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11.9.2020 | In its session on 11 September, the Government adopted a resolution on a new operating model for implementing the hybrid strategy to manage COVID-19 in border traffic and travel. The operating model will make it possible to ease restrictions on entry while also combating the pandemic at the borders.

19.3.2019 | On 19 March, Parliament adopted a government proposal to amend the Firearms Act and the Act on Voluntary National Defence. The amendments will introduce the changes required by the EU Firearms Directive into Finnish legislation. The amendments will enter into force as soon as possible.

11.9.2020 | In its session on 11 September, the Government adopted a resolution on a new operating model for implementing the hybrid strategy to manage COVID-19 in border traffic and travel. The operating model will make it possible to ease restrictions on entry while also combating the pandemic at the borders.

29.5.2019 | The Ministry of the Interior examined the needs to develop gambling legislation. The pilot study assessed, for example, whether gambling harms could be reduced by using technical blocking measures to restrict gambling offerings against the Lotteries Act.

4.10.2019 | A third of municipal decision-makers and almost half of the Members of Finnish Parliament or their assistants have been subjected to hate speech due to their official duties or positions of trust. In addition, about a third of the decision-makers consider that hate speech in public debate has increased in recent years. These are the results of a recent study.

28.6.2017 | Combating of money laundering and financing of terrorism will be enhanced through new legislation. On 28 June, the President of the Republic approved the Act on the Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism and certain related acts, which implement the EU’s Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive and the EU Regulation on payer information accompanying transfers of funds.

7.5.2020 | The Government decided on 7 May to extend the temporary restrictions on border traffic in Finland until 14 June 2020. The decision follows on from the decision made by the Government on 19 March to restore border control at internal borders, close certain border crossing points and restrict traffic across external borders.

15.11.2018 | The EU is examining new means to improve detection and removal of online content that incites to terrorist acts. The European Commission is proposing a new regulation to tackle dissemination of terrorist content online. The Commission’s proposal includes obligations on both internet service providers and Member States. On 15 November, the Finnish Government submitted a communication to Parliament on the Commission’s proposal for a regulation.

15.7.2020 | The majority of Finnish people continue to have confidence in the police. According to the latest Police Barometer survey, a total of 91 per cent of the respondents trust the police a lot or a fair amount. Trust in the police has slightly decreased compared to the previous survey (2018: 95 per cent). Based on the results, the police have succeeded well in performing their most important duties and the work of the police is appreciated.

15.11.2018 | The enforcement of decisions on removal from the country will be speeded up. Certain removal decisions related to public order and security can be enforced after 30 days from the service of the decision, unless the administrative court has prohibited its enforcement. The removal procedure is applied to removal from the country when the person concerned has or has had a residence permit in Finland or the residence of an EU citizen has been registered.

14.12.2018 | A new Migration Review has been published. The report provides a concise summary of Finland’s migration-related policies, key legal amendments and up-to-date statistics. It also includes an extensive media review.

3.4.2019 | Permanent Secretary Ilkka Salmi and Alexander Gorovoy, First Deputy Minister of the Interior of the Russian Federation, met in Tampere on 2–3 April. This a was Deputy Minister Gorovoy’s first visit to Finland.

11.6.2020 | On 11 June, the Government outlined its proposal that border control will continue partially at internal borders and external border traffic will continue to be restricted until 14 July 2020. The restrictions will continue to the extent that they are considered mandatory due to a serious threat posed by the epidemiological situation. The Government will take the decision on this matter in its plenary session on 12 June.

19.3.2013 | National Discrimination Tribunal prohibited ethnic discrimination in the provision of banking services

4.9.2019 | Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo and Minister of Justice Anna-Maja Henriksson will present themes for Finland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union before the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) of the European Parliament in Brussels on 4 September.

20.2.2019 | Permanent Secretary Ilkka Salmi and Finland's Roving Ambassador to Iraq Päivi Laine visited Iraq from 17 to 19 February. They had meetings with senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Displacement and Migration, and Ministry of Justice of Iraq. The topics of the meetings were the relations between Finland and Iraq, the security situation in Iraq, fight against terrorism, and migration from Iraq to Finland.

5.12.2018 | The Government wants to amend the processing of subsequent applications for international protection. The Government submitted its proposal on the matter to Parliament on 5 December. The amendments are based on the EU Asylum Procedures Directive. Finland has not previously included all the provisions of the Directive in the Aliens Act.

7.10.2020 | The Ministry of the Interior and the National Police Board have launched a new social media campaign for young people that aims to encourage them to think about the way we use social media to discuss issues and the impacts of hate speech in their surroundings and in society as a whole.

8.7.2021 | The Government has decided to continue internal border control until 25 July to ensure the introduction of health security measures at borders. After this short transitional period, internal border control and entry restrictions at internal borders will be lifted. Internal border traffic refers to traffic between Finland and other Schengen countries. Changes will be made to external border control as well.

11.3.2021 | On 11 March, the Government decided to extend the restrictions on entry into the country until 17 April 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, and there are no adequate measures available yet to replace the restrictions. For this reason, and to curb the spread of COVID-19 variants, both internal border controls and restrictions on external border traffic will continue. Only minor changes were made to the decisions taken on 18 February.