The arm-wrestling over the Greece bailout package looks likely to continue until Tuesday, when Athens’s next debt payment falls due, writes south-west Finland’s heavyweight, Turun Sanomat.
The differences of opinion over the new terms of the new loan are so great that the Wednesday evening meeting of eurozone ministers once again ended in failure. Hopes of an agreement were dashed during the day, when a meeting between Greek officials and the troika representing the country’s creditors ended in disarray. As a result, there was no basic document ready for ministers to consider at the meeting, which ended after just an hour. Finnish Finance Minister Alexander Stubb said that ministers would reconvene on Thursday afternoon before a heads-of-government summit to begin at 5 pm.
Any possible EU deal would still have to be approved by parliaments in Greece, Germany and other eurozone countries before Tuesday.
TS also reports that a Finnish activist has joined a flotilla that once again aims to break Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip. The boats, carrying supplies, are expected to arrive near the Palestinian enclave this weekend or early next week. Finnish sailor Wellu Koivisto, who has previously sailed close to Gaza on the Estelle ship, tells the newspaper he does not believe the Israeli army will resort to violence, even if troops do board the vessels. This time an Arab MP from the Israeli Knesset is on board one of the boats.
MT: Bean-counters and woodpeckers
The national agrarian paper Maaseudun Tulevaisuus also focuses on the Greek crisis, saying that expectations were low even before the Wednesday-evening meeting fiasco. Stubb and others had warned that no deal would be reached. On Thursday ministers are hoping for a new compromise proposal after talks that broke off around 3 am and are to resume after a few hours’ break – as worldwide stocks slip in reaction to the latest stumbles.
On Wednesday Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met with the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The latter torpedoed much of the Greek government’s latest austerity and pension reform proposals.
On a happier note, MT reports that Finland’s critically endangered white-backed woodpecker population is recovering. The paper quotes a forest-industry spokesman as saying that ensuring its continued resurgence will not require great financial investments, and that the species actually seems to benefit from clear-cutting of forests. Last summer there were at least 120 nesting pairs, up from a nadir of 30.
“Forest certification has markedly helped the white-backed woodpecker significant,” says Juha-Matti Valonen, Environmental Specialist at the forest products company UPM. He says that trees left standing in commercial forests offer ideal habitats for the woodpeckers, which nest in hollow or decaying trees, particularly birch and aspen.
AL: Top cop, bingo flop
The Tampere daily Aamulehti previews Thursday’s appointment of a new National Police Commissioner. It says that four men were on the final shortlist for the job: state prosecutor Matti Nissinen, National Bureau of Investigation chief Robin Lardot, senior Interior Ministry official Kauko Aaltomaa and National Police Board head Seppo Kolehmainen. One of them will replace Mikko Paatero, 67, who retires in August.
AL also tells its readers about a botched announcement of the latest winners of the Nordic lottery Viking Lotto. The Wednesday-evening draw in Norway was delayed by a technical glitch at the Danish partner Danske Spiel. However the Finnish gaming agency Veikkaus assures the punters that the proper winners will be named and paid every penny they are owed.