European elections

Originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado

I am very disappointed in the level of the campaigns for the European Parliament elections this year. Since the average Finnish voter knows very little about the EU (they may have not explained it to you, but the European Parliament has broader powers than the Eduskunta in some matters, but not as much as certain politicians would have you believe) and is naturally very sceptic of the unknown, the themes of the election have been mostly domestic issues such as immigration and social security.

Most parties (including those in government) use the cheap trick of blaming everything that’s wrong on the European institutions to the tone wherever the European Union is present there will be problems, forgetting completely the advantages of being part of the EU and being in the decision-making process. You know, small things like access to a huge market for Finnish products and services, huge agricultural subsidies for Finnish farms, a strong, stable currency (just ask the Icelanders or the Swedes if they wouldn’t want that at the moment) and the fact you don’t need to show a passport to go to Greece or Spain are forgotten by most. Shame on them.

Regardless of that if you haven’t done so already, please vote by the 7.6. Any vote that doesn’t go for the Perussuomalaiset is a plus (I mean, do you really want people like them to represent Finland in Europe?).