Statue of Liberty and Oppression Finland Watches Closely As Estonia’S Statue Crisis Unfolds
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ISSUE 1 • 9 – 15 MAY 2007 • €3 INTERNATIONAL NEWS FINLAND NEWS SPORT Mamma Mia! Afghan - Finland’s Lions CULTURE page 16 foreign nuclear need a forces debate killer Nokia unveils train together hots up instinct Barracuda page 12 page 7 page 5 BUSINESS page 10 LEHTIKUVA / HEIKKI SAUKKOMAA Statue of liberty and oppression Finland watches closely as Estonia’s statue crisis unfolds ESTONIA'S prime minister Andrus fence of Estonia, while appealing Ansip has appealed for calm dur- to both Russia and Estonia to calm ing the anniversary of the Soviet tensions. Red Army’s World War Two victo- Estonia has been shocked by ry over Nazi Germany. Victory Day the riots in which one person died, events are held in Estonia and Rus- more than 150 were injured, and sia on Tuesday and Wednesday. about 800 people were arrest- The controversial relocation of ed. A national debate has ensued a monument to the Red Army sol- about the strained relationship be- diers who died during World War tween the Estonian majority and Two sparked riots by Russian res- Russian minority of the country’s idents in Tallinn, Estonia’s capi- population. tal city, on 27 April. The disputed The political repercussions of bronze soldier – a symbol of libera- the crisis have also been felt across tion from Nazism for the Russians Europe, not least in Finland. Rus- and a symbol of Soviet oppression sia’s readiness to threaten Estonia for Estonians – now stands in the by orchestrating a siege of its em- military cemetery in Tallinn. bassy in Moscow, cutting oil sup- The Victory Day events are be- plies and restricting trade, has Andorra’s Anonymous perform their song Let’s save the World during the Eurovision Song Contest rehearsals in Helsinki. ing closely watched in Finland, convinced many observers that whose foreign minister Ilkka Kan- president Vladimir Putin is using erva was the first European poli- the statue controversy as a way of tician to demand EU support for testing the unity of the EU. There Estonia in the face of Russian in- are fears that Russia could one day timidation. After some hesitation, also use similar tactics against Fin- Eurovision fever hits Helsinki the EU and NATO rallied in de- land. Reuters / HT / Sami Sallinen EVEN those sceptical Finns, who in the event every year. raoke version of their song at the never understood how Lordi could But all that has now changed. market square in Helsinki, per- inspire such love from the rest of Along with the wife carrying haps the biggest karaoke party in Europe, are now grateful to the world championships and cell the world. Nokia Siemens monster band. Thanks to its hell- phone throwing Olympics, Lor- With fans ranging from 2 to 90 raising performance in last year's di has well and truly put Finland years of age, never has a single Eurovision Song Contest, Finland on the international map of the song attracted so much attention to cut workforce is now hosting the biggest enter- bizarre and the eccentric. It’s lit- and pride from the Finnish people. tainment event ever organised in tle exaggeration to say that the so- Everybody is now proud of these A STATEMENT by the Finnish-Ger- present workforce facing redun- this country. called Lord of Darkness is the big- ghoulish faces, although before man joint venture Nokia Siemens dancy. The company’s statement Before Lordi's Hard Rock Hal- gest thing in Finland since Father the 2006 Eurovision many people Networks that it would cut its added that it would cut 9,000 jobs lelujah, the common denominator Christmas and sauna. were predicting yet another zero Finnish workforce by up to 1,700 globally. Nokia Siemens current- among Finns after the ESC was a The single Hard Rock Hallelujah points for Finland. people was greeted by a walkout ly employs 10,000 people in Fin- sense of humiliation. Finland be- reached the Number 1 spot in the The Eurovision Song Con- of managerial staff at the compa- land and about 60,000 people came famous for its zero points. Finnish music charts, it reached test will be held in Helsinki on ny’s facilities in Espoo and Helsin- worldwide. While some Finns turned this number 2 in Austria and Belgium, 10-12 May. Those without a tick- ki on Friday. The company aims to The news of the job cuts come into a source of credibility, con- number 3 in Denmark, number 4 et can enjoy it at www.eurovision. cut 700 jobs in the Helsinki area, in the wake of Nokia’s excellent sidering the tacky image the con- in Ireland, number 5 in Germany, tv, watch the extensive television Tampere and Oulu this year. first quarter sales results this year test enjoyed among many serious number 6 in Greece… the list is coverage or tune into the Eurovi- In Germany the company is and the launch of a new series of music fans, deep down the nation long. On 26 May 2006, Mr Lordi, sion on 102,4 MHz, a radio chan- planning even more drastic job low cost cell phone. (see Business, mourned. Between 1995 and 2003 Amen, Ox, Awa and Kita led an nel fully dedicated to the contest. cuts, with up to a quarter of the page 10). STT / HT Finland did not even participate incredible 80,000 people in a ka- HT / Carina Chela 2 9 – 15 MAY 2007 EDITORIAL HELSINKI TIMES NEW YORK TIMES / FRED R. CONRAD Co-operation, not militarism, is the key to avoiding a new cold war MIKHAIL GORBACHEV, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former leader of the now-defunct Soviet Union, brings a unique global perspective to the water- shed events that shape the international political and social landscape. : When you talk about ing to act regardless of in- ble for normal development, U.S.- Soviet relations, our Q aver ti ng a second ternational law and institu- causes feelings of humilia- governments set up joint Cold War, whom exactly do tions. For example, NATO tion and frustration that en- working groups that met you think that such a war seems bent on becoming in- gender extremism. Much regularly to discuss every might be between? America creasingly militaristic and of the blame lies with the issue on our common agen- and the rest? The West and expanding its zone of opera- selfish economic policies of da. Taking each issue one Islam? Islam and the rest? tions far beyond the old lim- wealthy countries that wid- at a time, they were able to The West and Russia? - Jel its – in contrast to the goal, en the gap between rich defuse many tensions. This McGill, London. proclaimed in the late 1980s, and poor. procedure could be useful A: There is no likelihood of evolving into a primarily Is there a military re- again, not only for the Unit- of a return to the kind of Cold political organization. sponse to this problem? No. ed States and Russia but for People from around the world have an unprecedented War that stretched from the What’s required is a change other countries as well. Bet- opportunity to engage in a global public dialogue with 1950s to the 1980s. But to- TAKING out a command- of priorities. The gap be- ter relations between Amer- MIKHAIL GORBACHEV, one of the world’s most notable day’s tensions and fears are S i ng posit ion i n t he tween the words and deeds ica and a resurgent Russia – leaders. typical of that era when the world, NATO seeks to sup- of world leaders has become especially if the two nations world was sliding toward plant the United Nations Se- truly scandalous. Nothing commit to mutual disarma- Send your questions to [email protected] a nuclear conflict.WE SEE curity Council. NATO’s sec- will change without pres- ment – could set a good ex- Please include your name, city and country. Questions the militarization of many retary-general has recently sure from the institutions ample of how to overcome may be edited for style and length. countries, with an empha- announced that a new long- of civil society. I know this mutual suspicions. sis on force as the main in- term concept of taking uni- from my own experience. strument of security, swell- lateral action whenever and We need a different struc- T'S ENCOURAGING that ing military budgets, a new wherever a crisis breaks out ture of world politics. I former U.S. Secretar- In English from Finland arms race and the increas- is in the works. ies of State George Schultz ing risk of nuclear weapons AKE migration. Sover- and Henry Kissinger, along spreading to more coun- EANWHILE, certain T eign states find man- with former Sen. Sam Nunn tries. The arms trade is get- M countries are search- aging migration flows in- and former Secretary of De- Dear Reader, ting out of hand. On the face ing for, or trying to invent, creasingly difficult. The fense William Perry, recent- of it, it’s just commerce. In external enemies. The dan- United States is building a ly called for such an initia- WELCOME – you are hold- for the main international fact, it is a policy with un- ger of terrorism is becom- fence on its southern border. tive in a Wall Street Jour- ing the first issue of Hel- channels, together with predictable consequences. ing a pretext for anti-Mus- Spain has become a Europe- nal article. In supporting sinki Times, a brand new a selection of the English lim propaganda, for stig- an gateway for thousands of them, in my Wall Street weekly English language language programmes u s s i a n P r e s i d e n t matizing “rogue states” migrants.