Finns have difficulty identifying with EU

Country profile/ Finland: No fewer than three game show hosts are vying for one of Finland's 14 seats in Europe

Country profile/ Finland: No fewer than three game show hosts are vying for one of Finland's 14 seats in Europe. Competing against them are two television personalities and a champion rally car driver. Added to the mix is the disgraced former prime minister, Ms Anneli Jäätteenmäki.

Ms Jäätteenmäki is the Conservative Party leader and Finland's first female prime minister. She resigned last June two months after taking office amid accusations of misleading parliament and soliciting the leaking of secret documents. Ms Jäätteenmäki is regarded as one of the strongest candidates in the upcoming elections.

For European elections, all of Finland is one electoral district. It means that candidates with an established public profile have an added advantage. As a result, political parties have been signing up Finnish celebrities in a bid to win more seats.

Also on the list are the former Green League leader, Ms Satu Hassi, and the current leader of the Christian Democrat Party, Mr Bjarne Kallis. The remainder are mainly sitting MEPs or members of the Finnish Parliament.

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Finns are still disinterested. Voter turnout in the last European election was just 31 per cent and opinion polls indicate a similarly apathetic electorate on this occasion.

"Finns are new to Europe," says the professor of political science at Helsinki University, Tuomo Martikainen. "While they're quite EU friendly, I still think they have difficulty identifying with Europe.

"Also, Finns typically love to hate politics. They never get too enthusiastic about politicians and political parties," he adds.

Another factor for the low turnout is that Finns typically take their holidays in June.

Campaigning is only starting to gain momentum, with the emphasis on personalities rather than parties.

"I can't figure out what the issues are in this EU election," says Prof Martikainen. "The parties have stepped out of the arena and each individual is campaigning on their own issues."

But Ms Laura Pekonen, a political reporter with the influential Helsingin Sanomat newspaper, sees a few underlying trends. "The common foreign and security policy is an important issue for Finns in this election," she says.

"The candidates on the left are scaring people by warning them that Finnish neutrality will be lost by signing up to a common defence policy. The government has agreed to contribute to a European rapid-reaction force but the public has been very much against it and the left-wing parties are playing on those fears."

The other dominant issue, according to Ms Pekonen, is the protection of Finland's social welfare state. Like their Swedish neighbours, the Finns are keen to hold on to their social security system.

"One of the main election issues is whether or not the state will retain the power to control its own health and education services or whether this will ultimately be decided by a majority vote in the EU."

Finland offers free health and education services to all its citizens as well as other generous social welfare benefits.

Political experts don't expect a dramatic shift when Finns go to the polls on June 13th. The National Coalition Party, Finland's main opposition party, is expected to hold all five of its seats.

Finland currently has 16 seats in the European Parliament but will have only 14 after this election. The likely losers are the Green and Christian Democrat parties with a seat each.