They think big thoughts in Finland. And large infrastructure projects are being built in Denmark and Germany. On Monday, it prompted the Finnish ambassador to Denmark, Harri Kämärienen, to visit Rødbyhavn and Lolland for the first time since he took office in 2021.
Fixed connection from Helsinki to Tallinn
It is approximately 80 kilometers from Finland’s capital, Helsinki, to Estonia’s capital, Tallinn. A fixed connection across the Gulf of Finland between the two capitals will solve a major problem for Finland. Today, all rail traffic between the two countries runs through Russia. It is partly a detour and partly a geopolitically tough nut to crack, as the war in Ukraine has made the already tense relationship between the new NATO country, Finland, and Russia highly tense.
However, an 80 kilometer long fixed connection above or below the sea is quite an achievement. Today, the world’s longest undersea connection is the Seikan Tunnel, which connects the Japanese main island with Hokkaidõ to the north. The Seikan tunnel is just under 54 kilometers long, so the Finnish project will eventually become the world’s longest over/undersea fixed connection.
From Vaasa to Umeå
At the same time, a permanent connection between the western Finnish city of Vaasa and Umeå in eastern Sweden is being debated. Here the distance is also around 80 kilometers, but a few pit stops can be made over some small islands along the way, so from an engineering point of view it is somewhat easier to realize.
On Monday, the Finnish ambassador to Denmark, Harri Kämärienen, was in Rødbyhavn to look at the Fehmarn project. And the ambassador was – literally – impressed:
– It is a little difficult to understand
– I expected to see something gigantic, but the dimensions I have seen were much more than I could have imagined. It is a little difficult to understand how big it is. Not just the tunnel, but the entire infrastructure around the tunnel project here on Lolland and on the German side. How well planned everything is and how well it is organized in the workplace itself. I am very, very impressed, the ambassador told FemernReport after the visit to the tunnel construction site.
Some political support
Is Helsinki-Tallinn or Vaasa-Umeå just something people talk about in Finland, or is it realistic?
– Now there is a lot of talk about the project between Vaasa and Umeå in particular, and it already has some political support in parliament, and there are some politicians who speak very strongly for it. The project between Helsinki and Tallinn is not that far yet, and it has not been concretized. But with the new situation in Europe, that question has also become more relevant, says the ambassador.
Danish politicians take political risks
Have you seen anything today that could be used as inspiration in that debate?
– What I have been inspired by is that Denmark is doing something. Not only the Fehmarn project, but Denmark has many infrastructure projects that reach far into the future. Danish politicians have made decisions that not only have to do with our generation, but also for our children and grandchildren. You take the political risk and make decisions that have significance far into the future. I find that very inspiring, and I would also like to see that in other countries, says Harri Kämärienen.
The tunnel factory is good news for Finland
Now there is a tunnel factory on Lolland that can build tunnel elements. What does that mean?
– It is good news for Finland that there is already a factory that can produce tunnel elements. This is very good news, which I am very much looking forward to sharing with my fellow countrymen and women in Finland. What I have seen is so impressive. To see that there is already a factory that can not only produce tunnel elements, but also gigantic elements for perhaps wind farms and other things. So I’m really happy that I came to Lolland and saw this, and heard the information I got today, concludes Ambassador Harri Kämärienen.
