembourg sent a telegram to give its approval to Finland’s request for the appointment of a diplomatic representative of the Finnish Government to Luxembourg. On 25 October 1921, the President of the Republic appointed Georg Achates Gripenberg, Finland’s acting Chargé d’ Affaires in Brussels and the Hague, to serve as a non-resident Chargé d’Affaires also in Luxembourg. Source: The Archives of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs Picture: Sami HeinoFinland and Luxembourg have common interests in many foreign policy areas, such as human rights and equality issues, climate targets and the rule of law. Both Finland and Luxembourg were recently elected to the UN Human Rights Council for 2022–2024. Additionally, in their EU policy Finland and Luxembourg share many similar objectives and values, such as deepening of the internal market and closer cooperation in the EU’s common foreign and security policy.“Both countries are staunch supporters of multilateralism, and support for the EU is strong and positions are often close to one another. Therefore, cooperation between Finland and Luxembourg is easy”, says Riitta Resch, Finland’s Ambassador to Luxembourg.Like Finland’s first Chargé d’ Affaires to Luxembourg, Riitta Resch, Ambassador of Finland to Belgium, serves as a Non-resident Ambassador of Finland to Luxembourg. Luxembourg’s Ambassador to Finland Henri Schumacher has been accredited to Finland from Luxembourg’s Embassy in Copenhagen.
Photo: NATO
On 20 October 1921, Luxembourg sent a telegram to give its approval to Finland’s request for the appointment of a diplomatic representative of the Finnish Government to Luxembourg. On 25 October 1921, the President of the Republic appointed Georg Achates Gripenberg, Finland’s acting Chargé d’ Affaires in Brussels and the Hague, to serve as a non-resident Chargé d’Affaires also in Luxembourg. Source: The Archives of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs Picture: Sami Heino