The number of reported hate crimes has risen steadily each year since around 2020 in Finland, according to the Police University College. In 2025, nearly 70% of the crime reports filed were motivated by the victims' ethnic or national background.
Many suspected cases mainly dealt with verbal insults, threats, and harassment, broadcaster Yle reported, citing a report by the country’s Police University College.
The data shows that this year suspected hate crimes cases reached a record high in the country as police recorded a total of 1,808 suspected hate crimes, up 13% since 2023.
The report said the motives behind the suspected crimes were most often racist in nature, adding that nearly 70% of the reports filed were motivated by the victims' ethnic or national background.
"The Finnish Criminal Code does not include the criminal categories of hate crime or hate speech, but hate motive is a basis for increasing the punishment. Therefore, any act that is defined by legislation as a crime can be a hate crime," said Police University College.
Jenita Rauta, a researcher at the university, said victims' disability, sexual orientation, or religious background were among hate crimes reported last year.
"The trend is concerning. In my opinion, the increase in hate crimes against people with disabilities reflects, for example, a broader societal polarisation in which those in vulnerable positions are targeted," Rauta said.
According to the report, the most targeted group were Syrians living in Finland as the most common victims were Muslims, and the suspected crimes typically took place online.
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Follow the latest developments and global reaction after the U.S. and Israel launched “major combat operations” in Iran, prompting retaliation from Tehran.
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran are escalating, with Washington ordering a significant military build-up in the region and multiple countries evacuating diplomatic staff amid fears of further instability.
Governments across the region responded swiftly to Israel’s strikes on Iran, closing airspace, issuing travel advisories and activating contingency plans amid fears of escalation.
Two people were killed and around 40 injured when a tram derailed in central Milan on Friday (27 February), a spokesperson for the local fire service said.
Pakistani air strikes hit a weapons depot on the western outskirts of Kabul overnight, triggering hours of secondary explosions that rattled homes across the Afghan capital and left residents fearing further violence.
Protests broke out in Pakistan and Iraq on Sunday after Iranian state media confirmed that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been killed in joint U.S.–Israeli strikes. At least nine people were reported dead in clashes near the U.S. consulate in Karachi.
Afghanistan said it had fired at Pakistani aircraft over Kabul after explosions and gunfire rocked the capital early on Sunday, marking a sharp escalation in fighting between the two neighbours.
A senior Iranian official has warned Israel to “prepare for what is coming”, insisting that Tehran’s response to the latest escalation in the Middle East will be made openly and without limits.
Cuba has released extensive details of a deadly midweek shootout at sea, showing rifles, pistols and nearly 13,000 rounds of ammunition that it says were carried by a group of exiles who attempted to enter the island by speedboat.
Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers said on Friday (27 February) they were ready to negotiate after Pakistan bombed their forces in several Afghan cities, including Kabul and Kandahar, and Islamabad declared the neighbours were now in "open war".
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