THE REVIEW WAS UPDATED Writer and director Ahti Tolvanen, who is a member of the Migrant Tales board, has written a play that reflects hard and uncertain times for Finland. When Ahti came to Finland in the 1970s, it was a very different country. For one, its foreign policy, which some criticized as Finlandization, attempted…
Category: Ahti Tolvanen
Ahti Tolvanen: Most of what Kimmo Kiljunen said is well substantiated
It is also obvious the non-action of the government on what their plan for the Finnish-Riussian border needs to be addressed. Just keepiing the Saimaa Canal closed costs the Finnish economy millions, now even billions if road transport is added to it. Not to mention the disrupted family lives from which the largest immigrant community…
Ahti Tolvanen*: Finland’s pushback law undermines the rule of law
The problem with this law is that it calls into question the whole idea of the rule of law. It allows the Finnish government to declare that there is a threat at the border of a “hybrid invasion”.This declaration can be made based on secret security information the government may claim to have and no…
The government’s anti-racism program stops racism on paper
The Finnish government has called for comment on its proposed six-million-euro action program against racism by June 10th. The program’s development began last year when then President Sauli Niinistö was questioned at an international press conference about racist remarks made by ministers in the Petteri Orpo government. Announced in May, the program calls for anti-racist…
Interioir Minister Mari Rantanen and her “hybrid invaders”
We’ll Never Know.Yes, what Interior Minister Rantanen was thinking in introducing a law to stop “hybrid invaders” from Russia. Our ́́ investigative media` will never ask the right questions. So we can only try to imagine: Scene: “Hybrid invaders.” Inside the Interior Ministry. Cue Rantanen.Rantanen (enters): Our press conference is in half an hour. Any…
Ahti Tolvanen*: The Finnish-Russian border quagmire
It is hard to make any sense out of the on-and-off Russian border closings. Whether these will have any real effect in the long run on numbers of asylum seekers remains to be seen. The way the war is going in Ukraine this winter almost guarantees an influx of hundreds or thousands more from that…
Ahti Tolvanen: Independence Day 2023 may have marked a turning point for ethnic and race relations in Finland
For years now the day has seen gatherings and rallies in support of immigrant and refugee rights and counterdemonstrations by nationalists who stand for ethnic purity. At times the police have seized Nazi flags from the arch-nationalists or blocked violent attacks by some of these people against antifascists and antiracists. Some claim that the police…
Ahti Tolvanen: Hallitukselle RE: “Nollatoleranssi syrjinnälle ja rasismille”
Koska eduskunnalta pyydetään hallituksella luottamusta, vaikka tämä samalla sijoittaisi vaikutusvaltaiseen asemaan rasismia tai valkoisen rodun ylivaltaa vuosia sanoilla ja teoillaan eri tavoin edistäneitä henkilöitä kuten Purra, Rantanen ja Rydman, on pyyntö harvinaisen ongelmallinen.Eduskuntaa pyydetään samalla hyväksymään ohjelmaehdotuksen, jonka tavoitteena on pääministeri Orpon ilmoittama ”nollatoleranssi syrjinnälle ja rasismille.” Orpon hallitukseen kohdistuu ennennäkemätön haaste, selvästi vaatien hyvin…
Ahti Tolvanen: A war that pushes peace away
More and more Ukrainians are fleeing for their lives to Europe as we mark the first anniversary of the Russian invasion. It seems the EU and NATO lack the political imagination to do more than worsen the refugee situation in the year ahead. So far 4 million have fled Ukraine and over 40 000 to…
A fateful June: The future of the environment, millions of refugees and even world peace hung in the balance
Ahti Tolvanen* At last there has been a decision of the world’s nations to put an end to the burning of fossil fuels. It took the world at least 50 years to arrive at this point which happened in Stockholm June 3rd, 2022 in the closing statement of a conference to observe the 50th anniversary…