Tuesday

6th Jun 2023

Finnish PM embroiled in press freedom row

Finland's prime minister has been forced to deny trying to censor public broadcaster Yle over its coverage of a possible conflict of interest.

Juha Sipila got involved in a row with a reporter from Yle who had investigated a contract given by a state-run mine to a company owned by his relatives.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

In one email, he told the reporter: "My respect for Yle is now equal to zero, which of course doesn't differ from your respect for me. Now we are even."

Sipila told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday (30 November) he had not been given a "fair chance to comment on the story".

"There was not the slightest intention at any stage to limit the freedom of the press or to influence what Yle says or does not says," Sipila said.

"My confidence for Yle is OK," he added.

Elina Grundstrom of the Council for Mass Media, a media watchdog, said his handling of the case "looked bad".

She said it was "not tenable" for journalists to wait for the authorities before they report their stories.

The chancellor of justice, who oversees officials' compliance with the law, and the parliamentary ombudsman said they would look at the prime minister's possible conflict of interest.

The issue arose when state-run Terrafame mine, which had earlier received a huge injection of cash from the taxpayer, awarded a contract to Katera Steel, owned by Sipila's relatives.

The prime minister says he has no knowledge of Katera's business, was unaware of the contract, and denies he had any influence over Terrafame's decision to award the contract.

Meanwhile, Yle has itself come under fire after it was revealed that its head of news and current affairs, Atte Jaaskelainen, shelved follow-up stories on the conflict of interest case.

One presenter tweeted he had been warned for breaking the order.

Jaaskelainen issued a statement that he had simply told journalists to move on to other topics after Sipila's problems had led Yle's news agenda for four days.

Finland is generally regarded as having one of the world's best records on media freedom.

But the Sipila row is already the second controversy involving the government and Yle this year.

Last spring, then-finance minister Alexander Stubb told the public broadcaster to hand over its research of the Panama Papers leak to tax authorities and police.

Yle refused, and the Finnish authorities brought the case to court, where its pending trial.

Opinion

What even is economic resilience — and does it matter?

GDP is an unreliable indicator of economies' capacity to thrive in times of change. And the over-reliance on GDP won't get our economies on track to meet environmental and social goals when crises hit.

Opinion

How safe are EU's North Sea wind farms from attack?

Acts of sabotage on wind farms or the underwater electricity grid are likely to be carried out as 'grey zone tactics', state-sponsored sabotage may be disguised as a civilian accident, or carried out from a leisure yacht or fishing boat.

Supported by

Latest News

  1. Final steps for EU's due diligence on supply chains law
  2. Top EU court rules Poland's court reforms 'infringe law'
  3. Sweden's far-right is most anti-Green Deal party in EU
  4. Strengthening recovery, resilience and democracy in regions, cities and villages
  5. Why Hungary cannot be permitted to hold EU presidency
  6. Subcontracting rules allow firms to bypass EU labour rights
  7. Asylum and SLAPP positions in focus This WEEK
  8. Spanish PM to delay EU presidency speech due to snap election

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us