Shrinking Baltics, growing concern

And the parent of the year award goes to...

Imagine you're a centre-right minister in office, and learn from the media that your son is active in violent far-right extremist groups. Embarrassing, to say the least, right? That's exactly what just happened to Johan Forssell, the Swedish migration minister, who has otherwise been keen to lecture parents about their responsibility in preventing kids’ criminal activities.

Here’s a quick recap: Two weeks ago, the investigative magazine Expo revealed that his teenage son had been involved in violent neo-Nazi networks, including the Nordic Resistance Movement, which is classified as a terrorist group by the US. While the boy is not suspected of any crime, he is said, among other things, to have tried to recruit members to the white supremacist organisation Det fria Sverige (Free Sweden) and was spotted on social media posts putting up racist stickers in his neighbourhood. By following his activity on social media, Expo found six different accounts linked to him that were used to post, share, and like far-right material.

Forssell has since claimed to be "shocked and horrified" by the discovery, because he didn't know about his son's activities. This cluelessness has sparked a debate, as his previous lectures on parental responsibility have included promoting harsher punishments for minors and suggesting that parents should be held legally accountable for the crimes of their children.

However, his party colleagues – in a government supported by the far-right Sweden Democrats, which has roots in neo-Nazi movements – have been downplaying the scandal or simply refusing to comment on the matter.

Say cheese!

It's official! The Swedish speciality "kaffeost" (coffee cheese) has been granted EU protected status. Kaffeost is a fresh cheese made from reindeer, goat, or cow's milk, which is only produced in the northernmost parts of Sweden. It’s traditionally consumed with coffee: you cut the cheese into small pieces and throw them into your coffee cup.

The withering welfare state

Niina Leppilahti

Finland’s famous social welfare model is crumbling. Since taking office in 2023, the right-wing government has imposed strict cuts on social security spending – to the point where an image of our far-right finance minister mockingly holding up a pair of scissors to symbolise the budget cuts has come to represent the current Finnish government.

The government is making these cuts mostly to fulfil its election promise to decrease national debt, arguing that the previous government’s spending was "irresponsible", and that Finland simply cannot afford to sustain its welfare state. However, over the past two years Finland’s debt has increased, partially because of the government’s tax cuts. To tackle this, the government has borrowed money from its public pension fund; an unsustainable move that only temporarily makes it look like debt did not increase.

The austere reality is showing: a recent report by Amnesty International showed that for the first time in over a decade, homelessness is on the rise in Finland. Finland’s "Housing First" model decreased homelessness by 80% between 1980 and 2023 by providing homeless people with unconditional housing instead of temporary shelters. While the country was on track to eradicate homelessness completely, the current government's social security cuts now threaten that progress.

The cuts are also likely to increase inequality in other areas, like health. Another recent study found Finland ranks among Europe’s worst for the financial burden on cancer patients. One in five Finnish cancer patients reported occasionally skipping treatment because of costs. Finnish cancer patients also reported the second-highest income loss after diagnosis: 63% of patients reported that their income decreased, and 16% said their income fell by more than €1200 a month. According to Marika Skyttä, director of health at the Finnish Cancer Society, the welfare cuts have made it even more difficult for already vulnerable people to cover out-of-pocket expenses for treatments as well as indirect costs like travel costs.

The end of unarmed policing

Norwegian police have a long tradition of being unarmed on ordinary duty, just one of four European countries that practice this. Since 1 July, those days are over.

Following the country’s security services’ evaluations, which raised concerns over terrorism and general crime, the police themselves argued for easier access to firearms. While a large majority of officers once opposed carrying guns on duty, with only around 20% supporting it in 2011, that number flipped to around 80% in 2017.

This change in police opinion helped push major political parties, many of which had long been against routine armament, to change their stance. The shift hasn’t happened overnight. For over a decade, Norwegian police have been granted temporary access to firearms during special threat situations. These "temporary armament" periods gradually normalised the armed policing and lowered both the political and public threshold for accepting weapons during ordinary patrols.