Jussi Halla-aho @Halla_aho@respublicae.eu
Unofficial automated mirror. No copyright asserted. ∎ Kansanedustaja / Member of Parliament
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Joined Apr 2022
5/9 Russians are not ignorant or ashamed of attacks on Ukrainian cities. On the contrary, the bombardment of power stations and other infrastructure is openly celebrated. A Ukrainian city without electricity and running water is seen as a great success.
4/9 One only needs to watch Russian TV channels and listen to officially sanctioned talking heads, such as Olga Skabeeva or Vladimir Solovyov. Unfortunately, too few people in the West speak Russian. Our own media should report more on the debate in Russia.
3/9 But there is reason for long-term concern. Many people in the West have the naive idea that ordinary Russians do not know what Mr Putin's hordes are doing in Ukraine. This is patently not true.
2/9 In the same way, Hitler burned his waning resources on expensive and militarily meaningless ballistic missile attacks against London or razing cities like Warsaw to the ground, instead of doing something that could have actually slowed down the enemy at the front.
1/9 As always, Russia reacts to military defeat by attacking civilian targets and critical infrastructure, such as power plants.
Though tragic, this is in a way encouraging. Every missile against a school or a hospital is one missile less against Ukrainian military targets.
@ForsmanRikhard That is true. There is one principle that overrides all other considerations: If an interpretation would benefit the tax payer, it is the wrong interpretation.
@RogerKulmala No itse asiassa ei. Hallitsijanvakuutuksella Aleksanteri I julistautui Suomen suuriruhtinaaksi Ruotsin kuninkaan seuraajana, ei itsevaltiaana.
17/17 I am sure Finland will have no trouble supporting an EU wide visa ban. If the letter of the law is sacred for us, an EU decision is even more so. This, thus, is what we all should work for.
16/17 The Foreign Ministry and their legal experts are right in the sense that the existing legislation CAN be interpreted as prohibiting a total ban on Russian tourist visas. Of course it could be interpreted in other ways but - as said - it does not work like that in Finland.
15/17 In many countries, decisions can be made fast when circumstances call for them. Legal experts work to find ways to stretch and circumvent problematic legislation. The attitude is that possible legal problems can be discussed afterwards in court. First things first.
14/17 I heard a joke this year that if armed, unidentified, green men appeared in Finland, the country would be occupied before we reached an agreement on whether the event meets the criteria, stipulated by the law, that justify an armed response.
13/17 Finns themselves are very much aware of this national pathology. It is a constant and endless source of ridicule, frustration and outrage, but we seemingly just cannot help it.
12/17 Moreover, if (as is usually the case) the law leaves room for interpretation, the most restrictive interpretation wins. That is, if it is possible to read the law in such a way as to make a proposed policy illegal, then that reading is invariably chosen.
11/17 The only relevant thing is whether it is legal and constitutional. Its legality, in turn, depends on its compatibility not with the "spirit of the law" (i.e., the intentions of those who wrote the law) but with its letter.
10/17 These experiences have left a permanent mark in the Finnish thinking and behavior.
If a policy, in this case a tourist visa ban on Russians, is proposed, it is completely irrelevant whether the proposed policy is deemed necessary or desirable.
9/17 After the second world war the same method was applied to fend off some of the most extreme demands of the Soviet Union whose ambassador had a role somewhat similar to that of the Imperial General Gouvernor.
8/17 "We would not dare to break the law of which His Excellent and Noblest Majesty is the High Guarantor and Defender!!"
This was not perfect but it worked better than could be expected.
7/17 When the Russian General Gouvernor in Helsinki gave orders or expressed wishes that were deemed undesirable by the locals, an army of legal experts were mobilized to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the orders were impossible to implement because they were illegal.
6/17 There were periods of Russification and oppression, as in other parts of the Empire. Finns, unlike Poles and some others, did not resist by open rebellion but by weaponizing the law which the Emperor had vowed to respect.
By "f**king the comma", as we say in Finnish.
5/17 Between 1809 and 1917 Finland was a Grand Duchy within the Russian Empire. We had a considerable autonomy and most importantly - a constitution. In Finland, the Emperor was not an absolute autocrat but a constitutional monarch who had to rule by law, not by whim.
Unofficial automated mirror. No copyright asserted. ∎ Kansanedustaja / Member of Parliament
We/us/our
Joined Apr 2022
