Embassy of Finland in Sweden
Finland and Sweden are often seen as siblings, and for a reason. For as long as we can remember, there has been rivalry between us. A love-hate relationship, but also a fundamental feeling of belonging together.
In this relationship, Finland has traditionally been the little brother: smaller, with a lower standard of living and with a difficult language spoken by even less people than Swedish. Further away from the West that has held a powerful allure to Swedes for ages, and closer to the East that has interested them less, at least when it comes to travel, studies or cultural influence.
For decades, Finland’s country image in Sweden remained pretty much intact. It was shaped by the factors mentioned above, but also by Finland’s fate in World War II, the war children evacuated to Sweden, and in the 60s and 70s, the waves of Finns who came to Sweden for higher wages and blue collar occupations. When the Finnish cultural institute in Stockholm, think tank Magma and the Swedish-Finnish Culture Fund asked the research company Novus to find out what Swedes thought of Finland in 2017, the image that appeared was one of a well-liked but grey and old-fashioned country. The respondents could only name a few iconic brands or cultural figures such as the Moomintroll or Marimekko, and no newer, contemporary names. The Finns were seen as quiet, even depressed. Due to lack of knowledge, the survey said, Finland’s image in Sweden was outdated and stereotypical. Some people said that Finland was seldom covered in Swedish news, and that Finnish popular culture was to them a “black hole”.
When I started as Finland’s press and cultural counsellor in Sweden in 2019, the mission from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs was clear. We needed to update Finland’s country image in Sweden and make Finland more interesting – especially to the younger generation, being the future politicians, business leaders and opinion builders.
To that end, we have carried out varied activities. In 2020, our short video Till dig som svensk är (To you who’s a Swede) compared Finland’s Independence Day with Sweden’s National Day and managed to both entertain and inform the audience about Finland’s history and present day. In 2021, our collaboration with Swedish food influencers brought Finnish food brands and innovations to new audiences. In 2022, our social media campaign Finsk standard (Finnish standard), seen by around 200 000 Swedish youths, looked at how Finnish schools teach kids future skills, like understanding disinformation and AI. In 2023, we will launch a digital campaign to attract Swedes to study in Finland. Our country image work also entails continuous contacts with the media, networking, press trips and social media content on themes such as Finnish innovations, cultural offerings and travel destinations.
The embassy’s work is, of course, just a drop in the ocean when it comes to the forces that shape Finland’s country image. Over the past decade, several significant developments have had an effect on how Swedes see Finland. Finland’s success in the PISA school surveys and the World Happiness Report have not gone unnoticed. Finns were praised in for their preparedness and way of handling the corona pandemic, and former prime minister Sanna Marin became hugely popular – prompting many people to ask why such a young female leader had not been fostered in Sweden, considered a model country for gender equality, but in Finland instead. The increasing interest culminated in the countries’ Nato process that started after Russia’s invasion to Ukraine. Swedish media saw Finland as taking the lead, while Sweden, for once, was the one following.
In early 2023, the embassy, Finnish cultural institute, Magma and the Swedish-Finnish Culture Fund commissioned a new Novus survey on Finland’s image in Sweden. And while our image is by no means not entirely different today, it is more nuanced. Quite a few Swedes are now able to mention Sanna Marin by name and some might even get president Sauli Niinistö’s name right. Around half of Swedes see Finland as an equal country, compared to 26 per cent in 2017. Interest in Finland is increasing, with Finnish history and societal debate as top areas. Young people, especially men, are increasingly interested in Finland. Finland’s Eurovision Song Contest representative Käärijä has started to fill out that popular culture black hole at least a little, and Finland is relatively widely covered in Swedish media. More than once, journalists have turned the old metaphor on its head: Finland is now the big brother.
Country images change slowly, and lots remains to be done. Interest in Finnish culture is still low, and it remains to be seen whether the current situation is permanent or merely a temporary change in reputation. But one thing is sure: the past years have opened the Swedes’ eyes to Finland, and we – Finnish companies, artists, politicians, diplomats, any field really – should make the most of this opportunity.