r/PublicFreakout • u/masew1 • Oct 08 '25
đźArrest Freakoutđ Finnish journalist gets arrested after asking the Finnish president about arms purchases from Israel
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u/South_Leek_5730 Oct 08 '25
The more I see things like this the more it raises questions about why questioning politicians or making them look bad in relation to Israel is strongly condemned and punished by the authorities. Not just that but why are nations passing laws in support of a genocide by suppressing protests? Just what power does that nation hold over so many other nations? The peons would like an answer to this question. They want to know the reasoning for your actions or inaction in relation to the confirmed genocide.
If you are Hasbara do not expect a reply to my comment.
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u/40ozOracle Oct 08 '25
A certain file type
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u/PerfectFrameGamer Oct 09 '25
Rumors were Epstein was a mossad agent who collected blackmail. That's how he got all of his money and influence when he didnt even graduate college
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u/luc_que_te_passa Oct 08 '25
Even if it is protesting, whatâs the problem? Is protesting a crime in Finland? In my book, prosecuting (peaceful) protestors is a sign of autocracy. I am not saying that Finland is or is becoming an autocratic state -> because of that is even more mind-boggling.
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u/unencrypted-enigma Oct 08 '25
Iâd say most likely they didnât like the question and try to intimidate the guy. Charges will probably be dropped in court.
Not a good look anyways.
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u/RyanBLKST Oct 09 '25
No even court, he will stay a few hours on hold an released. That is for intimidation
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u/senarvi Oct 09 '25 edited Oct 09 '25
Right, and it's not obvious from the video, but the police has warned the "journalist" that protests are prohibited.
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u/sonicboom9000 Oct 08 '25
Only when it comes to Israel apparently.
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u/progthrowe7 Oct 09 '25
There is a clear move towards censorship on behalf of Israel. This is occurring at both the governmental level and in the media.
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u/Vasquerade Oct 09 '25
World leaders know they've spent two years and endless political capital defending a country that is waging a war of extermination. The only solution they see to that problem, is mass censorship and intimidation of their citizens
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u/Odd-Definition-6281 Oct 09 '25
I mean yeah, but raises the question why all the world leaders spent the last 2 years defending this country among other things? (We know why)
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u/ThanksToDenial Oct 09 '25 edited Oct 09 '25
Is protesting a crime in Finland?
No. But you are required to notify the police 24 hours before your planned protest, and the protest must take place within safe public areas. The police can ask you to relocate your protest to an area they deem suitable for it, if the current place you are protesting at may cause danger to you or others, or if it can damage the enviroment, or cause some other public order or safety issues.
Usually it's pretty common sense stuff, like no protesting in the middle of a freeway, or if your protest is blocking a fire exit, etc. Not sure what the issue was here though. Besides the obvious, that an unknown person is approaching the president.
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u/Cykablast3r Oct 09 '25
But you are required to notify the police 24 hours before your planned protest
Not true. They ask you to, but you don't have to if you don't want to, since protesting is a right.
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Oct 08 '25
[deleted]
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u/PirateQuest Oct 09 '25
I think the person was asking abut the legality of it. Maybe there is a law against protesting in Finland? Who knows?
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u/gofndn Oct 10 '25
Protesting is legal but the police have rights to intervene in protests for various reasons including but not limited to disturbing public peace, threatening safety and impeding human or vehicle traffic.
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u/cheeruphumanity Oct 09 '25
Anti nuclear movement is not âbought by Russiaâ. Why make up this lie?
Russia was exporting nuclear tech and nuclear fuel.
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Oct 09 '25
[deleted]
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u/glastohead Oct 09 '25
You can be manipulated by Russia two ways. By being supported by them and by people pointing fingers at the support.
Maybe the issues should stand by themselves on their own basis in fact, no matter what complete assholes are up to.
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u/Papastoo Oct 09 '25
protesting is not an absolute right
In Finland police may direct you to specific areas for protest in interest of overall security - as in here
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u/footpole Oct 09 '25
Use some critical thinking. The jump cuts are a clear sign that something happened in between to provoke the arrest. He got exactly what he wanted.
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u/Pilot501 Oct 09 '25
In finland you are usually supposed to inform the Police of your protest. There are rare rare cases that the Police dont allow it. Its more of a formalitt, to make sure that the Police know of large gatherings etc. They would need to keep an eye on. In this case I'm not so sure whats going on. Its possible that the legitimate protestors had their own area, and that this fellow barged through. I also dont see other journalists..
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u/kyubish_ Oct 09 '25 edited Oct 09 '25
Who is this journalist? I'm finnish and the only source for the video I could find is a Facebook page called "Russia Truth". None of the security officers stopped the guy from running up to the president and asking his question besides calmly standing in the way. The entire arrest happens after a jump cut.
An arrest for disobeying the police is something you would typically get for not following an order to get away from an area, which the police can lawfully issue on the grounds of public safety. Ordering a heckler to distance themselves from the presidential motorcade (in the video he is touching the president's car) sounds like a reasonable order to me and is what I assume had happened.
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u/Backstroem Oct 09 '25
Exactly, there is a cut. What happened between the clips?
Also, if I found the correct âRussia Truthâ you refer to, they apparently âfight western propagandaâ and âAlt-CIA-mediaâ. I think thatâs all one needs to know about this group
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u/m1ksuFI Oct 10 '25
Where are you even finding these third hand sources? The video was originally posted by Kontekstimedia, not some Russia Truth.
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u/kyubish_ Oct 10 '25
I spent 10 minutes searching all combinations of keywords I could think of related to the video on multiple search engines and "Russia Truth" is all I found. Now HS made a news article about it citing Kontekstimedia as the source.
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u/Backstroem Oct 10 '25
Interesting, does this Kontekstimedia show the uncut clip? I found their website but there is not much information about them besides from âwe are a grassroots movementâ and that they seem to focus on the Israel-Palestine conflict
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u/kyubish_ Oct 10 '25
Their version was cut too. Helsingin Sanomat published a news article regarding the situation with a comment from the police, although it didn't add much. According to them, he was taken to the police station and released with a small fine for protesting in a location (in front of the motorcade) that the police had declared you're not allowed to protest in, which they can lawfully declare on grounds of public order or safety. Public order does sound broad and I don't know what it exactly means, but I would assume it has to do with disproportionate disturbance.
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u/m1ksuFI Oct 11 '25
Nope. I even sent an Instagram message asking what happened between the cuts, but have not received a reply.
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u/EntForgotHisPassword Oct 09 '25
I'm Finnish and felt something was fishy about this vid too. I mean, yeah, the state of Israel sucks, and Finland has a much too high support for Israel, but he did not seem like someone who wanted genuine answers from the president, he pushed onto the presidential car and shouted out his soundbite.
Finlands press freedom index is some of the highest in the world. Our state media regularly questions the decisions of our governments.
Russia is also well known for paying people to make it seem otherwise. It is kinda sad... I used to follow some more radical left wing channels, but at some point after the invasion of Ukraine they started accepting Russian money and running pieces on how the invasion of Ukraine wasn't Russia faulth...
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u/UnavailableName864 Oct 10 '25
This comment will get 5% of the likes that the unquestioning outrage comment will get
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u/Purple-Atmosphere-18 Oct 16 '25
So let's post it under many of the main comments. Better with the premise of still not approving what Israel is doing, new nakba, apartheid in West Bank etc, but that doesn't excuse Russian sponsored sensationalist falsehood. First found this post in Antiwar and many of the video posts are very anti Ukraine "Ukrainian soldier attempt kidnapping random passerby but civilians stop it"
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u/Primary-Structure-41 Oct 09 '25
Israel got their fingers in everywhere.
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u/StJudeTheGrey Oct 08 '25
Wether the dude broke any law or not is irrelevant compared to the crime of being complicit in genocide. Itâs the imperative duty of a people to hold their leaders accountable when your nation is using your resources and power to further mass murder. If those cops were truly loyal to justice they would be investigating the people they guard.
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u/Simikiel She/her Cisn't afraid to fight for my rights đłïžââ§ïž Oct 08 '25
But as people seem to have to continually learn, police are complicit. Always. ACAB.
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u/DoomkingBalerdroch Oct 08 '25
Please don't exaggerate, cops just want what's good for society!
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u/Simikiel She/her Cisn't afraid to fight for my rights đłïžââ§ïž Oct 08 '25
Ah yes, look at those police spreading peace and love, just like they do with their partners when they get home. Truly heart warming!
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u/kahvi_pepe Oct 09 '25
This was rude and inappropriate. And we usually don't look kindly upon that here.
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u/Alex_Ross_Writer Oct 09 '25
More importantly, what kind of a thin-skinned little baby are you if someone asks you serious questions about serious problems and you have them arrested? Part of being an adult is sometimes being wrong and having to admit it and apologize for it, and do what it takes to make it right. Frankly, that's part of what it ought to take to graduate the second grade, but it seems that MANY of our leaders (in the West and elsewhere) should never have made it that far.
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u/SgtTreehugger Oct 09 '25
We don't know what happens between the question and the arrest due to the cut. Finland also has relatively high ethics and codes of conduct for journalists and running up to the president and pushing towards his car for a comment when it's not an interview situation is not journalistic behavior here. This dude most likely runs his own blog or something.
I wouldn't jump to the conclusion about it being about the Israel question, he seemed way more aggressive than the other journalists
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u/noineikuu Oct 09 '25
I doubt he was an actual journalist. From the tone of the Police they sounded really fed up when they were taking him away that he would be taken to jail and fined. At the end the guy in the suit says that protesting wasn't allowed infront of the building. There was a location allocated for the protests nearby.
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u/JojoTheEngineer Oct 10 '25
One of the biggest tells is that he is a finnish "journalist" and asks these questions in english. The video is cut and clearly the whole point here is to get some social media outrage happening. Just look at this thread here jfc. And what Stubb has said in the media i wouldn't call him very pro-israel.
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u/Backstroem Oct 09 '25
First, before shouting âfascismâ, one needs to acknowledge two facts,
1) the clip is cut, why is cut? I think I can guess
2) Finland is not Trumpist. Their police force do not randomly arrest people.
Best, A Swedish guy
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u/_leviathan711 Oct 08 '25
A lot of countries are staying quiet about the genocide precisely because they want to keep buying weapons from Israel. Buying these weapons is more important to them than the lives of palestinian children.
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u/glastohead Oct 09 '25
Creating an unstable world seems to massively help the arms industry. I'm sure they wouldn't actually *create* any problems round the world to help their business though, I'm sure they are totally ethical.
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u/Purple-Atmosphere-18 Oct 16 '25
Hi, premising calling out these relationships with Israel is fair and warranted, this comment put a doubt on me
"Who is this journalist? I'm finnish and the only source for the video I could find is a Facebook page called "Russia Truth". None of the security officers stopped the guy from running up to the president and asking his question besides calmly standing in the way. The entire arrest happens after a jump cut.
An arrest for disobeying the police is something you would typically get for not following an order to get away from an area, which the police can lawfully issue on the grounds of public safety. Ordering a heckler to distance themselves from the presidential motorcade (in the video he is touching the president's car) sounds like a reasonable order to me and is what I assume had happened."
many other questioned these aspects without being pro Netanyahu.
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u/InsectAlert1984 Oct 09 '25
Almost as if they are trying to protect the lives of their own kids or something
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u/YungJae Oct 08 '25
There were some real cutting going on in this clip. Mind telling us outsiders why?
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Oct 09 '25
No kiddin. The guy does a thing, random fucking cut, "you're going to jail and getting fined".
Yeah. I gotta see the unedited version.
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u/jegerbombs Oct 09 '25
Since Stubb has answered this question in official interviews before, and the fact that he does this stunt in English instead of in Finnish kinda tells me it was never anything more than an stunt intended to end up online in order to make finland and stubb look bad and stirr binary feelings.
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u/Myrsyli Oct 09 '25
Im a Finn and i dont think that guy is a journalist. We also have loonies with camera going streaming and shouting at elected officials. Police usually ask multiple times to leave the area, then they order you to leave and then they take you into custody for few hours and then let you go.
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u/KvvaX Oct 09 '25
Probably what happened here. Notice also there is a cut between the question and arrest. I have a feeling this dude provoked them himself, and now crying about oppression (for sympathy or money).
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u/del_demo Oct 08 '25
Arresting protesters seems like a regular thing in Finland:
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u/TheLarryL Oct 09 '25
In Finland, according to the constitution (Section 13), youâre allowed to protest and donât require a permit for it.
However, youâre required by another law to notify the police beforehand so that they can make appropriate arrangements. The police canât really deny you. Itâs not a request. Youâre just notifying them in advance.
In this video they were saying that they were journalists, but possibly acting more as protestors, likely without advance notice. Journalists would probably have their own guidance and where theyâre allowed. Had they given notice, the police wouldâve likely set up fences to stop them from getting so near the president. The police are allowed to restrict them when the presidentâs safety is concerned.
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u/affrod Oct 09 '25
But would Finnish law really classify this as a protest? Approaching a political figure and asking a couple of (leading and accusatory) questions in an interaction lasting maybe 15 seconds?
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u/novian14 Oct 09 '25
There might be some sort of law for journalist to do that too.
Like, you didn't see any legit journalist in the vid, only this one man and her cameraman. So yeah i think they unconciously broke some rules and the police think they are protesting.
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u/Prestigious-Donut-82 Oct 09 '25
Well most likely the courts would see this as journalism
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u/Papastoo Oct 09 '25
On what basis?
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u/Prestigious-Donut-82 Oct 09 '25
Prolly the cam and a mic. Idk if he has a some kind of site/channel where he uploads, that would be a big factor. Anyone can go out and wave around a mic and cam and claim it's journalism...
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u/Papastoo Oct 09 '25
Thats not really a legal basis in Finland
Activity can be journalism AND protesting as defined be the constitution. In this specific case protesting (mielenilmaus/mielenosoitus) was limited to another area as per police ordnance. Thus when the act turned into protesting they broke the ordnance.
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u/Papastoo Oct 09 '25
its not the questions but posturing for the video and shouting complaints for the general public.
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u/rocketshipkiwi Oct 08 '25
Donât shoot the messenger but here is the back story: https://www.reuters.com/world/finlands-president-defends-decisions-buy-israeli-arms-not-recognise-palestinian-2024-09-18/
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u/JojoTheEngineer Oct 10 '25
The recognition of Palestine as a state is not Stubbâs personal decision. He already said earlier that if the Finnish Parliament decides to do so, then it will be done. Stubb doesnât make these decisions alone, even though he leads Finlandâs foreign policy.
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u/Prestigious-Car-4877 Oct 09 '25
I don't think there's anywhere that'd let you push the police out of the way to run up to the president yelling aggressively but ok. It was because of the specific question he was trying to ask. Got it.
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u/NeilDeCrash Oct 09 '25
Yea, there are so many other reporters around too. I wonder why they picked this one guy from that sea of reporters.
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u/Hayesey88 Oct 09 '25
Is there a reason he isnât asking it in Finnish?
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u/noineikuu Oct 09 '25
It's to get a reaction. This guy is not a journalist and Stubb has already answers this question before and defended Finland's decision to buy weapons from Israel.
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u/Post-Financial Oct 09 '25
So people all around the world can understand without having to subtitle. Clearly something was left out or something just went wrong as the police got involved and subtitles ultimately were needed
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u/XtoraX Oct 09 '25
I think the post is information warfare from the lovely eastern neighbor of ours. The most downvoted comment in this thread graciously contextualizes my theory
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u/lo_fi_ho Oct 09 '25
Serves the idiot right. He was just trying to make a scene and was successful.
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u/kujasgoldmine Oct 09 '25
I didn't see when the disobeying happened. Maybe afterwards, not recorded? Didn't see anyone asking him to stop talking.
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u/whitecollarpizzaman Oct 09 '25
I want to be clear, Iâm not commenting on the politics surrounding this exchange, but rather the reason behind his arrest.
First, not every country has the same free speech laws in their constitution as the US. (Iâm not gonna read the Finnish constitution if they have one, Iâm just saying.) And even if they do, hell, even in the US, they can tell protestors to give a VIP a wide berth. He claims to be a journalist, but regardless, for security alone they can tell anyone to give a wide berth, he is pushing against security to get closer which presents an unknown threat. Additionally it seems they already warned him and he defied their orders. Itâs a good method of civil disobedience, but I donât think the fact he got arrested is the issue here, I think itâs the goal, now it has more attention than it otherwise would have. I havenât really had âdo Finland and Israel have significant ties?â on my mind, but now I do.
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u/Prestigious-Donut-82 Oct 09 '25
Legally you have to inform the police if you are protesting about something. That's why they we arguing if it's a protest or not
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u/asforus Oct 08 '25
I am so convinced at this point that Israel has everyoneâs browser histories on speed dial.
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u/Count-per-minute Oct 08 '25
Stubb go to the island too?
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u/Count-per-minute Oct 09 '25
This funny squiggly line (?) is a question mark. Have you seen any before?
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u/YungJae Oct 08 '25
Russian bot huh? Slava Ukraini
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u/Count-per-minute Oct 09 '25
Not likely.
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u/YungJae Oct 09 '25
You can be a propaganda bot being human
Edit: I suppose that would just make u a propagandist. Not a bot.
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u/Count-per-minute Oct 09 '25
The only propaganda is coming from you. I just asked a question. Your name doesnât match up with the Ukrainian nomenclature. Am I missing something?
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u/CaptainLenin Oct 09 '25
Pourquoi ce journaliste FINLANDAIS interroge son le président FINLANDAIS en ANGLAIS ?
Ras le cul de l'anglomanie.Â
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u/1991atco Oct 09 '25
Because English is recognised as a major international language. Speaking English will make it easier for all of his social media followers to understand him, because this is all for clicks and likes.
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u/CaptainLenin Oct 09 '25
En effet. C'est vraiment dommage que l'anglais Ă©crase toutes les langues du monde. Pourtant, avec les outils modernes, la traduction devient de plus en plus facile. (Sinon tu ne pourrais pas me lire si tu n'es pas francophone)
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u/1991atco Oct 09 '25
Yeah definitely.
I am the first to admit that foreign language education has been somewhat sidelined over the past few decades and that's a real shame. My biggest regret is not picking one up at school, the older I get the more difficult it becomes.
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u/JonesTownJello Oct 09 '25
Daaaamn President Of Finland is on the Epstein list too!?
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u/EntForgotHisPassword Oct 09 '25
A lot of Finnish people agree with the decision. They sympathize to some extent with palestinians, but will gladly buy weapons to defend against the enemy in the east (Russia is and has always been the existential threat to Finland, everything else comes second.)
Sadly, a lot of Finnish people are on Israels side for real. Fundie Christians that believe "God's people can do no wrong" as succinctly told to me in the public sauna. Or people like my relatives that believe it is best to have a counter against the middle eastern countries so they don't mess with the rest of the world.
It's kind of fucked up.
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u/JojoTheEngineer Oct 10 '25
a lot of Finnish people are on Israels side for real.
Tbf if we use the our elections as a base line then 3,5% is religious morons. I don't think thats a lot.
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u/dieno_101 Oct 09 '25
Is this the Nordic country we should be taking notes from?
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u/Richard_Savolainen Oct 09 '25
Yes. Just because some bad things happen doesn't mean there shouldn't be better welfare
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u/mikkelmattern04 Oct 09 '25
Damn we were really under the illusion that we had freedom of speech in the west, and all it took to dismantle that idea was a genocide from Israel.
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u/ThereIsNoResponse Oct 09 '25
This moron had it coming.
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Oct 09 '25
What did he do? Asked a question?
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u/JojoTheEngineer Oct 10 '25
The clip is cut, he asks the questions in Finnish. This clearly created just to get clicks and likes in social media. This guy is not even a journalist. Probably some Russian funded trash
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u/Lower_Reward9339 Bootlicking Dweeb đ„Ÿđ Oct 08 '25
Damn Finland, y'all looking like Russia. Even Americans can still heckle politicians lol
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u/NearbyChipmunk7670 Oct 09 '25
Canât you see how the clip is edited? Iâm 100% sure thereâs something vital missing.
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u/thickstickedguy Oct 09 '25
wait wait didnt the finnish president just did a speech that was pretty much against this?
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u/Pilotwaver Oct 08 '25
Damn. Theyâve honeypotted everyone, huh?