Many people in Europe consider the Trump administration's policies as attacks on cultural institutions and members of minority groups.

Yle News 4.4. 16:51

As the world reacts to the United States' tariff plans, about 4,000 people have joined a Finnish Facebook group aimed at facilitating a boycott of US products and services.

There are a number of similar groups on the platform in other countries around the world, including in Denmark and Sweden. However, it might seem a bit of a paradox to some when people are encouraging others to boycott the US on an American-owned social media platform.

According to UK newspaper the Independent, the number of US boycott-related internet searches have particularly increased in Denmark, Canada and France.

US President Donald Trump's announcement of sweeping tariff plans on Wednesday has sparked criticism and calls for boycotts on brands like Heinz ketchup, McDonald's fast food restaurants, clothing brands, billionaire Elon Musk's electric car company Tesla, as well as art and culture offerings from the United States.

Members of boycott groups have also discussed whether to cancel their subscriptions to US-based streaming services or to skip going to Hollywood movies at cinemas.

Various motivations There are a number of factors prompting the anti-American sentiment, according to Maria Lindén, a researcher at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. She commented about the situation in general terms.

According to the researcher, a large part of the US shares liberal values that do not align with the Trump administration's policies, including ones surrounding gender minorities, for example.

"There's also a broader phenomenon at play," Lindén said, noting that the US has taken steps towards authoritarianism that can already be seen at the country's borders.

She noted that US border authorities have turned away or detained visitors at the border, which is a development that a number of media outlets have reported about, including the Guardian.

People interested in US boycotts are motivated by a wide range of reasons, according to Lindén, even if they aren't interested in travelling to the US.

For example, people in Denmark are being encouraged to boycott the US because of Trump's statements about annexing Greenland. Trump has also targeted the arts, for example, by appointing himself as chair of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and replacing more than a dozen of the centre's board members.

Trump's apparent culture war has also taken aim at the US Department of Education and cracked down on museums that are considered too liberal, for example

I went to various vendors' sites (Gigantti, Power etc) and saw that the prices for Switch 2 base/bundle are 589/649 euros. Respectively 120/140 euros higher than in Holland, Italy, France, Spain, Germany and several other countries in EU. I’m aware that console prices in Finland are on average 20-40 euros higher than other EU countries due to higher taxation, but this is too much. 140 euros of price increase cannot be justified with a 2-3% higher VAT, it is a real greedy scalper price. I opened these sites to pre-order one and ended up extremely disappointed. I have bought all my previous consoles in Finland in the last 10 years to support the market despite higher costs. This time it is really too much, I will buy it elsewhere.

Not sure if this is the right place but I just had a very bad experience with Finnair today.

I originally had a flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Helsinki with 2 transits at Kuala Lumpur and Doha. All together, I was supposed to be in Helsinki at 15:15 6th of April (today). But the flight was changed the first time to include another stop at Warsaw for 5hrs. The arrival would already be 5 hrs late, certainly not ideal but nothing I cannot tough out.

The real problem starts when I received an email saying I was changed from KUL-DOH flight at around 1:35 this morning. I got moved form KUL-DOH to KUL-LHR Naturally, I tried to check everything to confirm if it was correct and it was. In the email informing me of the flight to Heathrow, they wrote this so I just found some place to sleep thinking I will just have to wait 7 more hours (pushing the transit time to 11hrs) for the flight. I also tried to find an info desk to ask for information about ticket, accommodation and food but there wasn't any open in the terminal and there's no intruction on who to talk to either. The chat agent of Finnair also couldn't answer my questions and waiting for a human agent took an exceedingly long time (33-35 people in queue).

After I woke up at around 7, I immediately went to the info desk to ask for a new boarding pass. Here I was informed I needed to go from C31 gates to C5 (a long way, required shuttle bus) to reclaim my baggage, follow immigration to enter Malaysia and re-checkin (drop the luggage, go through immigration again). All together took me about 90 minutes with a lot of running and asking for favors to skip lines in between. All around a terrible experience not due to the things I had to do, but due to the complete lack of instruction or presence of Finnair help in all this. When I was at the baggage claim office at KUL, I met 3 people with the same predicament trying to claim and find their baggage to get on the same flight to Heathrow then to Helsinki. Somehow they made it to the gate on time which is incredible.

I should be home by now but instead, I'm still on the plane to Heathrow. When I get there, I will have to transit in 1 hour 35 minutes from LHR terminal 4 or terminal 3 to catch Finnair flight AY1338 to Helsinki. The flight I'm on is already 16 minutes late so it's sure going to be a lot of running to catch the next one.

I already filed a claim with Finnair about my case but I'm not optimistic they will respond on time with a satisfactory answer. I'm seriously considering filing a claim with the consumer protection office next if talking to Finnair goes to a deadend. I have read people with worse experience than this but for me, this is the most egregious so far. Would really appreciate your insights or stories about how you guys have dealt with stuff like this before with Finnair.

Lastly, I apologize for the rambling and bad grammars. I did say I want to lose weight because of Vietnamese food at home but I never expected it to be so soon and confusing like this.

Hello Finland!!!! We are two students from Denmark, planning a hitchhiking trip through the nordics in the upcoming easter vacation. We are trying to make it as cheap as possible, and will do that by E.g. sleeping in the woods. In Denmark, it's common to find woodshelters in the woods that you can sleep in overnight for free, but i know for a fact, (because of a hitchhiking trip through southern europe last summer) that most other countries don't even know what that is. Do you have those? And if so is there any website where you can look up their location?

Thanks alot! - Svante & Selma

I'm American and French, by citizenship. The places where I lived in the US, many people have accents and make mistakes with grammar or pronunciation but no one cares, as long as one is generally understood or you get the gist of what you're saying.

I've been placed in France where they seem almost annoyed when you try to speak broken French and will immediately jump at any chance to correct you.

And I've also been to places in world where they are amazed and eternally grateful that you spent any effort actually learning their language and can't understand why you did.

Where does Finland generally fall on such a spectrum, generally?

According to Eurostat, Finland ranks third in the EU for divorce rates relative to population size, following Latvia and Lithuania.

Yle News 3.4. 13:49 • Updated 3.4. 16:20 Couples in Finland divorce far more frequently than the EU average, according to Eurostat, the EU's statistics agency.

It compared divorce rates of countries, relative to their population.

The most recent figures, from 2023, found Finland ranking third in the EU for divorce rates relative to population size, following Latvia and Lithuania, respectively.

In Latvia, there were 2.8 divorces per 1,000 residents, compared to 2.1 in Finland, with the EU average at 1.6.

Sweden ranked fourth, with divorce rates per capita similar to Finland's over the past decade, at times even surpassing its Nordic neighbour.

Luxembourg and Denmark also reported similar divorce rates.

Over the past 60 years, divorce rates have approximately doubled both across the EU and in Finland.

Finland has consistently remained above the EU average since the Eurostat began tracking divorce figures in 1964.

Fewer marriages in Finland The statistics also revealed that Finland has a lower marriage rate than the EU average, while Romania and Latvia had the highest marriage rates, according to the 2023 data.

Over the past 60 years, marriage rates have halved in both Finland and the EU, with Finland consistently staying below the EU average.

"Cohabitation is much more common in Finland than elsewhere in Europe. This is why there are fewer marriages, especially compared to Southern Europe," said Osmo Kontula, research professor emeritus at the Population Research Institute.

Kontula pointed out that comparing marriage and divorce statistics across EU countries is complicated, as legal frameworks differ.

According to Kontula, cohabitation began to rise in Finland in the 1970s, when the idea of living together without the commitment of marriage gained popularity. Since then, marriage rates have declined.

"Finland has been quite a liberal country when it comes to relationships," Kontula said.

Traditions vary in other parts of Europe, with differences largely rooted in religion. According to Kontula, marriage aligns more with Catholic values, particularly in Southern Europe, than other types of relationships.

Divorce was once prohibited in many Catholic countries, such as Italy, Spain, Ireland and Malta, which contributed to lower divorce rates.

I went through the councilor initiatives of Helsinki to get an idea of what our councilors have been intending to do recently, then cleaned up the data and I'm posting it here.

Please note that the initiaves are originally published in Finnish and is machine translated.

Time frame: 17.1.2024-26.3.2025

Source: https://paatokset.hel.fi/fi/paattajat/kaupunginvaltuusto/aloitteet

Here in the northern United States hockey is so expensive to play that many of the fans I know (including myself) have never been able to play, maybe makeshift street hockey at best but still enjoy watching it as a spectator.

Does the cost also keep people from participating at the rec/hobby level in Finland too? If not hockey, what is the sport that most Finns participate in as a hobby?

Hey everyone, Im moving to Tampere from August to December this year for exchange studies, any ideas where I can find furnished apartments for renting? Thanks for your help.

The Finnish Immigration Service's Metsälä detention unit in Helsinki's Maunula district last year. Image: Janne Lindroos / Yle Yle News

4.4. 15:17

On Friday, President Alexander Stubb signed off on amendments to the Aliens Act. The revised law gives authorities greater powers to detain non-citizens who are deemed to pose a threat to the country and bar them from re-entering Finland.

The amendments enter into force on 6 May.

The move is part of efforts by the government of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) to crack down on foreigners seen as representing "a danger to public order and security [safety] or to national security," according to a statement published by the government on Thursday.

Longer maximum period of detention, even for kids Under the law, authorities can take any non-Finn in custody if the person is seen as avoiding removal from the country, or otherwise "if…necessary to safeguard public order".

In situations related to deportation, individuals can now be held for up to a year, but that will be extended to a year and a half. Even before a removal decision is made, someone can now be detained for up to six months, but under the new wording, they can be kept behind bars for a year if they are deemed to pose "a danger to public order and security or to national security".

The new law states that a child may be detained with a person who has custody of the child for up to three months if this is essential for maintaining family contact. This may be extended to a maximum of six months if deportation is delayed due to the custodian's unwillingness to cooperate or submit documents.

The new wording also clarifies how "risk of absconding" is defined. It also toughens the imposition of entry bans in cases where someone does not leave the country voluntarily by a set deadline.

In future, third-country nationals can be banned from entering Finland for up to 15 years, up from the current five years. The act also still allows authorities to impose open-ended entry bans.

"More stringent provisions" on the way Under the new law, a residence permit can be withdrawn from an alien staying outside Finland, and an entry ban can be imposed on the alien if the person is declared a danger to public order and security or national security without interviewing the person in Finland.

The right-wing government of PM Petteri Orpo (NCP) said on Thursday that the amendments are part of the migration policy reforms listed in its 2023 legislative agenda.

"The aim is to ensure efficient removal of individuals who are staying in the country illegally, to better safeguard public order and national security, and to prepare for new kinds of situations that could jeopardise security," the government said in its statement. It also added that "more stringent provisions…will be introduced to support the government's objectives to tighten asylum policy"

Hei kaikki,

I've received a notice about incorrect parking because of street cleaning. (I didn't notice a temporary no parking sign.)

Do I understand correctly, that it is only a notice and not a fine? Why didn't I get any penalty fee?

I love this one, its Daddy Greens in Kallio Helsinki, its called Meat Jesus, never mind the burned part on top

people who left finland, is it enough to just update your foreign address on dvv as a permanent address change, or is it also necessary to state this somewhere else in oma vero or the tax return?

because even after moving and informing dvv on oma vero it keeps sending me tax cards even for the next years after moving. Why are they generating tax cards for me when I am nt a tax resident of finland?

Been playing the series for awhile on PC and really am getting interested in the franchise a lot and may wanna try building the figurines and painting them for a hobby outside of gaming. Not so interested in playing it but just wanna build/paint.

Besides that shop that is kinda inside the train station, what are some other shops that has a lot of Warhammer stuff? Thanks in advance!

Hei! Two Americans have a few hours to spend in Kokkola tomorrow, does anyone have any recommendations on what we could do? Kiitos!

ETA: I’m loving these comments 🤣 for context, we are here for my partners’s grandpa to see where his ancestors are from, he wants to go to church in Kokkola where his grandparents went to church. We have zero interest in that and need to kill a few hours while half our group sits through a church service

Update: we have heeded your warnings and are staying at the house for the day 😅

I’m looking for recommendations that are:

Crunchy but on the brittle side — easy to bite

Not very sweet

Not overly salty, like 6/10 tops

Strong licorice flavor. Not subtle like a Gustaf coin

A Finnish friend taught me a phrase that sounds like "hurpa hurpa", meaning something like tomfoolery or nonsense. Does anyone know the phrase and real spelling? Thanks!

Hey, today I found what looked like a legit vintage sports jacket with this peculiar crest related to Jyväskylä. I tried to identify it and find what it represents, but I had no luck. Does anyone know more about this crest? I find it very neat nevertheless.

Hi. Any good bike degreaser and bike shampoo you may recommend? Good price and effective and can be found easily around?

Also, I wonder if there is anything place where I could wash my bike around Vantaa ( Myyrmäki) ?

Thank you

So i've landed a job in Finland! I am from Norway, and I have heard that I need to pay taxes to Norway even though I will work full time in Finland with no income from Norway. My work won't start before 1.st of July and I wont earn more than 13300 euros max in 2025.

I understand I need to get a tax card, but does anyone know wether or not I need to pay taxes to Norway? and how can I find out exactly how much i need to pay in taxes in 2025? I'm gonna live in Espoo. It would be nice to know so I can make a budget and know how much I can afford in rent for example.

I am very rookie on tax paying as this will be my first "big girl" job where I'm gonna earn so much I need to worry about taxing on top on that I am moving to a new country, so any help would be very appreaciated! I feel very lost in this.

This might be a long shot, but I’m hoping someone out there might help.

Back around 2001–2002, I met a girl from Turku, Finland who was visiting the U.S. She stayed briefly in Michigan, then moved on to Minnesota. We met while she was staying at a friend’s house, and she left a lasting impression on me — one of those people you never forget, even after 20+ years.

We lost contact not long after, and I’ve always wondered how she’s doing. I’m not looking to intrude or make things awkward — I’m married, have a life of my own, and I’m not trying to start anything. I just want to say hello and let her know she was important to someone, once.

If this sounds familiar to anyone — maybe you knew someone from Turku who visited the U.S. around that time — I’d appreciate any leads. No pressure, no expectations. Just trying to close an open chapter with kindness.

Thanks for reading.