Roundup: Finland discusses alleged discrimination against dual nationals

Alleged discrimination against Finnish nationals with dual citizenship has become a topic for debate in Finland, as local media have been continuously reporting such cases this week.

National broadcaster Yle this week reported defense forces have internal secret orders to restrict Finnish-Russian dual nationals in conscript training and eligibility in staff recruitment.

Newspaper Helsingin Sanomat also reported on Thursday a job appointment at the foreign ministry was cancelled as the person was a dual citizen.

Since 2003, new residents gaining Finnish citizenship have been allowed to maintain their previous citizenship if their old country accepts it.

A key promoter for accepting dual citizenships in the early 2000s was the Finnish Expatriate Parliament, an organization that receives government funding and meets regularly in Helsinki. As a result, thousands of Finnish immigrants abroad also got their Finnish citizenship restored upon notification.

However, when the situation changed with time, the policy resulted in some unexpected consequences.

Yle said its reporters saw a secret document that advises to make restrictions in offering training to Finnish-Russian conscripts. Although they are not supposed to be exempted from the mandatory service, they will be kept apart from essential military secrets.

Dual Finnish-Russian nationals have also been rejected as candidates for salaried military positions. Yle noted the practice was in conflict with the current Finnish law, which requires equal treatment to citizens, whether they are dual nationals or not.

In a quick reaction, Defense Minister Jussi Niinisto denied the Yle findings. The minister criticized that Yle had "damaged relations between Finland and Russia."

But on Wednesday, both the defense ministry and interior ministry announced that they start legislative planning that would make it possible to bar dual citizenship holders from crucial positions in the military and frontier guards.

Ilkka Kanerva, chairman of the parliamentary defense committee, expressed surprise with the defense minister's strong language.

Kanerva said the program of the current government aims at creating a clear legal basis for both the dual nationalities and foreign land ownership. He underlined that decrees cannot be written without taking into account the basic rights of citizens.

Prof. Jarmo Virmavirta, chairman of the Finnish Expatriate Parliament, told Xinhua he would recommend that the government show caution in changing the law. "Unequal treatment of dual nationals would involve political risks," Virmavirta said.

He admitted, however, that the acceptance of dual citizenships was enacted at a time when the world situation and expectations about the future were different. So far, the Expatriate Parliament has not been consulted on the new situation.

Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila said on Thursday that there is "pressure to change regulations on dual citizenship" and the decisions will be taken later.

While conscripts from the west are of no problem, the sons and daughters of dual national Russians living in Finland are seen as a risk when they enter the barracks.

There are some 90,000 dual nationals resident in Finland, 25,000 of them are of Russian background. Enditem