UN Congratulates an Executioner – Credibility in Free Fall

As we all know, Iran’s Islamist regime brutally killed thousands of protesters at the end of last year and at the beginning of this year. In addition, it has financed and supported terrorist organizations operating in the Middle East, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, which in turn have killed civilians in Israel. Nor should the regime’s role in forcing Iranian women into compulsory veiling—and the daily suffering caused by it—be underestimated.

All of this has not prevented Iran from being a member of the United Nations. Nor did it prevent UN Secretary-General António Guterres from sending a congratulatory letter to the Iranian government yesterday, on the anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution. In his letter, the Secretary-General congratulated Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian by name.

In his message, Guterres also described the day as an opportunity to reflect on the country’s path, role, and contribution to the international community, and invited Iranians to global cooperation to promote peace and security and to defend human rights—thus demonstrating a complete inability to act as the leader of the world organization.

Of course, António Guterres has previously shown himself to be unfit, but congratulating a terrorist regime that has just executed its own citizens en masse is downright disgraceful. At the same time, it strips the UN of the last remnants of its credibility as an actor in world politics.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Venezuela, Antonio Guterres and the Nature of Great Powers
The Cost of the East Jerusalem Attack for Palestinians — and Its Echo Worldwide
Finland Decides to Withdraw from the Ottawa Treaty — But What Business Is It of Guterres?

The original blogpost in Finnish:
YK:n pääsihteeri onnitteli Iraniin islamistihallintoa

How naive can the world's most intelligent people be?

The most prestigious - and the only one known to the general public - recognition for scientific work in the world is the Nobel Prize. These prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, with the exception of the Peace Prize, which is awarded in Oslo, Norway.

The award ceremony in Stockholm is a solemn event attended by the cream of Sweden's society. This year, the Nobel Foundation, which organizes the award ceremony, announced a few days ago that it would invite all the ambassadors from every country to the event.

Even politically neutral King Carl XVI Gustaf expressed his surprise at the invitation extended to the Russian ambassador. Consequently, the Nobel Foundation announced yesterday that it would not invite the ambassadors of Russia, Belarus, or Iran after all.

Of course, this incident is not inherently significant enough to warrant a blog post. However, I brought it up because it demonstrated how naive even the world's most intelligent people can be (assuming that the members of the Nobel Committee fall into that category).

The committee had justified inviting the Russian ambassador by stating that they wanted the values underlying the Nobel Prize to reach even those who do not share those values. As if Vladimir Putin, Alexander Lukashenko, or Ali Khamenei were unaware of these Western values and ideas.

I can tell the esteemed Nobel Committee that they are indeed aware of them. Moreover, they deliberately disregard these values.

That's why I can only imagine how amusing it must have been in Moscow, Minsk, and Tehran as the aforementioned trio observed the incredible naivety and idealism of the Nobel Committee. In that sense, the farce we witnessed was not very surprising, given that it was the Swedes who, through equally naive and idealistic immigration policies, destroyed their own extremely prosperous and secure welfare state at the turn of the 21st century.

The original thought in Finnish:
Kuinka naiiveja voivat olla maailman älykkäimmät ihmiset?

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Hussein Al-Taee, an Islamic militant and a member of the Social Democratic Party of Finland
Most useless organisations of our time
Pacifism - a respectable tool to support inhumane dictators and warlords

A new wave of asylum seekers

According to the European Union Agency for Asylum, the last year´s number of asylum seekers was highest since year 2016. Their number was 966 000 people - excluding most Ukrainians - whereas in 2016 the EU borders were crossed by 1 256 000 asylum seekers. 

It remains to be seen how this new wave of people affects the internal unity of the Union. How the incoming people will be distributed among different countries, and how will their costs be covered in EU going towards economic challenges?

In Finland, there has been no obvious change if Ukrainians are not counted. That underlines the impact of former prime minister Juha Sipilä (Center party), who invited Iraqi people in 2015 by promising his own house to their use. Now no Finn has invited people from anywhere to travel through safe countries of Europe to look for asylum in Finland, and almost no one seems to prioritize the cold northern country as their destination. 

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
The change in the demographic structure of Helsinki
Sweden already in trouble - Finland following
175 happy winners