Finland

'There is a future': How Finland’s 850 Jews survive and thrive in the Diaspora

DIASPORA AFFAIRS: Despite their small numbers, Finland's Jewish community has managed to thrive even as anti-Zionism rises.

|ByMATHILDA HELLER
CHAYA VOTKIN (left), president of the Jewish Community of Helsinki, poses at the Yael Foundation conference earlier this month.
BONES FOUND with a missing Finnish tourist's passport next to them.

Human remains found by children in Jerusalem woods may solve year-long mystery of missing tourist

Children walking in the woods outside of Pisgat Ze'ev on Friday before Shabbat found the bones and showed them to one of their fathers, who called the police.

|ByTZVI JASPER
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar hosting his Finnish counterpart, Elina Valtonen, at the Foreign Ministry, Jerusalem, February 15, 2026.

Finnish FM visits Jerusalem for first time since 2016, discusses regional issues with FM Sa'ar

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar hosted Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen in Jerusalem, marking the first such visit in nearly a decade amid EU discussions on Israel.

|ByANNA BARSKY
PASSENGERS OF the icebreaker ‘Polar Explorer’ walk across the frozen surface of the Bothnian Sea.

Frozen silence, dancing lights, and a spiritual journey to Lapland

In Lapland, the Arctic silence, the endless snow, and the dancing lights remind you that the world is vast, and our moments of awe are what make it infinite.

|ByJACOB MAOR

Finland becomes member of NATO

Finland's accession roughly doubles the length of the border that NATO shares with Russia and bolsters its eastern flank.

APRIL 4, 2023ByREUTERS
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg speaks as Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto hands his nation's accession document to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a joining ceremony at the NATO foreign ministers' meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium April 4, 2023.

Finland's Prime Minister Marin concedes defeat as right-wing NCP wins election

APRIL 2, 2023ByREUTERS
Finland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin

Jewish politician in Finland allegedly assaulted and hit with antisemitic slurs

Ben Berl Zyskowicz, who is the son of a Polish Holocaust survivor and a Finnish Jew, added that he was unfazed but felt the attack had dire meaning for democracy

MARCH 30, 2023ByDAVID I. KLEIN/JTA
hand holding Magnifying Glass in front of map find Finland

Israel is the fourth happiest country in the world, new ranking shows

Israel has, in recent years, ranked among the happiest nations in the world. Now, in 2023, it advances to the number four spot.

MARCH 20, 2023BySAM HALPERN
Israeli-American Council Celebrate Israel Festival, Los Angeles

Erdogan gives Turkey's blessing to Finland's NATO bid

In response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Sweden and Finland applied last year to join NATO but faced unexpected objections from Turkey

MARCH 17, 2023ByREUTERS
A general view as the Hungarian parliament starts debating the ratification of Finland and Sweden's NATO membership in Budapest, Hungary, March 1, 2023.

Erdogan indicates Turkey likely to approve Finland's NATO bid

Finland may become the next member of NATO as Erdogan signals Turkey will ratify the Scandinavian country's bid.

MARCH 15, 2023ByREUTERS
Joint press point with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the President of the Republic of Finland, Sauli Niinisto

Hungary starts Finland, Sweden NATO bid ratification process

The long-delayed process got underway in a debate about the bid in Hungary's parliament.

MARCH 1, 2023ByREUTERS
A view of the flags of Finland, NATO and Sweden during a ceremony to mark Sweden's and Finland's application for membership in Brussels, Belgium, May 18, 2022.

Hungary signals fresh delay in Finland, Sweden NATO approval

Hungary has accused the countries of spreading falsehoods about the health of democracy in Hungary.

FEBRUARY 25, 2023ByREUTERS
Zsolt Semjén, Deputy Prime Minister of Hungary

NATO may not be most effective at countering asymmetric threats

An anti-NATO could represent a paradigm shift away from traditional military alliances and towards a more holistic and collaborative approach to global security in a multipolar world.

FEBRUARY 24, 2023ByVILLE KORPELA
LEFT TO right: British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Sweden’s Defense Minister Pal Jonson and Finland’s Defense Minister Mikko Savola attend a NATO meeting in Brussels, last week.

Blinken to talk aid, Nordic NATO bid in visit to quake-hit Turkey

The United States Secretary of State will approach the meeting with multiple prongs; one focused on earthquake relief and the other focused on Finland's bid to join NATO.

FEBRUARY 19, 2023ByREUTERS
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives for a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, February 18, 2023.