Helsinki to explore ties with Palestinian city after council clash

Helsinki will investigate whether it can establish a friendship-city relationship with a city in the Palestinian territories, after the proposal prompted a heated exchange in the city council, Yle reported.

Left Alliance councillor Silvia Modig and National Coalition Party councillor Matias Pajula left the council chamber and continued their loud discussion outside. Their voices could be heard inside the chamber.

Pajula declined to discuss the argument in detail or say what had sparked it. He said the subject was exceptionally sensitive and that both had expressed their views before shaking hands. Yle was unable to reach Modig for comment.

The proposal passed despite a motion by Pajula to send it back for further consideration. The city will now explore the possibility of building cooperation with a Palestinian city, taking as a model its work with the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.

Left Alliance councillor Mia Haglund said the matter was about friendship between cities, not Finnish foreign policy. Several National Coalition councillors argued that the city should not conduct foreign policy. The role of the city and whether the initiative amounted to foreign policy divided councillors.