President Alexander Stubb and security policy drew global attention to Finland in 2025

Security policy topics, which have dominated international coverage on Finland since 2022, continued as the key theme in 2025. The number of news headlines about Finland was lower than the previous year, but President of the Republic Alexander Stubb assumed a significantly more visible role on the international stage. Country brand surveys indicate that Finland’s brand has become more positive, and awareness of Finland has increased since 2024. However, Finland’s positive image development has not fully kept pace with other countries.

There were about 240,000 hits for headlines mentioning Finland or Finns in international media last year according to the How the World Views Finland 2026 report, which brings together international country brand surveys, media monitoring and observations from Finland’s missions abroad.

This is 60,000 fewer hits than in 2024, but more than the average prior to 2022, which was the peak year for Finland’s media visibility.

As in previous years, security policy remained the most significant theme in news items about Finland. For example, the media wrote about Finland’s approach to comprehensive security and preparedness, expertise in arctic warfare, and status as a frontline NATO country. Reporting on Finland and security policy was largely positive or even admiring in tone. However, some headlines were quite alarmist, which created an impression that Russia poses an immediate threat to Finland.

“In a challenging global situation, a strong country image is important for security. A positive country image is also important for Finland’s economic success. Based on an international study, country brand accounts for about one quarter of tourism revenue, foreign investments and the outcome of efforts to attract talent and experts,” says Mikko Koivumaa, Director General of Communications at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Chair of the Finland Promotion Board.

President Stubb overwhelmingly the most visible Finn

In 2025, international news media began describing Finland as a more prominent actor in debates surrounding European security. This trend was amplified by President of the Republic Alexander Stubb’s high-profile diplomacy and role as a supporter of Ukraine. Particular attention was focused on interactions between President Stubb and US President Donald Trump. President Stubb was the most mentioned Finn in international media by a wide margin: he was mentioned about 123,000 times, which is an increase of 75,000 over the previous year.

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo was the second most mentioned Finn in international media with about 20,000 mentions. Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen took third place on the list of most mentioned Finns with 18,600 mentions, and Finland’s Eurovision song contest representative Erika Vikman was fourth with 15,800 mentions. As in previous years, athletes were strongly represented among the most mentioned Finns. Motor sports stars Valtteri Bottas and Kalle Rovanperä, basketball player Lauri Markkanen and ice hockey players Mikko Rantanen and Alexander Barkov were the most visible athletes mentioned in connection with Finland.

Finland widely admired

Brand surveys indicate that Finland is well regarded. Finland’s natural beauty, environmentalism, good governance, ethical standards and justice, safety, respect for human rights, and quality of education make a particularly positive impression. People in the most developed economies, i.e. the G7 countries, have a particularly positive view of Finland. A comparison of the images of 60 countries placed Finland fifth, behind Switzerland, Canada, Norway and Sweden.

The Anholt Nation Brands Index, which is a respected global poll of country images, indicates that Finland’s image has remained as positive as the previous year, but climbed two places in recognition among the 50 countries polled. However, recognition of Finland remained below the poll’s average at 35th place. Finland’s score saw very positive development in last year’s poll, with growth in nearly every metric. Despite the increased score, Finland’s placement in relation to other countries dropped in most metrics. This is due to last year’s broadly positive image trend, which Finland failed to keep pace with.

Majority of media attention positive

International media often depicts Finland as a country that others could learn from. Media impressions in 2025 indicate that security policy, education and happiness are the fields in which Finland is seen as having the most to offer. Finland is often referred to as a ‘model country’ in education, and global media follows Finland’s approach closely. Among other subjects, the ban on smart devices in lessons garnered interest globally. Happiness, safety, freedom, trust, equality, healthcare, social security and sauna were mentioned as examples of factors contributing to happiness.

Though most of the media attention on Finland is neutral or positive, the largest single news spike last year was negative. The largest news item about Finland in terms of potential reach was the chain of events caused by racist pictures posted by Miss Finland and individual Members of Parliament, which eventually led to an apology by the Prime Minister. The pictures were reported around the world, but gained the most visibility in South Korea, Japan and China. The subject was covered in online news items, print media and even main television news broadcasts. Finland and racism were commented on tens of thousands of times across various social media platforms.