- Finland is investigating multiple suspected break-ins at MPs' homes, spanning about a year, with authorities calling the number significant.
- No clear motive or common target profile; police are in the early stage of investigation; MPs told to report observations and file complaints.
- Prime Minister says foreign involvement, possibly Russia, is quite possible; president calls intrusions an attack on democracy; election security highlighted.
Finland said Thursday it was investigating a slew of suspected break-ins at the homes of members of parliament, which the prime minister said could be linked to a foreign power.
Following media reports, speaker of parliament Jussi Halla-aho on Thursday said parliament had been made aware of a “significant” number of apparent intrusions at the homes of several politicians.
Finland, which shares a 1,340-kilometre (830-mile) border with Russia, has been on high alert since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022.
“I cannot comment precisely on the number of suspected cases known to us, but in any event, it is significant,” Halla-aho told a press conference.
He said the known cases had occurred over a longer period of time, with the first believed to have taken place about a year ago.
Halla-aho said while some of the signs left behind by the suspected intruders may not have been immediately noticed, “it is possible that these signs were deliberately left where the occupants would notice them”.
“At this stage, there is no information about the motive or who was responsible,” he stressed.
The speaker also said there were no common denominator among those who have been targeted regarding party affiliation or gender.
Asked by a reporter if a foreign power could be involved, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said it was “very possible. Quite possible in these times.”
“If someone tries to destabilise Finland, our sense of security, or our support for example for Ukraine, it has the opposite effect. It strengthens our unity,” he said.
Orpo said investigations were vital as Finland was preparing for a general election in April 2027.
“We can see in several European countries that Russia has tried to influence elections,” Orpo said.
Deputy speaker Paula Risikko, who leads the parliamentary security group, said she had been informed last week and added that Helsinki police had been tasked with the “initial stage of the investigation”.
“The inquiry is at an early stage, and the police have nothing further to comment on at this time,” Helsinki police said.
– ‘Attack against democracy’ –
All members of parliament had been told to keep an eye out, report observations and file police complaints if necessary.
Newspaper Ilta-Sanomat earlier reported that MPs had been warned of potential break-ins last week, and that the daily was aware of at least two home intrusions.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb said “an attack against a member of parliament is an attack against democracy.”
“It should not be allowed or accepted in any form,” he told reporters.
Russia’s war on Ukraine prompted Finland to abandon its decades-long policy of military non-alignment and it joined NATO in April 2023.
The Nordic country has in the past accused Moscow of “hybrid warfare” and orchestrating a surge of migrants at their shared border in 2023 — a charge the Kremlin denied.
