Dark days in Helsinki

The Nokia fairy tale is in the past. Now there’s economic uncertainty, political unrest, right-wing extremism and no love lost with Russia.

Finland finds itself sailing in troubled waters. Minna is just one example. The Tampere native works in Denmark as a waitress in a bar on Stroget, Copenhagen’s shopping street. “I left Finland because there aren’t any jobs there”, she said. “Here in Denmark there are plenty, and wages are good”. With a youth unemployment rate of close to 21% and a GDP that is expected to grow by 0.9% this year (after growth of 0.2% in 2015 and -0.7% in 2014), Finland is the black sheep of the northern economies. Or perhaps the grey sheep.

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