Finnish Parliament

The Greek Foreign Ministry took to the social media platform X on Wednesday to extend wishes to ally Finland on its Independence Day.

In Ukraine, the offensive of the Russian army on the Donetsk region continued, the evacuation of civilians was ordered in several cities.
The Ukrainian army continues to shell Donetsk using so-called "NATO-caliber" missiles. Fierce fighting is also taking place in the area of Grigorovka.
The fiercest battles are for Slavyansk. The explosions also echoed in Kharkiv.

Israeli police on Jan. 17 detained five Finnish citizens, including a member of parliament, for allegedly attempting to cross the fence separating Israel and the blockaded Gaza Strip, according to local media.

"Genocide has been committed against Serbs over the last century, and false accusations that you committed crimes during the breakup of Yugoslavia are part of a campaign by large powers to justify their conquering goals", she said in an interview with Kosovo online portal.

A parliamentary delegation led by National Assembly Speaker Tsveta Karayancheva will be on an official visit to the Republic of Finland, reported the Bulgarian National Radio. 

Bulgarian parliamentarians will talk with the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Finnish Parliament.

There is also a meeting with His Eminence Leo, archbishop of Helsinki and all of Finland.

Finnish Finance Minister Alexander Stubb on Thursday said his country is ready to participate in the third Greek bailout deal.

“We have come a long way during the summer. The future of euro was at stake…. but now we’ve got a solution and will live with it,” Stubb said after the Finnish parliament’s grand committee in favor.

Two immigrant candidates, Turkish-born Ozan Yanar and Afghani-born Nasima Razymar, have been voted into Finnish parliament, while a millionaire and former telecoms executive, touted as a technocrat capable of rescuing Finland from its economic slump, won the weekend's parliamentary election.

Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb has admitted defeat in parliamentary elections held in the country on Sunday, with his party coming second.

The opposition Centre Party, led by millionaire former IT businessman Juha Sipilä, has won with 21.2% of the vote, while support for Stubb's National Coalition Party (NCP) was at 18.2%.

The Finnish Parliament has approved a bill allowing same-sex marriage, reports the Yle public broadcaster.

The vote was 105 to 92, with one MP absent. The vote had been expected to be closer.

The unprecedented outcome marks the first time that a citizens' initiative has received lawmakers' blessing to be written into the law books.