Parliamentary elections 2023 are approaching! Finland Society has set a number of goals for promoting the matters of Finns abroad in the upcoming parliamentary term.
Nearly two million people with Finnish background live outside Finland across the globe, approximately 300 000 of whom are Finnish citizens. Over 250 000 expatriate Finns are entitled to vote in Finnish elections. It is crucial to strengthen expatriate Finns’ participation in society, democracy, the ability to resist false information and overall resilience. Increasing dialog with Finns around the world strengthens their Finnish identity and creates the conditions for becoming interested in Finnish politics, for voting in elections and planning a return to Finland. At the same time, this helps to bolster the functioning of cross-border civil society.
Finland Society’s worldwide work for Finns overseas requires sufficient operational resources of 1 million Euro per year. Resources allocated to work on issues of Finnish expatriatism are used to:
- strengthen Finnish identity, language, culture, and citizenship.
- develop cross-border services accessible for Finns abroad.
- make it more attractive for expatriate Finns to return to Finland.
- enable effective involvement of expatriate Finns in Finnish society, allowing that going forward they can genuinely play a role in civil society participation across borders and in strengthening Finnish democracy.
- ensure that Finns abroad receive the kind of correct and reliable information they need.