Προφίλ συναλλασσόμενης χώρας Φινλανδία

Political outline | Living conditions | Useful resources | Communications

Political outline

Executive Power: President of Finland is the head of state, leads the foreign policy, and is the Commander-in-Chief of the Defense Forces. The main executive power lies in the cabinet appointed and headed by the prime minister. Before the constitutional rewrite, which was completed in 2000, the president enjoyed more power.
Legislative Power: Legislative power is vested in the Parliament of Finland (Eduskunta), and the government has limited rights to amend or extend legislation. The president has the power of veto over parliamentary decisions although it can be overrun by the parliament.
Main political parties: Finland has a multi-party system where a single party does not have chance to gain power alone; so parties work with each other to form coalition governments. The main political parties in the country are:
- Center Party (Suomen Keskusta) – a centrist political party, traditionally representing rural interests having strong political influence in small municipalities;
- National Coalition Party (Kansallinen Kokoomus) – a right-wing party draws its major support from business community and urban professionals;
- Social Democratic Party (Suomen Sosiaalidemokraattinen Puolue, SDP) – follows social-democratic ideology, draws its major support from country's working class;
- Greens (Vihreät) - advocates environmental interests;
- The Swedish People's Party (SFP) (in Finnish) – a moderate liberal party of Swedish speaking minority.
Current political leaders: President: Tarja Halonen (since March 2000, re-elected in January 2006) –Social Democratic Party (SDP)
Prime Minister: Jyrki KATAINEN (since 22 June 2011) - National Coalition Party (Kansallinen Kokoomus)
Next election dates: Presidential: January 2012

Living conditions

Health and safety

Health precautions: No specific vaccination required.
International hospitals: There are no international hospitals but Finnish hospitals, health care centres and private clinics are at service for foreigners in case of emergency and it is easy to get service in English there.
For further information on sanitary conditions: Ministry of Social Affairs and Health
The World Health Organization website devoted to Finland
For further information on safety conditions: The Travel Advice of the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Travel Advice of the US Department of State
The Current Travel Warnings of the US Department of State
Contact your Embassy: Embassy of Greece in Finland
Maneesikatu 2 A 4
FIN-00170 HELSINKI
Phone: +358-9-62 29 790
Fax: +358-9-27 81 200
info@greekembassy.fi http://www.greekembassy.fi/

Emergency numbers

Fire, ambulance and police	112
Poison aid centre	09 471 977
Marine emergency	0204 1000

Time difference and climate

Time and time difference: It is %T:%M %A in Helsinki (GMT+2 in the winter, GMT+3 in the summer)
Summer time period: From the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October.

Map of the time zone

Type of climate: Summer is warm with average temperatures around +20°C. July is the warmest month with temperatures up to +30°C. Winter, which lasts from November to mid-March approximately, may be very cold with temperatures up to -30°C.

For further information: Finnish Meteorological Institute

Average annual temperatures and rainfall

Useful resources

Communications

Telephone codes: To make a call from Finland to Greece: dial 00 (or +) 30
To make a call to in Finland from Greece: dial 00 (or +) +358
Mobile telephone standards: GSM, UMTS (3GPP)
Internet suffix: .fi

ΠΡΟΦΙΛ ΣΥΝΑΛΛΑΣΣΟΜΕΝΩΝ ΧΩΡΩΝ

General Information

Political outline

Living conditions

Health and safety

Emergency numbers

Time difference and climate

Map of the time zone

Average annual temperatures and rainfall

Useful resources

Communications