BULEVARDI 2/4, www.ahjoclub.fi ISSUE 2 • 16– 22 MAY 2007 • €3 INTERNATIONAL NEWS FINLAND NEWS SPORT Kalevala dell’arte Holbrook: Dads Football CULTURE page 15 Iraq civil encouraged season war out of on parental picks up EVA wants control leave pace women on top page 7 page 5 page 12 BUSINESS page 10 LEHTIKUVA / JUSSI NUKARI Finland joins Nato exercise So-called Nato option is undergoing lively debate. AS ONE of the military alliance’s opponent’, but it can be seen as one Partners for Peace, Finland is par- of the milestones of our cooperation ticipating in Nato’s biggest ever with Nato.” maritime war exercises, conducted Debate about Finland’s possi- over the next two weeks. The exer- ble Nato membership has been live- cises will be held in the North Sea, ly since the election of the centre- Kattegat, Danish Straits and in the right government in March. Russia’s Southern Baltic Sea including adja- heavy-handed approach towards Es- cent Danish, German, Swedish and tonia during the recent statue cri- Polish waters, airspace and land. sis has prompted some Finns to call The aim is to test the combat read- for Nato membership as a matter of iness of Nato’s high readiness mili- priority. tary force. The exercises will involve A poll for the Finnish Broadcast- almost 100 vessels and over 10,000 ing Company (YLE) showed that 73% soldiers. of Finns believed Russia’s response The Finnish forces involved in Ex- to the relocation of the statue in Es- ercise Noble Mariner are led by Com- tonia to be wrong. Nevertheless, 65% modore Henrik Nystén, Command- felt that the dispute had not wors- er of the Uusimaa Brigade. He de- ened relations between Finland and scribes the exercises as “historic” in Russia, and only 20% thought Rus- that Finland is for the first time join- sia’s recent statements had increased ing a training exercise with Nato’s Finland’s need to join Nato. Opinion Disappointed Finland Lions fan sits at the Senate Square in Helsinki, after Canada defeated Finland 4-2 in the final of Response Force (NRF). “This does not polls have consistently shown a clear the Ice Hockey World Championships. Full report on page 12. include any great drama, especial- majority against Nato membership. ly as we are partly acting as ‘NRF’s STT / HT / Sami Sallinen Dramatic timber China may face and an undramatic letter labour shortage FINLAND’S prime minister Matti sion in its talks with Russia in order questions programme, Vanhanen CHINA’S strong economic growth is cities to look for work, but in reality Vanhanen (Centre Party) of Finland to persuade the country to remove was also asked about Sergei Lav- based above all on the cheapness of the migrants may only number about told the Finnish Broadcasting Com- the “very large risk” from the agen- rov’s letter where the Russian for- its labour force. But a Chinese state 52 million. pany (YLE) on Sunday that the im- da. He also promised bilateral nego- eign minister had criticised Estonia research academy predicts that The bad estimate may result in a la- pact of Russia’s newly announced tiations with Russia on every level for relocating a Soviet war memori- the country’s labour market will al- bour shortage, enabling the workers wood export duties would be “dra- to ensure the continuing supply of al in Tallinn. ready undergo major changes before to start demanding better wages. An matic” from the point of view of the wood. Mr Vanhanen repeated that he 2010, according to the China Daily increase in the cost of labour would Finnish forestry industry. The price of wood in Finland saw no grand drama in the letter newspaper. probably deter many foreign inves- Vanhanen predicted that Finn- has reached record levels in recent and added that he did not think it The research academy believes tors, which would be a serious blow ish mills would all but stop import- months because of a shortage of merited a session of Finland’s for- that there has been a serious over- to the Chinese economy. “We cannot ing raw material from Russia. About timber supplied in the Finnish saw- eign policy leaders. estimation of the number of unem- base our economic growth simply on a fifth of the wood used by Finland’s mills. Prices have increased by up “It was a rhetorically colourful ployed people living in China’s rural cheap labour,” says economic expert forestry sector currently comes to 35% compared to a year ago. The letter where Russia voiced its own areas. An estimated 100-150 million Cai Fang from the academy, and calls from Russia. production of cellulose has fallen 3% views,” said Vanhanen, adding that unemployed workers from the rural for China to prepare for the change in The prime minister said Finland due to the shortages. he believed the worst was over in areas were expected to move to the good time. STT / AFP would back the European commis- During YLE’s prime minister’s the crisis. STT / HT 2 16 – 22 MAY 2007 EDITORIAL HELSINKI TIMES Umberto Eco’s most recent novel is “The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana.” He is also author of the interna- tional bestsellers “Baudolino,” “In the Name of the Rose” and “Foucault’s Pendulum,” among others. Umberto Eco's Europe is also about a sense of curiosity. Beyond said Europe's Christian roots done& Understanding Europe requires much more than the acknowledgement of Judeo-Christian traditions, argues author Umberto Eco. “Who would have imagined during Kekkonen’s time, or even Koivisto’s, that the president brings WROTE an article on this be studied in schools, but not the neo-Nazis have hijacked also the Muslim Alhambra, together people and institutions, who are compet- this topic, so let's drop it. synagogues and pre-Euro- I topic about four years ago, for religious reasons: I simply ing over their territories and policies, into a live but it's not me who is being re- don't see why we teach young But Judeo-Christian roots pean sites like Altamira and petitive, it's life. This situa- people about Catullus and not are not unique to Europe Stonehenge. public broadcast and sits there as one of the debat- tion calls to mind the story of Jeremiah, about Priam and alone. Aren't they also shared ers, vulnerable to difficult questions and opposing one of my friends who, on re- not Solomon. by the two Americas, from INALLY, there is one oth- views?” turning home one day, picked Canada to Argentina; by Aus- F er aspect of European Kari Hokkanen, Ilkka, 10 May 2007, writing about tralia and New Zealand, Ethi- culture that must be consid- up his daily paper and read it HE FAC T that school- the foreign policy forum organised by president from cover to cover with great T children study Catullus opia and Eritrea, Armenia, ered: a curiosity about other interest. Only later did he no- and Priam reminds us that the Philippines? And as for countries and cultures. This Tarja Halonen. tice that it was a 5-year-old Europe's roots are not on- Greco-Roman roots, the fa- motivated everything from copy that had somehow re- ly Judeo-Christian, but also thers of the American Revo- Marco Polo's travels to ques- surfaced on the desk in his Greco-Roman. Apart from the lution were well aware of the tionable fads like Orientalism “There is a paradox in the weekend’s entertainment models of Athens and Rome. – not to mention the enthu- study. contributions of these civili- offerings. While gay men are peeking at scantily He canceled his subscrip- zations in the field of art, and One need only visit Wash- siasm of European colonists tion, but the newspaper the influence of the collec- ington to see the deep influ- for appropriating other peo- clad women from different countries at the Hart- wasn't to blame. The culprit tive mythological imagina- ence of the classical tradi- ples' lands. wall Arena, the heterosexuals are watching sweaty was and still is – especial- tion on all European poetry, tion on its architecture of its It is true that curiosity (by muscular men on television.” ly in Italy – the monotonous without Plato and Aristotle monuments. this I mean scientific curiosi- Jukka Relander, Metro, 11 May 2007, commenting ty, not tourism) about distant repetitiveness of certain de- we would not have had Chris- on the Eurovision Song Contest and the Ice Hockey bates, crises, homicides, scan- tian theology. O IS IT truly just this his- lands was also an attribute dals, disagreements, promis- And there is no need to S tory that makes Europe of, for example, medieval Is- World Championships. es and debts. People my age mention the vital role that unique? What about its plu- lamic culture, but this is sad- are struck by the similarities Roman law has played in the rality of languages and cul- ly not the case with all the na- of today's corruption scandals development of European in- tures – a characteristic ab- tions and cultures that share “Let us at least remember the positive develop- sent in some regions? This Europe's Christian roots. One to those that hit the headlines stitutions. Latin, which some ment of our neighbouring country. In Russia it’s back in the '50s. would like to return to its plurality once caused bloody evening, at a dinner party former place in the Roman clashes within Europe, but is held during a conference, a not allowed to punch foreign diplomats in the face UT LET'S get to the point.