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Finland

The EU playing field – opening event of Finland’s Presidency

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By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

STOCKHOLM, July 3(Greenpost)– According to Finlands government, Finland will celebrate the opening of its Presidency of the Council of the European Union with a free summer party in Töölönlahti Park on 8 July.

Europe Information of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Prime Minister’s Office, the European Commission and the European Parliament invite all comers to enjoy a summer day of informal EU-themed events in Kansalaistori (Citizen’s Square).

Finland and the European institutions will join forces to host the “EU playing field” tent, where citizens and decision-makers will meet to discuss the presidency and the European Union. Some more laid-back activities will also be on offer in the tent: play table football or get your face painted in biodegradable glitter colours. The tent will be open from 11.00 to 20.00.

Finland has picked climate change, one of the presidency priorities, as the party’s climactic theme: Plastic Mama, a work of enviromental art byKaisa Salmi, will be mounted in Kansalaistori Square. Made of recycled plastic by the artist and a thousand volunteers, Plastic Mama is a baroque dress that will soar to a height of ten metres.

Here are just some of the other things to do at the summer party in Töölönlahti Park: enjoy a picnic, play backyard games, try out your dance moves, tie a bouquet of flowers or a birch switch for the sauna. Highlights also include music performances and the opening of a junior football tournament, the Helsinki Cup.

The presidency will also feature prominently at SuomiAreena, a public debate forum in Pori (15–19 July) and at the Europe Forum in Turku (29–31 August).

Business, Exchange, Finland

Minister Antti Häkkänen: International community must work harder to stop financial flows to terrorism

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By Xuefei Chen Axelsson
Stockholm, April 27(Greenpost)–In order to fight terrorism we need to intervene in its financing, and international cooperation is required to achieve this, Minister of Justice Antti Häkkänen said when speaking at a high-level conference in Paris today.
The conference dealt with measures to be taken by the international community to combat the financing of terrorism.

Around 80 states from all over the world and several international organisations attended the conference, which was convened by French President Emmanuel Macron.

“Criminalisation of financing of terrorism, firmly anchored in human rights, is an important and necessary means to prevent terrorist offences. However, this alone is not enough. The 80 countries from all over the world and the international organisations represented in this conference can together change the world by blocking the flow of money to terrorism. One of the most important ways to fight terrorism is to find the sources and channels of funding and then close them down as effectively as possible,” Häkkänen said.

Terrorism cannot be stopped without intensifying the international cooperation. According to Häkkänen, more effective international exchange of information is required to be able to trace financial flows all the way to their final destination.

“For instance, information requests on suspected terrorist financing should be processed by all states much faster than at the moment. In addition, we need to keep up with the constantly changing operating environment. Various unofficial, often anonymous and digital money transfer services make detecting and preventing terrorist financing very challenging,” Häkkänen said.

“Furthermore, we need more efficient and more extensive legal cooperation in criminal matters. Competent authorities in all states should respond to international requests for legal assistance without delay and cooperate as widely as possible. It is crucial that all countries present here today are committed to stepping up our collective efforts to fight the financing of terrorism.”

“An enormous amount of work is being carried out within the European Union to create a safe living environment for ordinary citizens. I also consider it important that the EU continues to be an active global actor that strives to deepen the international cooperation to fight terrorism,” Häkkänen said.