“ABDI has surveyed whether the future looks more secure or insecure since 1990. Never before has the survey found such a heightened sense of insecurity. Two-thirds [of Finns] currently perceive the future as more insecure than before. The corresponding figure one year earlier was a little over one-half,” the parliamentary committee reports.

A sense of insecurity has grown among Finns, finds a survey commissioned by the Advisory Board for Defence Information (ABDI) .

ABDI surveys the opinions of Finns on foreign and security policy-making as well as national security and defence capabilities every year.

“Although the phenomenon is attributable to a number of factors, a heightened sense of insecurity is the most obvious change and takeaway from the latest survey in comparison to the previous year,” says Sofia Vikman (NCP), the chairperson of ABDI.

The respondents expressed their concerns, for example, about the domestic employment situation, global terrorism and the economic outlook for Europe. Their responses also indicated that concerns related to the growth of the immigrant population of Finland have increased notably from preceding years, according to ABDI.

A list of the main factors deemed either somewhat or very concerning by the respondents: - Unemployment situation in Finland (87%, compared to 86% in 2014) - Global terrorism (83%, compared to 74% in 2014) - Economic outlook for Europe (79%, compared to 78% in 2014) - Increasing number of asylum seekers in Europe (75%) - Situation in Syria (72%, compared to 51% in 2014) - Global warming (72%, compared to 63% in 2014) - Increasing number of asylum seekers in Finland (71%) - Proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (71%, compared to 68% in 2014) - Religious extremism (70%, compared to 62% in 2014) - Development of Russia (69%, compared to 75% in 2014) Source: Advisory Board for Defence Information

The proportion of respondents who are concerned about the rising number of immigrants has grown by 24 percentage points year-on-year, the proportion concerned about the situation in Syria by 21, the proportion concerned about global terrorism and global warming by 9, and the proportion concerned about religious extremism by 8 percentage points.

Three-quarters of respondents, ABDI highlights, were either somewhat or very concerned about the flow of asylum seekers into Europe.

“The survey found that Finns are rather unequivocally of the opinion that a co-ordinated asylum and immigration policy within the European Union is necessary to resolve the situation,” tells Vikman.

The flow of asylum seekers into Finland was identified as a concern by 71 per cent of respondents.

The respondents were asked a total of three topical questions related to the ongoing migrant crisis.

The survey found that 48 per cent of respondents – 52 per cent of male and 44 per cent of female respondents – have a negative view of the growing number of asylum seekers in Finland. Nearly one-third, or 29 per cent, of respondents have neither a negative nor positive view of the phenomenon. More than one-fifth of respondents – 18 per cent of male and 26 per cent female respondents – have a positive view of the phenomenon.

Over two-thirds, or 68 per cent, of respondents also estimated that Finland is ill-prepared for the rising number of asylum seekers. Nearly three in four, or 72 per cent, of respondents felt the same way about the European Union.

Taloustutkimus interviewed a total of 1,005 people in 104 localities for the survey. Quota sampling based on the age, gender and regional distribution of the population was utilised to determine the sample group.

Aleksi Teivainen – HT

Photo: Kaisa Sirén / Lehtikuva

Source: Uusi Suomi