By Mark B. Odom

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More than a quarter (25.3%) of respondents to Helsingin Sanomat’s monthly political survey said they would vote for the opposition Social Democratic Party, if parliamentary elections were to be held right now.

According to the paper, that means the SDP has retained its status as the country’s most popular party.

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s National Coalition Party maintained second place in the poll, with 18.4 percent support.

The opposition Centre Party, traditionally associated with rural voters, came in third in the HS survey, with 16.1 percent of respondents saying they would vote for them. The nationalist Finns Party, the second-largest government party, received 11.4 percent support.

The paper noted that the SDP has a solid, nearly seven-percentage-point lead over the NCP — and half a percentage point more support than it received in the newspaper’s poll in August.

Meanwhile, the combined support for the coalition government — which includes the NCP, the Finns Party, the Swedish People’s Party and the Christian Democrats — is currently at 36.9 percent. That reflects a slight decline from August (37%) and nearly a full percentage point less than in July (37.8%).

The polling period, between 18 August and 14 September, saw the government hammer out its latest budget and savings proposal, which included plans for VAT hikes, increases in funding for the police and defence, as well as housing benefits cuts, among other things.

Little white pouches

Children are increasingly using nicotine pouches on a daily basis, according to Swedish-language paper Hufvudstadsbladet.

It quoted Hanna Ollila, a specialist from the Institute for Health and Welfare THL, characterising the increase over the past two years as “alarming”.

According to a survey that the agency carries out every two years, around nine percent of boys in 8th and 9th grade and the first two years of upper secondary school said they used nicotine pouches on a daily basis. Around four to five percent of their female counterparts did the same.

However, first- and second-year vocational students were found to use nicotine pouches the most, with 24 percent of boys and 15 percent of girls doing so every day, the paper reported.

Last month, in an effort to discourage use of the pouches by children, laws were tightened to only permit the sale of so-called ‘adult flavours’ — mint and menthol. Meanwhile, use of the product has been banned at schools and daycare centres.

Ollila said she considers those changes were good, but said that it was not enough.

According to Ollila, Finland should raise the age limit for the sale of tobacco and nicotine products to from the current 18 years to 20. The paper cited research that found most people start using nicotine products when they are young, while few do so when they’re older.

Are Swedes ghosting Finland?

Finland’s relationship with Sweden has had its ups and downs over the centuries.

Being from a relatively smaller country, people in Finland are often curious about what — or even if — people in Sweden think about their eastern neighbour.

Thanks to Finland’s successes leading up to the Eurovision Song Contest last spring — among other things — Sweden’s interest in Finland appeared to grow. Among Swedes, Finland has also drawn attention with its former prime minister Sanna Marin (SDP), as well as Finland and Sweden joining Nato in close succession.

However, Iltalehti reports that the perceived increased interest has not been reflected in more Swedes visiting Finland.

Citing a report by think-tank Magma, the paper noted that despite the boom — and Sweden’s growing population — there has not been a parallel increase in tourism to Finland.

According to Magma, opinion polls suggest that people in Sweden increasingly want to know more about Finland, with some having plans to visit.

However, statistics on overnight stays by foreign visitors show that the share of Swedes coming to Finland has nearly halved during the past quarter-century. In absolute numbers, according to Magma, that translates to more than 100,000 overnight stays.

During 2023-2024, the number of visitors from Sweden did not even reach pre-pandemic levels.

Furthermore, many of the Swedish visitors don’t even step foot on mainland Finland. About one-third of overnight stays by Swedes in Finland were in Ã…land, the semi-autonomous province in the Finnish archipelago, according to the think tank.

According to Magma researcher Mikko Majander, Finnish Lapland and its tourist-friendly charms do not seem to be attracting visitors from Sweden, unlike ones from the UK, the Netherlands and Mediterranean countries.