Helsingin Sanomat editor-in-chief Kaius Niemi said that the article, which was featured online and in its monthly magazine supplement Kuukausiliite, was supposed to be a piece of light entertainment, but ended up fueling controversy. Humour is a difficult skill, Niemi observed in an interview with the Finnish news agency STT.
Niemi apologised for the offence caused by the tone of the article and said that it did not represent Helsingin Sanomat editorial policy. He called on readers to refer to an editorial comment (in Finnish) on the subject, adding that cooperation between Finland and Estonia is important.
Gag piece rife with stereotypes
The monthly supplement article published the top 30 reader suggestions for nicknames for Finland’s neighbours to the south. Many of the proposals included well-known Finnish stereotypes of Estonians and included items like "varttiryssä" and "virus" both of which imply that Estonians are part-Russian.
Some of the explanations behind the suggestions also raised eyebrows in Finland and abroad in Estonia - "they chase money" and "they buy BMWs as soon as they can afford it" and "they don’t believe in war" – were among the less complimentary.
The kinder epithets referenced the Estonian national epic the Kalevipoeg and the Forest Brothers, a resistance movement that waged guerilla warfare against the Soviet invasion and occupation of Baltic States.
Article irks Estonian President
The monikers were enough to rile Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, who took to the micro-blogging site Twitter to express his disapproval.
"I am speechless," Ilves wrote on Saturday.
He wasn’t the only one in Estonia taking note of the HS prank article.
“I don’t quite understand why this was done. Apparently out of sheer boredom, although Finland has an election coming up and when there is reason to observe what’s going on in the world, there shouldn’t be any reason to be bored,” said Estonian Europarliamentarian Urmas Paet.
He added it would have been better to altogether ignore many of the sobriquets proposed by readers.
Meanwhile Estonian MP Enn Eesmaa pointed to national folk wisdom: what you say of others is what you are yourself. Composer Erkki-Sven Tüür pitched in, saying that in spite of the promise of spring, many publications were still mired in autumn decay.
HS Twitter apology
Editor-in-chief Niemi also took to the twittersphere to respond to the comments from Estonia, saying that there was no intention to offend.
"No intentions to hurt Estonian feelings. Next time with better style," he wrote.
