( Interviews from Finland )

When and how was your band created?
It was created a half year ago, we just got the feeling that we should creat band like this, which would sounds like Alice in Chains.

Where is the name of the band coming from?
Laku (our vocalist) invented it, it dont really have any reasonable reason why “The Cons”, it just sounded cool =)

What musicians or artists did have a major influence in your life / work?
our major influences are Alice in Chains, Velvet Revolver, Iggy Pop, Guns n Roses and Pearl Jam. So there are a quite few Grunge influences.

What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician in Finland?
There are more positive things then negative. Many Underground bands like us stick together and helps each other, gigs and shit. There is also many Band competitions, which are good thing for Underground bands. Negative things are that you wont get that easy gigs in the “Big stages” like Tavastia in the Finland. But there is more good sides in music business here in Finland then bad sides.

How could you define your style of music?
It´s energic grunge-rock, our stage image is like Red hot chili peppers have and music is like Alice in Chains.

During the years how has your musical style changed?
it has`nt changed… yet=)

How do explain these changes?
We just know what music fits for us.

What are topics you treat in your songs?
Love. Hate, our Family lifes and shitty sides of life, but there i also hope giving lyrics on some songs.

What is your favorite song in your repertoire and why?
Burning Lie, it´s brand new and it´s kind of energetic rock song with good lyrics.

Do you actually prefer performing your music live or in a studio?
Both actually =) But we are more live band. on the record you wont get the same feeling as on stage.

During the process of making a song, what is the moment that you prefer?
I like to do songs at night and maybe in a little deppression, it´s the best way to me to make song.

A stupid question but… what is among all the songs you’ve been listening in your life the BEST song?
Smashing Pumkins-Bullet with butterfly wings

What is your opinion, as a musician, regarding internet?
It offers a lot of opportunities for musician and for bands.

What “image” do you have of French music?
We really dont have a clue =)

Is there one French song that you prefer? If so, what song is it?
No there aint

Do you remember when you first decided to become a writer?
At the age of seven or eight, when I was writing these romantic “adventure books”. Seriously speaking; after I quit school.

Was it an easy choice to make?
Yes.

What writers did have a major influence in your work / life?
I cannot name one or two. There have been so many during different times.

What are the positive and negative aspects of being a writer in Finland?
The positive part is the very good scholarship-system which allows you to concentrate on writing only. Bad thing is, that not many people understand Finnish, so you don´t have a very big public.

What are the themes that you like to explore in your books?
Relationships between people. ALL kinds of them I mean. And the small things that make us behave like we do. Coincidences.

How could you define your style?
I leave that to others. I don´t much think about that.

Have you ever considered the possibilty to totally change your style?
I don´t think of writing like that at all. I don´t think about style when I write. It just comes the way it does.

How do you write? Do you try to follow some strict rules or do you only write “when it comes”?
No rules. But when I have a deadline I sometimes have to force myself a bit.

When you’re working on a book, what is the stage / moment that you prefer?
When the idea just flows onto the paper and I have the feeling I´m just holding the pen…

What books or authors have you read recently?
Annie Proulx. A Finnish writer called Daniel Katz. Just starting Yann Martel.

If there is one…what is your favorite book? For what reasons?
John Fowles´s The Magus. It just took my breath away.

How do you consider Internet as an author?
It helps a lot, of course. But I´m very old fashioned; I normally write parts of my books first by hand. And I actually bought my first computer a year ago. I don´t think publishing books by the internet will ever threaten the existence of the real book.

Do you think that Internet could somehow change the traditional publication process?
As I said, not much.

What are your actual and future projects?
I´m in the middle of writing a new novel which hopefully will be released in autumn 2004. I´m also working as a freelance editor.

How did you decide to become a drawer / cartoonist?
As a kid my relatives, friends and teachers gave me positive feedback about my drawings so I guess I felt that drawing was something I was good at and kept on practising. French and Belgian comics published in Ruutu and Non Stop comic magazines in 1970’s and 80’s gave me an idea that maybe I could do something like that too when I’m grown up.

Was it a difficult choice to make? Why?
No, it was easy - in a way it was my only choice. Drawing and comics has been the things I’ve been the most interested in so it came quite natural for me that my only hobby became my profession.

Did you go to a school for drawers or cartoonists?
I’ve got my diploma from University of Industrial Arts in Helsinki. It’s not actually a school for cartoonists but I learned some new techniques there and made contacts with people with approximately same interests. The school also gave a status of graphic designer which raised my self confidence and helped a lot in starting the career.

How do people consider comic strip in Finland?
I think for most of the people comic strip is still only harmless fun or something that is made for kids. However, cultural institutions and people that are interested in art in general consider comics as an art form among the others and that’s a good thing because it helps cartoonists and comic artist to get their share of grants, for example.

What comic strip/artists did have a major influence on your work?
As a kid I was strongly influenced by André Franquin’s and oher artists’work published in Non Stop comic magazine, as well as Pierre Christin’s and Jean-Claude Meziérès’ Valerian et Laureline stories. Of course, later on there’s been several other comics and artists.

Do you still read comic strip? Which one?
I mostly read the Donald Duck magazine I’ve subscribed to my kids (who can’t read yet) and newspaper strips published in Helsingin Sanomat. I’m a familyman… Well, I just bought some new books by various Finnish artists but haven’t had to read them yet.

How could you present your work to our readers?
Quiet, slightly sad stories with a try for a bit of humor…

Has your work been translated yet?
Some of my works has been translated in Swedish, English, French, German… A Canadian publisher Drawn and Quarterly has published my book “The Fall of Homunculus” and also some other works in their anthology. L’Association published couple of my works in their Lapin anthology some years ago.

What are your current and future projects?
I’m just beginning a book illustration project and some comic book projects will fill up the rest of the year.

Do you think that internet is the future medim for comic strip?
I hope not… I don’t like to read comics on screen. Maybe the electric paper will be a better solution?

Do you still work with a pencil and a paper or have you replaced them by a computer?
I work with pencil and paper but I usually do the colouring by computer.

What is your favorite movie?
I’ve used to answer Ermanno Olmi’s “Il Posto”, although I’ve seen it only on TV years ago and can’t really recall it very well anymore. I liked the atmosphere in that movie.

What is your favorite comic strip?
I can’t mention just one strip… I’ve liked almost all what a Norwegian artist Jason has done lately.

What is your most precious object?
Maybe it’s my dad’s 45 years old Omega automatic watch. I got it fixed and now it works fine.

What is your favorite bar/restaurant?
I don’t even know the new bars in town!… I don’t visit restaurants and bars too often anymore so I don’t have any favorites. Some years ago I used to pop in an Irish pub near my former studio on my way home… It was just by the bus stop so it was quite handy.

When and how was your band created?
In January 2000. We had been friends since kids and playing English language rock in a garage together earlier so it was quite natural to form a band. After that the line-up has gone through a few guitar player changes but still there are 4 original members in our band.

Where is the name of the band coming from?
I don’t recall it very well, but I guess we had some suggestions by the members of the band and Replika seemed to be somehow suitable name.

What musicians or artists did have a major influence in your life / work?
There are hundreds of bands and artists that the boys in our band like so it’s hard to name some certain bands. First common major musical influence for Replika must have been Kent from Sweden, sometimes we were named as a Finnish Kent J Since then we have changed quite much.

What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician in Finland?
+ Definitely open air gigs on nice and warm summer days. The band and the audience are at their best then.
- Small markets, geographically long distances, low salaries for semi-unknown band like us. Luckily this is only part-time job for us so we don’t feed us with the band.

How could you define your style of music?
Stylish pop/rock with Finnish lyrics and catchy tunes. We have also been told several times that we are probably the most Swedish sounding band in Finland..

During the years how has your musical style changed?
The basics are the same, but of course we have become more skilful musicians so it’s easier to sound what you are willing to sound..

How do explain these changes?
It must be the development as musicians and the influence of the new bands we are listening to. And we are getting old and tired, too.

What are topics you treat in your songs?
The topics vary but mostly they are stories about the girls.

What is your favorite song in your repertoire and why?
“Tulenarkaa” from our forthcoming EP. It’s a Franz Ferdinand-like modern pop sing-a-long with a killer guitar hook.

Do you actually prefer performing your music live or in a studio?
Live, no doubt about it. Playing live is mostly fun while the recording days in a studio are hard work, even though you usually sound better in a studio environment.

During the process of making a song, what is the moment that you prefer?
It’s the moment when the new song is played through nicely and with no bigger mistakes for the first time in our training room.

A stupid question but… what is among all the songs you’ve been listening in your life the BEST song?
Bobby Womack’s Across 110th street. Not our style but should be considered as a perfect song..

What is your opinion, as a musician, regarding internet?
We have maintained often-updated web pages since the beginning because it’s the easiest way to share and promote music for the band at our level. With the help of the internet we have also made contacts to different bands that we have later played gigs with. At the moment we are creating new pages, so our pages www.replika.fi are very simplified now.

What are your projects?
Currently we are arranging and training new songs and in September we are going to release the first official EP followed by a tiny tour.

What “image” do you have of French music?
I’m a huge fan of Serge Gainsbourg, especially his works from the late 60s to mid-seventies. I’m a bit unfamiliar with the French music apart from my favorites Gainsbourg, Air and Joe Dassin.

Is there one French song that you prefer? If so, what song is it?
Bonnie and Clyde by Serge Gainsbourg.

When and how was your band created?
Silvio is originally a traditional teenage garageband. Jyrki and I created it together with Mikko Toiviainen (no longer a band member) in 1996 when I was 16 and Jyrki was 13. We played straight rock music influenced by especially Nirvana.

Where is the name of the band coming from?
There was a boy called Silvio in the hood where our band trained. He had a funny voice that made an impact on us so we decided to name the band after him after Verneri (my brother) had joined the group.

What musicians or artists did have a major influence in your life / work?
I can speak only for myself. The two big names are Nirvana and Radiohead. However nowadays I could mention a few more: Tom Waits, Jeff Buckley, Björk, Rufus Wainwright, Tys Tys and such impressionists as Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy and Erik Satie which may have influenced more than a lot in the actualmusical compositions.

What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician in Finland?
Well it’s hard for me to say because I don’t consider myself as a musician even if I earn a little with playing and composing. I actually made a decision at the age of 18 that I would never become a musician. But at least I can say that Finland is quite isolated from the rest of the Europe and the markets are very small here so if you want to make your living here with music you will have to play various kinds of music (which is both positive and negative).

How could you define your style of music?
Eventhough I don’t especially like the word “art”, I still would call Silvio’s music “art-rock” because it propably gives a rough image of the music.

During the years how has your musical style changed?
Well, let’s say that we started as an elctric guitar rock band and now we use more widely both acoustic and electric elements. One essential change and a determinate element was that Antti took the double bass instead of the electric bass.

However what’s more important the “attitude” of the music has changed. In the beginning the music and the lyrics were mainly anxious and the band took itself maybe too seriously. Nowadays we tend to have more variety in the attitude. We like to tell stories and play with roles. We sometimes like to “be serious” but not to “take ourselves too seriously”. You can still hear a lot of anxiety in our music but we don’t like to have the tone of claiming anyone. And the anxiety is just one shade in the moods of our songs eventhough there are not much songs “in major” in Silvio’s compositions.

How do explain these changes?
We got older.

What are topics you treat in your songs?
The frequent topics are self esteem, the relationship of a parent and a child, uncertainty, fear, one’s personal picture of the world, disappointment and so on.

What is your favorite song in your repertoire and why?
At the time “The Goats Are Gnawing”. - Well, it’s the newest and it’s great. We made it together with Jyrki and we haven’t recorded it yet but I am looking forward to it. I actually like very much of our own music but I hear it so much that i tend to like the new songs most and get bored to the old ones.

Do you actually prefer performing your music live or in a studio?
I really like both and can’t put them in order. Sorry!

During the process of making a song, what is the moment that you prefer?
Usually there comes a certain point where you find the idea. And then you play it and if it works you usually go wild and play it again and again. It’s very similar to the feeling when you get into someone else’s song. You want to hear
it over and over again.

A stupid question but… what is among all the songs you’ve been listening in your life the BEST song?
I can answer only to the question: “What currently feels to be the ALL TIME best song?” And the answer could now be: “I Will (Radiohead, from the album “Hail To The Thief”)” It is a very simple, short and singable song but it makes me feel as I was a 600-year-old calm but sad oracle who owns the greatest wisdom of life.

What is your opinion, as a musician, regarding internet?
I’ll have to say it again: “I don’t consider myself as a musician.” But as a band member and a songwriter I see the internet as a road (someone else figured out this metaphor). You can use the roads for bringing food to people and you can use the road to drive over people. It is not the roads fault. The hazards are vast but so are the possibilities.

Concidering selling records I think for the bands like Silvio internet is a gift. Maybe the major labels fear it, maybe not. I really don’t know because I use internet mainly for writing mail.

What are your projects?
Silvio is the project for me. I also like to make children’s music with “Kalapojat”. For earning some cash to pay the rent I play in various bands.

What “image” do you have of French music?
I don’t know French pop-music very widely but my composer idols (if one can use such expression) are the three great impressionists: Ravel, Debussy and Satie. I also have heard some french free-jazz which seems to be very innovative and high quality. So it’s natural that I connect “French music” to “high culture”. For more I have to mention Yann Tiersen, the man behind the incredible soundtrack of Amelie. There is a record that I don’t get bored with.

Is there one French song that you prefer? If so, what song is it?
Maurice Ravel: Pavane pour une infante defunte. That is also one of the all time greatest songs in the world.

Could you explain to our readers when you decided to become a politician?
In the 1970s I was carried away to youth politics. Afterwards  I worked for a long time in the Central Organization of Finnish Trade Unions in different positions. After a long career and by request of many people I decided to try to be an active agent in politics. I was nominated General Secretary candidate of the party and was elected in 2002. After a long deliberation I set myself up as a candidate in the parliamentary elections and in spring 2003 I was elected an MP by Finns.

Did you have strong political beliefs during your youth?
Yes. My parents were active members of trade unions and already at home politics were discussed. In the 1970s I was active in social democratic youth movement and national youth and vocational training organizations.

Was the choice of becoming a “full time politician” difficult to make?
Yes and no.  Working in the trade union movement is working with social affairs. The leap to the role of a full-time politician was in a way short. One thing that I deliberated long and carefully was candidacy to MP since uniting the tasks of the General Secretary of the party and an MP was not a matter of course. Now later I think it was good that I had thought this role differentiation over in advance.

If you had to describe your political convictions with 5 words…
A just balance between work and other elements of production. A balance between social rights and responsibilities. A balance between environment and economic growth. Participation and democracy. Internationalism and solidarity.

How could you present The Social Democratic party to our readers who don’t know it?
The Finnish Social Democratic Party (SDP) is a strong Finnish political force with firm traditions in developing the circumstances of especially workpeople and low-income groups. Social democracy is social reform work on the basis of socialist values. Socialism underlines people’s responsibility for each other and for their community. The humane values of socialism have become deep rooted in the whole democratic Europe. The mass movement based on human value, human rights and individual responsibility raised people to citizens who have state, educational, social and work rights. SDP has members and votes all over Finland and its support is close to 30 per cent.

As a member of the Parliament, what will be your priorities for the near future?
The biggest political challenge is the building of a modern welfare state of the future. Matters such as health, school, care of children and old people, working life and taxation are included as well as the balance between them.

What are the positive and negative aspects of being a politician?
Feedback from people and discussions with them about the objectives of politics are the most positive aspects. The most negative is irresponsible political discussion and argumentation.

Do you consider it as a profession or is it more than that?
I don’t consider it a mere profession as I act and make decisions also on the basis of my own convictions and so it may be more.

If you had the possibility to totally change your profession. What would you  choose?
I have worked in a machine workshop, in a warehouse and in different organizations and I have good memories from all of them. I have not considered changing the field of work but you never know about the future.

Why do you think that in Europe people become less and less interested in politics?
I don’t see that interest in politics as such has diminished. Only the forms of policy-making and voting as an institution have suffered from inflation. These are the greatest challenges of the political actors in the future.

What should be done to change this situation?
Politics must find new contacting surfaces with the everyday life of European citizens.

What are your professional or personal projects for the future?
My biggest project is to bring up of my children. Professionally the tasks of General Secretary  and an MP

Could you explain to our readers when you decided to become a politician?
I JOINED THE PARTY (THE NATIONAL COALITION PARTY, WHICH IS A CONSERVATIVE PARTY) IN 1999 WHEN I GOT DISSATISFIED WITH THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM IN MY HOME TOWN ESPOO. A YEAR LATER I BECAME ELECTED A MEMBER OF THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF ESPOO. QUITE SOON AFTER THAT I DECIED TO RUN FOR  PARLIAMENT.

Did you have strong political beliefs during your youth?
I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN CONSERVATIVE IN MY MIND BUT AT THE SAME TIME IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR ME TO REMAIN INDEPENDENT.

Was the choice of becoming a “full time politician” difficult to make?
THE CHOICE WAS EASY, IT WAS MORE OR LESS A NATURAL SUCCESSION OF THINGS.

If you had to describe your political convictions with 5 words…
ACTIVITY, INDEPENDENCE, SOVREIGNTY, ORIGINALITY, SELF-GOVERNMENT CONCERNING A PERSON

How could you present The National Coalition Party to our readers who don’t know it? IT’S A PARTY THAT REPRESENTS ALL PEOPLE, EVERYBODY IS WELCOME WITH THEIR OWN IDEAS AND BELIEFS. ACTIVE ATTITUDE IN TAKING CARE OF ONESELF IS EMPHASISED AS WELL AS THE NEED TO TAKE CARE OF THOSE WHO REALLY CANNOT DO IT THEMSELVES.

As a member of the Parliament, what will be your priorities for the near future? MAKING IT POSSIBLE TO COMBINE A WORKING, CAREER BASED LIFE AND A GOOD FAMILY LIFE WITH A HUSBAND AND SEVERAL CHILDREN. ASSURING CHILD FAMILIES A BETTER STANDARD OF LIVING. TAKING CARE OF A BALANCED AND HIGH- QUALITY EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM IN ALL FINLAND.

What are the positive and negative aspects of being a politician?
POSITIVE: YOU LEARN A LOT EVERY DAY, YOU MEET INTERESTING PEOPLE, YOU CAN HAVE A FEELING OF ACTUALLY DOING SOMETHING TO IMPROVE HOW THINGS ARE DONE.
NEGATIVE: THE DAYS ARE EXTREMELY LONG, YOU HAVE TO WORK DURING WEEKENDS TOO, AS A NEWCOMER THERE IS A LOT TO LEARN AND THAT GIVES YOU A LOT OF HOMEWORK.

Do you consider it as a profession or is it more than that? I TAKE THIS AS A
PROFESSION, AND I TRY TO AVOID CHEAP MEDIA ATTENTION, BUT IT CERTAINLY IS MORE THAN THAT - IT’S A WAY OF LIFE. I INTEND TO BE A POLITICIAN FOR 3 TO 4 TERMS AND MY PLAN IS TO DO SOMETHING ELSE TOO BEFORE I RETIRE.

If you had the possibility to totally change your profession. What would you choose?
AT THE MOMENT I’M MORE THAN SATISFIED WITH WHAT I’M DOING NOW.

Why do you think that in Europe people become less and less interested in politics?
I’M AFRAID IT’S A SIGN OF THE FACT THAT LIFE HAS BECOME RATHER EASY.
PEOPLE IN GENERAL HAVE VERY LITTLE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT. THEN, THOSE PEOPLE WHO HAVE WORRIES FEEL THAT THEY ARE NOT HEARD, UNFORTUNATELY. NATURALLY, ALSO THE EFFECT OF MEDIA MAKING POLITICS A FORM OF CIRCUS HAS DIMINISHED THE VALUE OF POLITICIANS.

What should be done to change this situation? CHANGE THE ATTITUDE OF THE MEDIA,
BUT THEN AGAIN, SOME OF WHAT IS BROUGHT UP IN THE MEDIA IS THE FAULT OF POLITICIANS THEMSELVES…

What are your professional or personal projects for the future? ONLY TO BE A
GOOD MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT AND POLISH THE IMAGE OF POLITICIANS BY BEING THAT.

Could you explain to our readers when you decided to become a politician?
I decided to come a politician because the public health care in Finland was in trouble.

Did you have strong political beliefs during your youth?
My mother was strongly on the right (conservative) and my father in the center.

Was the choice of becoming a “full time politician” difficult to make?
It was a great pleasure and honour to be elected to the Finnish Parliament because a had a mission: to improve the health care system in Finland.

If you had to describe your political convictions with 5 words…
international co-operation, free-trading, good health care for all citizens and peace.

How could you present The National Coalition Party to our readers who don’t know it?
Kansallinen Kokoomus (Coalition Party Finland) is for all citizens who want to work for freedom and peace and take care of the poor and disables.

As a member of the Parliament, what will be your priorities for the near future?
My priorities are to improve the health care system in Finland.

What are the positive and negative aspects of being a politician?
Positive are the colleagues and people working in the parliament.
Negative is that the conservative party is on the opposition.

Do you consider it as a profession or is it more than that?
I work 100 % as a member of Finnish Parliament.

If you had the possibility to totally change your profession. What would you choose?
I want to work in the Finnish Parliament as well as possible and I am not willing to change to profession.

Why do you think that in Europe people become less and less interested in politics?
I do not think that the European people are less and less interested in politics. I think it is the opposite. We are harmonizing more and more activities in Europe and it needs much work and negotiations.

What are your professional or personal projects for the future?
At the moment I work in the Social- and health committee and Administration committee. And I have also established a group of “Boating and Marine life protection”, which has 20 active members in the Parliament.

Could you explain to our readers when you decided to become a politician?
I didn’t especially decide to become a politician. Since youth I have always participated different kind of activities for example school and student politics.

Did you have strong political beliefs during your youth?
As a student I really have thought my political view because in 60’s we had strong left wing in student politics.

Was the choice of becoming a “full time politician” difficult to make?
To settle as a candidate at the parliamentary election was a natural decision after my step-by-step political career. I have been with both local and regional political decision-making organisations and also in different positions in my own party.

If you had to describe your political convictions with 5 words…
Equality, tolerancy, truthfulness, equality of possibilities (for example to study), commitment.

How could you present the National Coalition Party to our readers who don’t know it?
National Coalition Party is a center-right-party in finnish political map and its basic values are responsibility, the equality of possibilities, moniarvoisuus and entrepreunership.

As a member of the Parliament, what will be your priorities for the near future?
Better employment, prevention of social displacement, reconciliation of work and familylife and good and effective healthcare.

What are the positive and negative aspects of being a politician?
It is positive to have the possibility to get information and knowledge about different sides of society and societal issues and also possibilities to remedy social grievances. To be “a public animal” without privacy is negative, also underestimation of politics and politicians is sad.

Do you consider it as a profession or is it more than that?
To be a poltician needs professional attitude, it means fulltime job, but it cannot longlife profession because of unpredictable voters.

If you had the possibility to totally change your profession. What would you choose?
It had something to do with socialpolitics either in public or NGO-sector, because my previous profession was socialdirector in the city of Turku.

Why do you think that in Europe people become less and less interested in politics?
The economic resources are limited, but during the election campaigns politicians are used to promise more than it is realistic. The voters are dissapointed with empty promises.

What should be done to change this situation?
Simply less empty promisies -more action.

What are your professional or personal projects for the future?
To become once more elected as a member of parliament.

Could you explain to our readers when you decided to become a politician?
I’m not quite sure if it was any kind of decision it just happened. I have already made up my mind not to become a politician (my father and my grandfather had been politicians and I valued them as a childperspective) but still somehow it fascinated me and here I am.

Did you have strong political beliefs during your youth?
No, not strong political belifs but strong sense of fairness.

Was the choice of becoming a “full time politician” difficult to make?
Yes.

Why?
As I said before I knew also the negative sides of being politician (from my family) and I thought really thoroughly wheather it was the kind of life I really wanted to have.

How could you present The Finnish Social Democratic Party to our readers who don’t know it?
It is international party, member of Socialist International. Main ideas is freedom, equality and solidarity. It was founded over 100 years ago and still it has the mission.

If you had to describe this party with 5 words…
international, responsible, human, equal, strong values

What are the positive and negative aspects of being a politician?
positive: there is no two days similar, it is interesting to meet all kind of people and to have an opportunity to influence decisions and to have wide information almost about anything you ever want to know.

negative: is there? you should be around 24 hours per day.

Do you consider it as a profession or is it more than that?
It is more like lifestyle.

If you had the possibility to totally change your profession. What would you choose?
No idea!

Why do you think that in Europe people become less and less interested in politics?
If I knew the answer we wouldn’t be wondering this problem. Do the people and the politicians talk different language? Is it the way that some things just happen no matter what politicians says? Too many questins too few answers, futurechallenges with this problem are large,wide and important.

How do you explain the results of Mister Tony Halme during the last Parliamentary elections? Do you think that he was elected for his ideas or for other reasons?
I think he was elected because of his ideas and because those people didn’t find the answers from the traditional partys. Tony Halme is known as “tough guy” and voters might have thougt that if Tony is MP he is going to put every other MPs and that way certain things in order. He represents the extreme right and we have seen those movements rise around the Europe.

What are your professional or personal projects for the future?
Professional project -to do my job as well as I can, not to let any voters down.
Personal project - to be a better person and that way be able to give more light and joy to others.

Could you explain to our readers when you decided to become a politician?
As a young 21 year old trade union activist 1968, I decided to participate in politics on a local level. I was elected as a member of the Kouvola city government in 1973. 1975 I started working for the trade union movement, first as a lawyer and then 1978 as a president, and stopped actively participat-ing in politics.
1994 I gave up my career in the trade union movement and returned to work as a lawyer.  1995 I was elected to the parliament, and since that I have been a full time politician.

Did you have strong political beliefs during your youth?
Very strong. I was strongly against injustice and for justice. My values were left-wing.

Was the choice of becoming a “full time politician” difficult to make?
In 1975 the decision was so difficult, that I gave up politics and chose a career in the trade union movement.  In 1995 I considered a long time before I became a full time politician.

How could you present The Finnish Social Democratic Party to our readers who don’t know it?
The Finnish Social Democratic party is a 100 year old party. It has been the largest party in
Finland almost throughout its whole history. The English Labour Party is a brother party for the Finnish Social Democratic Party.
After 1918 the communists left the Social Democratic party and formed their own party, which now functions as Vasemmistoliitto (The Left Alliance).  The last three head of states in Finland have been social democrats.  The chairman of the Social Democratic party, Paavo Lipponen, was prime minister 1995-2003. The Finnish Social Democratic party is a moderate left-wing party.

Has The Finnish Social Democratic Party always been present in the Finnish political life?
The Finnish parliament was founded 1905. The Social Democratic Party has always been represented in it. The party was founded late in the 1900-century, and got its present name in 1903.

If you had to describe this party with 5 words…
Left-wing, moderate, established, international, social democratic

What are the positive and negative aspects of being a politician?
It’s positive, that one can make the world better and have power to participate in decisions that affect everyone.  As a politician, I can promote social justice.  I have taken that as my mission in life. The negative aspects are, that there is a lot of plotting and intrigues in politics. Things progress slowly, and it’s difficult to achieve results. Politicians are poorly appreciated and the media treats politicians badly.

Do you consider it as a profession or is it more than that?
Politics is more than a profession; it’s a calling and a purpose in life.

If you had the possibility to totally change your profession. What would you choose?
I would maybe return to work for the trade union movement, or then become a full time writer.

Why do you think that in Europe people become less and less interested in politics?
Politics is complicated. Political options are not clear enough.  The parties a too much alike.  The ap-preciation of politics is poor.

How do you explain the results of Mister Tony Halme during the last Parliamentary elections?
Do you think that he was elected for his ideas or for other reasons?
Mr. Tony Halme got protest votes.  He got votes from people who usually don’t vote at all. His ideas, some of which were such we call racist and populistic, were not new.  His success was a result of his person and performance.

What are your professional or personal projects for the future?
I will continue as a Member of Parliament and aim at higher positions in politics. In my personal life I’m planning on making a doctoral thesis.  The problem is, that my current duties take up all my time and strength so completely, that there is no time to start new projects.

Could you explain to our readers when you decided to become a politician?
I started as an activist. NGO-world is still close to me. When you realise, that you can really make a difference and work for a better world, you can’t stop.

Did you have strong political beliefs during your youth?
As a child I was a communist. I wanted to believe, that human nature is good and altruistic.

Was the choice of becoming a “full time politician” difficult to make? Why?
No it wasn’t. To be a parliamentarian isn’t a real profession. I’m still quite young and if I want to, I can make many different careers during my lifetime. It’s never too late to choose differently. But right now I really enjoy my work in parliament.

How could you present The Green League of Finland to our readers who don’t know it?
Our main task is to make an ecological turn for Finland and for the world. We think that society must be based on sustainable development and equality. The roots of the Finnish Greens as a political movement go back to the direct action tradition of the late 1970’s when a growing awareness of the deterioration of the state of the enviroment found a counterpart in movements promoting alternative ideas in social policy and rejuvenating grassroots democracy. The Finnish Greens first took part in parliamentary elections in 1983.

When did The Green League of Finland started to be considered as a major party in the Finnish political life?
The big change was in the 1995 parliamentary elections when Greens got 9 seats in the Finnish Parliament. After the elections, a broadly-based “rainbow”-government was formed, and the seat of the Minister of Enviroment was held by former Green party chair and MP, Pekka Haavisto.

If you had to describe this party with 5 words…
Environment, equality, solidarity, global, future.

What are the positive and negative aspects of being a politician?
Positive aspects are of course the possibility to change things in society and learn a lot. Negative aspect is a continuos frustration and sense of being too lazy and stupid.

Do you consider it as a profession or is it more than that?
It’s not a real profession. We are elected and it’s an honor, not a job you do for living.

If you had the possibility to totally change your profession. What would you choose?
I’m really happy with my life as it is. But it would be nice to be a decadent baroness and an artist.

Why do you think that in Europe people become less and less interested in politics?
People are interested in society and social questions. That’s politics also. People are more and more interested on activism and NGO’s. It is a good sign. The old structures of democracy like parliaments and governments haven’t bee able to keep their promises. We haven’t been worth trusting.

How do you explain the results of Mister Tony Halme during the last Parliamentary elections? Do you think that he was elected for his ideas or for other reasons?
People are looking for politicians who are real human beings, not answering machines. He has charisma and speaks about the everyday-life experiences of uneducated people. The old left should think carefully, why they don’t do that. I don’t believe that everyone who has voted for mr Halme are racists.

Could you explain to our readers when you decided to become a politician?
When I graduated and became a doctor, I was also the mother of small children, and I wanted to be able to influence health care in my hometown and so I decided to go into local politics. I am now on that road.

Did you have strong political beliefs during your youth?
Yes. I have always believed in public contribution.

Was the choice of becoming a “full time politician” difficult to make? Why?
No it wasn’t at the time when in 1987 I was elected member of parliament. The desire to enter into national politics came about already earlier.

How could you present The Finnish Social Democratic Party to our readers who don’t know it?
The SDP is a 100-year-old labour party, an all-round party, which has been very much involved in the creation of the Finnish welfare society.

Has The Finnish Social Democratic Party always been present in the Finnish political life?
Yes, for 100 years, at times in the opposition and for long periods responsible for the government.

If you had to describe this party with 5 words…
Liberty, brotherhood, equality, justice and joint responsibility.

What are the positive and negative aspects of being a politician?
As a politician, I am able to promote matters that are important to me as well as influence them. Being a public figure can be stressful and involves a lot of hard work.

Do you consider it as a profession or is it more than that?
It is more than just a profession – it is about realising ideals and changing the world.

If you had the possibility to totally change your profession. What would you choose?
I am very happy with my present situation.

As the Minister of Social Affairs and Health, what will be your priorities for the near future?
In order to secure the future of our welfare society - to clarify our social security system, secure the funding of our health insurance system and promote the ability to cope at work. For my part, I want to influence the correction of problems in our health care services.

You were already Minister of Social Affairs and Health from 1995 to 1999. Do you feel that the social situation in Finland has changed?
Yes, it has changed. Unemployment has been almost halved but long-term unemployment has not decreased sufficiently. Some members of the population have become excluded.

Why do you think that in Europe people become less and less interested in politics?
Society becomes more complicated; people feel that they are not able to influence things.

How do you explain the results of Mister Tony Halme during the last Parliamentary elections? Do you think that he was elected for his ideas or for other reasons?
He appealed to people who have been excluded and such people who no longer believe in traditional means of influencing matters.

Could you explain to our readers when you decided to become a politician?
It is something that just happened. Suddenly I found myself in a situation where I could no longer avoid to be called a politician by profession. But the truth is, that it was a secret dream of mine from quite a young age.
Already in school I was elected into different decisionmaking bodies, representing the pupils.

Did you have strong political beliefs during your youth?
Yes I was a strong opponent of death penalty in the world, I fought against nuclear power and I was active in development issues conserning the third world. I have always had a strong global consience.

Was the choice of becoming a “full time politician” difficult to make? Why?
It was a little of a mistake. I succeded in my first national elections better than expected.
The voters decided for me.

How could you present The Swedish People’s Party to our readers who don’t know it?
The party is a liberal party with a strong social consience. We represent the swedish speaking people in Finland, but have a growing support from likeminded finnish-speaking Finns too. We are strong in human rights and international affairs. We are a small party with respect for the fact that our society has to be eqaually supportive to people from very different backgrounds and with different life situations. We have participated in all governments during the last 25 years.

Has The Swedish People’s Party always been present in the Finnish political life?
Yes it has been in parliament from our independence.

If you had to describe this party with 5 words…
Openminded, human, socialliberal, constructive, visionary.

What are the positive and negative aspects of being a politician?
It is exciting, you learn something all the time and you have a possibility to be in the process of making history.
It is also quite a lot of hard work, sometimes too much, and you put yourself on the line all the time. It is the most insecure job you can have.

Do you consider it as a profession or is it more than that?
I try to keep it a profession but it seems to fill my life quite globally.
Lucky for me I have four children who occupy a desent part of me too.

If you had the possibility to totally change your profession. What would you choose?
I honestly cant say. Perhaps I would enjoy the challenges of working in an international organisation. I still would like to make the world a better place…

Why do you think that in Europe people become less and less interested in politics?
We politicians have to look ourselves in the mirror naturally, if this is so.
Often we get too booring and get hung up on nonsense.
On the other hand people are interested in political matters, such as globalisation. Influencing and changing big development issues or local wellbeeing can be done. Politics is one very good way to try. And cooperation both nationally and internationally with different actors is necessary. So if one is satisfied one can lay back and see, but if not then one has to be involved in politics in someway to change matters.

How do you explain the results of Mister Tony Halme during the last Parliamentary elections? Do you think that he was elected for his ideas or for other reasons?
I hope that it was a big joke for most people. But it was also a statement against “the system” by people who feel left out in some way. I dont believe that his voters know anything about his opinions.

What images do you have of France and French people?
Beautiful language, good food and wine, wonderful country, romantic men, sometimes arrogant in politics. My brothers family live in France and I am a little worried about the lack of feminist concoiusnes in his daughters. I do my best to fill in nordic values here. (ha ha)

Is there a French town or region that you particularly appreciate? Why?
Many. Paris ofcourse. Camargue, Provence, Normandie…

If you had to choose one French person that could, to your point of view, well represent the image you have of France and French people… who would it be?
No I cant think of just one. France is a multicultural very pluralistic country with plenty of different kind of celebrities, in politics, in arts, in fashion. For me it is the plentitude of differencies that is so enchanting.

What are your professional or personal projects for the future?
I will be working as a deputé the next four years in the committee of finance, covering all sectors. This way I will be able to be an all around politician with perhaps a special focus on children and the future after all. I hope I will have a little bit more time to spare to be a proper mother. The years as minister in the government were hard for my kids too.

Could you explain to our readers when you decided to become a politician?
It was the Parliamentary elections in 1979 where the National Coalition Party won a landslide victory, but the party was still kept in opposition. I found this very unfair and wanted to find the reasons for this. This is how I became interested in politics and little by little this interest has taken over me.

Did you have strong political beliefs during your youth?
I still have strong political beliefs and a belief in politics.

Was the choice of becoming a “full time politician” difficult to make?
It was not really a decision I made. It all went very naturally, once you show your interest in politics and have ideas of how to develop it, the duties start to flow your direction.

How could you present The National Coalition Party to our readers who don’t know it?
The National Coalition Party is a bourgeois party with long traditions but a modern view of the world around us.

Has The National Coalition Party always been present in the Finnish political life?
The National Coalition Party was founded on December 9, 1918, at a time when Finland’s fromer party division had grown outdated as a result of the independence in 1917. It was one of the very first political parties in Finland and the guiding idea behind the establishment of the party was the achievement of national unity through the promotion of social justice, among other things.

If you had to describe this party with 5 words…
The national coalition party is bourgeois, individualistic, supporter of social market economy,

What are the positive and negative aspects of being a politician?
It is hard to live with the lack of privacy. On the positive note I should say, that playing an active role in the politics really is the only way to make a change in the society.

Do you consider it as a profession or is it more than that?
This is a way of life, not just a profession. It also is a life-long learning experience, one has to build opinions af a variety of matters and drive for what you think is best for your region or your country.

When you became Minister for Foreign Trade and European Affairs in 2002, did you have the feeling that it was the achievement of something?
I felt it was a recognition of my previous work, I had been active in politics for more than 20 years. But there was also an element of surprise in the process.

If you had the possibility to totally change your profession. What would you choose?
I don´t feel like changing anything much, but if I had to, I could see myself working in an international NGO to tackle globalisation.

Why do you think that  in Europe people become less and less interested in politics?
Life in Europe is secure and stable, most people don’t need an urgent change.

How do you explain the results of Mister Tony Halme during the last Parliamentary elections? Do you think that he was elected for his ideas or for other reasons?
Tony Halme was able to draw to the polls people who don’t usually vote. If he adapts to the parliamentary working habits he will probably lose these radical voters. If he does not adapt, then it will be difficult for him to really make a change of the system.

What are your professional or personal projects for the future?
To participate in drawing my parties future political guidelines. The National Coalition Party will be in the opposition for the near future, but we will not be a quiet opposition.