Finnish party unveils 26-point plan to strengthen Sámi rights
Wednesday 11th November 2026 on 14:15 in
Finland
The Swedish People’s Party of Finland (RKP) has become the first parliamentary party to publish a Sámi policy programme, setting out 26 proposals to strengthen Sámi rights and self-government, Yle reported.
The party published the programme on Monday, 9 November. Compiled with RKP Sámi, it covers legislation, languages, education, traditional livelihoods and climate change. A Yle survey found that most other parties do not plan to publish similar programmes, but address Sámi rights in other ways.
The proposals call for Finland to advance the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and ratify the International Labour Organization’s Convention No. 169 in cooperation with the Sámi. They also call for the recommendations of the Sámi Truth and Reconciliation Commission to be carried out according to a timetable.
Other proposals include changes concerning reindeer herding, fishing rights and the Sámi Language Act; more Sámi-language services and education; and a permanent Sámi affairs unit within the government. The programme also covers land and water rights, social and health services, housing in the north, infrastructure and measures to adapt to climate change.
RKP chair Anders Adlercreutz said at a news conference in Inari that implementing the proposals would require broad political will and concrete action. “I hope the importance of Sámi issues will be recognised throughout society. We are talking about Europe’s only Indigenous people and a great need to put things right in many ways,” he said.
The initiative came from Tuomas Aslak Juuso, second vice-chair of the Sámi Parliament and an RKP member. He said he proposed a programme to set the party’s longer-term goals and clarify what it would advance as a whole.
Several of RKP’s proposals match recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The party’s programme also calls for sustainable efforts to control humpback salmon and for Sámi-language services to be provided.