**5. Research results**

Among Northern Europe countries, Finland is of great interest as a neighboring country having a large number of migrants from Russia and as a country that pursues a successful migration policy aimed at local community sustainability. Finland's Future of Migration 2020 Strategy has been recently adopted and announces the following principles [25]:


Starting from January 1, 2015, an updated Finnish Non-Discrimination Act came into force authorizing the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman [26]. Nowadays, in Finland, there are Non-Discrimination Ombudsman, Equality Ombudsman and Ombudsman for Children; all three institutions are also aimed at migration policy regulation.

According to Statistics Finland, Russians were the largest migration group till 2010 (29,500) [27]. For the last several years, the situation has changed. Russians (29,800) are the second largest group after Estonians (38,000). Today, migration flow in Finland is mainly represented with two largest groups of migrants: 49% of Estonians and 39% of Russians according to International Migration Outlook [28].

For the last 5 years (2010–2015), migration outflow has dried out from Russia to Finland. For a long period starting from 1990s till 2010 (about 20 years), basic reasons for active labor migration in Finland were the following: Inkeri Finns repatriation, international marriages and refugees. However, currently, Finnish immigration policy is changing drastically-foreign labor migration flows from Russia are significantly reducing. One of the basic reasons is that Finnish Government has fully stopped Inkeri Finns repatriation from Russia starting from July 1, 2011. As a result, Finnish migration policy has changed significantly.

**319**

*Public Diplomacy in Cross-Border Cooperation DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.92663*

Russian migrants' relations with politics.

additional characteristics of the sample.

integration" according to Election Act.

interest in politics: active, idle and blocking.

high, can be divided into two further groups:

• Those who actually like to discuss politics with peers

regulation.

environment.

Currently, Russian diaspora in Finland is not studied well though, especially Russian migrants' peculiar political communication traits. In this term, these characteristics are highly valuable from the point of view of migration policy

Russian migrants are the second largest group of migrants in Finland influencing potentially the political process. Here, we have in mind that Russian migrants in Finland have a very strong instrument of influence-right to vote at municipal elections. According to the Finnish law-the Election Act [29]-any citizen of any state has a right to take part in municipal elections. There are however additional two conditions such as the living status in the municipality in which the vote is held (at least 51 days before election day) and staying in Finland for at least 2 years. Let us consider Russian migrants' living in Finland survey results in order to identify their political communication characteristics. The research of Russian migrants organized in Finland is a qualitative one and allows to both develop and prepare based on the more in-depth study. The aim of the research is to identify

In general, 122 respondents took part in interviews. No doubt the obtained data demand further approval by quantitative data, but this research is mainly qualitative and aimed at analyzing interaction of the target group with an ambient

Respondents were selected in accordance with the snowball effect. The respondent profile is presented with a Russian migrant living in Finland for more than 3 years, of Russian nationality, and of full legal age. Age, education level and income level were not taken into consideration. The interview also revealed some

After the interview, it became clear that 45% of respondents were not interested in politics ("idle respondents"); 45% who became "active respondents" were actively using political communication channels [media, social networks, Internet, TV and social circles (family and job)]. About 10% of respondents were rather negative toward politics ("blocking respondents"): "I am interested only in my close people; I do not see any reason to spend my time on politics." About 13% of respondents participated in municipal voting. Finnish law is ensuring migrants' participation in municipal elections-"for those migrants who live at least 2 years in Finland and at least 51 days in the commune in order to involve them in the processes of

The most popular expression that served as a motive for respondents' typology was "try to follow up all the news." Thus, the respondents ranged from actively watching political events "to be in the swim" to never participating in elections, signing/creating petitions "because that doesn't help," and never be interested in news but participating in elections "of course it's my duty, I have to vote" or "it is necessary to do something, chose if you remain silent this will happen all the time." In summary, three main types of respondents could be identified based upon their

**Active respondent**: Most active respondents have aspiration to compare different sources of information, interest in politics of both Finland and Russia, as well as international and local political issues. Those, whose interest in political issues is

• Those who are actively looking for political news but they are not that open to discussions and consider this knowledge only for their personal development

The authors developed a questionnaire in order to achieve the research goal. The questionnaire included 30 questions and was divided into five main categories: political information sources, political dialog, use of sources of information through the Internet, political participation and social status. Secondary questions were related to international news, national government, economic news, community

Official statistics both of the UN and national states is widely applied [6, 23]. Migrants' survey is the most important tool that allows to identify structural changes in society and to evaluate reasons for these changes [24]. Migrants' surveys allow to supplement and provide more detailed information on statistics obtained

Among Northern Europe countries, Finland is of great interest as a neighboring country having a large number of migrants from Russia and as a country that pursues a successful migration policy aimed at local community sustainability. Finland's Future of Migration 2020 Strategy has been recently adopted and

• Migration will enhance the well-being of the population and boost Finland's

• Migrants will be able to use their skills and contribute to the future develop-

Starting from January 1, 2015, an updated Finnish Non-Discrimination Act came

According to Statistics Finland, Russians were the largest migration group till 2010 (29,500) [27]. For the last several years, the situation has changed. Russians (29,800) are the second largest group after Estonians (38,000). Today, migration flow in Finland is mainly represented with two largest groups of migrants: 49% of Estonians and 39% of Russians according to International Migration

For the last 5 years (2010–2015), migration outflow has dried out from Russia to Finland. For a long period starting from 1990s till 2010 (about 20 years), basic reasons for active labor migration in Finland were the following: Inkeri Finns repatriation, international marriages and refugees. However, currently, Finnish immigration policy is changing drastically-foreign labor migration flows from Russia are significantly reducing. One of the basic reasons is that Finnish Government has fully stopped Inkeri Finns repatriation from Russia starting from July 1, 2011. As a

into force authorizing the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman [26]. Nowadays, in Finland, there are Non-Discrimination Ombudsman, Equality Ombudsman and Ombudsman for Children; all three institutions are also aimed at migration policy

• Diversity will be valued as Finland's internationalization continues.

• Equality and equal opportunities will apply to everyone.

• Migration will be foreseeable and controlled.

result, Finnish migration policy has changed significantly.

events, and editorial columns of the local news.

from public information sources.

announces the following principles [25]:

**5. Research results**

competitiveness.

ment of society.

regulation.

Outlook [28].

**318**

Currently, Russian diaspora in Finland is not studied well though, especially Russian migrants' peculiar political communication traits. In this term, these characteristics are highly valuable from the point of view of migration policy regulation.

Russian migrants are the second largest group of migrants in Finland influencing potentially the political process. Here, we have in mind that Russian migrants in Finland have a very strong instrument of influence-right to vote at municipal elections. According to the Finnish law-the Election Act [29]-any citizen of any state has a right to take part in municipal elections. There are however additional two conditions such as the living status in the municipality in which the vote is held (at least 51 days before election day) and staying in Finland for at least 2 years.

Let us consider Russian migrants' living in Finland survey results in order to identify their political communication characteristics. The research of Russian migrants organized in Finland is a qualitative one and allows to both develop and prepare based on the more in-depth study. The aim of the research is to identify Russian migrants' relations with politics.

In general, 122 respondents took part in interviews. No doubt the obtained data demand further approval by quantitative data, but this research is mainly qualitative and aimed at analyzing interaction of the target group with an ambient environment.

Respondents were selected in accordance with the snowball effect. The respondent profile is presented with a Russian migrant living in Finland for more than 3 years, of Russian nationality, and of full legal age. Age, education level and income level were not taken into consideration. The interview also revealed some additional characteristics of the sample.

After the interview, it became clear that 45% of respondents were not interested in politics ("idle respondents"); 45% who became "active respondents" were actively using political communication channels [media, social networks, Internet, TV and social circles (family and job)]. About 10% of respondents were rather negative toward politics ("blocking respondents"): "I am interested only in my close people; I do not see any reason to spend my time on politics." About 13% of respondents participated in municipal voting. Finnish law is ensuring migrants' participation in municipal elections-"for those migrants who live at least 2 years in Finland and at least 51 days in the commune in order to involve them in the processes of integration" according to Election Act.

The most popular expression that served as a motive for respondents' typology was "try to follow up all the news." Thus, the respondents ranged from actively watching political events "to be in the swim" to never participating in elections, signing/creating petitions "because that doesn't help," and never be interested in news but participating in elections "of course it's my duty, I have to vote" or "it is necessary to do something, chose if you remain silent this will happen all the time." In summary, three main types of respondents could be identified based upon their interest in politics: active, idle and blocking.

**Active respondent**: Most active respondents have aspiration to compare different sources of information, interest in politics of both Finland and Russia, as well as international and local political issues. Those, whose interest in political issues is high, can be divided into two further groups:


Moreover, willingness to compare different sources of information often correlates with higher education.

**Idle respondents** are those who would listen about political issues in the general daily news flow but would not try to find information about political topics themselves. They would listen to political discussion and even might slightly participate in it but would not initiate it themselves. Politics for them is a parallel world in which they never seek to interfere, but always watch how it changes.

**Blocking respondent**: Mentioning politics brings negative emotions to members of this group. They generally have a skeptic approach toward political affairs. They would not participate in political discussions and would try to avoid them.

Thus, respondents' answers gave us an opportunity to categorize migrants in accordance with the above-mentioned types and also to allocate channels of political information for migrants.

Four main channels of receiving political information by Russian migrants in Finland-Internet, TV, newspapers and social circles-were outlined. It should be noted that information obtained by Russian migrants living in Finland is performed through a wide range of channels. However, another peculiar feature should also be mentioned. Thus, for some respondents who do not know Finnish language or possess low knowledge of it, it is difficult to access news in Finnish. Despite this, it is still believed that the most favorable conditions for migrants are established in Finland, which is actively working on migrants' integration including Russian migrants also.

This is also proved by a wide range of news presented in Russian, for example, Internet news resources "YLE" and "Spectrum," information portals "Russian.fi," "Fontanka.fi" and "Russian Finland," and radio news in Russian language-"Sputnik."

Thus, the variety of sources from which the respondents received information on political events is reduced to the following basic four channels:

1.Newspapers (both printed and electronic) are divided into three groups


Migrants' survey results draw the following conclusion: newspapers (in electronic and printed form) were used by active and idle respondents. There is also a study outlining that newspaper reading and participation in discussions motivate to participate in political activities [30]. At the same time, it prevents from viewing

**321**

studied.

**Figure 6.**

Internet.

**6. Discussion**

dents' behavior is outlined.

themes often get avoided.

*Public Diplomacy in Cross-Border Cooperation DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.92663*

entertainment television programs. Thus, according to the results, people with higher interest in political events prefer to read newspapers and analytical articles, but refuse to participate in any political activity. Those who prefer TV programs to

*Political communication intensity of Russian migrants in Finland based upon information channels.*

Different channels' influence on political communication intensity was also

**Figure 6** shows the mean intensity of migrants' political communication

Frequency of turning to different information sources (number of days per year when sources were viewed in relation with the total number of days) was used as an indicator characterizing migrants' political communication intensity. Thus, "1" is presented as a maximum (daily frequency) and minimum is corresponding to

It is visible from **Figure 6** that political communication is getting more intensive when a migrant gets information from newspapers. In part, this might be due to the predominant position of Finnish newspapers that usually publish many details on municipality/city life in Finland. The second place goes to TV and the third to

Migrants' survey results showed that migrants' political communication evaluation is highly important since it allows to identify the underlying trends in political preferences, to obtain information for a rapid response in certain cases as well as

The chapter analyzed the interaction of the target group with ambient environment, and cause-and-effect relationship together with factors influencing respon-

According to the study of Mutz and Mondak [31], the most likely place for the policy debate is a working place. However, data obtained under the interview indicate that the situation has some limitations for Russian migrants in Finland. In the workplace, both in mixed teams (with Russian and Finnish colleagues) and in teams where only Russian migrants work, there are some discussions on political topics. Colleagues discuss political events not only in Russia and Finland but also on international arena; however, in companies with international staff, political

newspapers are trying to participate in the elections.

identify areas where migrants need support or assistance.

"0.03," which is several times per year.

depending on the type of source.

*Public Diplomacy in Cross-Border Cooperation DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.92663*

**Figure 6.**

*Heritage*

relates with higher education.

cal information for migrants.

migrants also.

language-"Sputnik."

Moreover, willingness to compare different sources of information often cor-

which they never seek to interfere, but always watch how it changes.

would not participate in political discussions and would try to avoid them.

This is also proved by a wide range of news presented in Russian, for example, Internet news resources "YLE" and "Spectrum," information portals "Russian.fi," "Fontanka.fi" and "Russian Finland," and radio news in Russian

on political events is reduced to the following basic four channels:

Thus, the variety of sources from which the respondents received information

• Russian newspapers: "Novaya gazeta," "Argumenty I facty" and "Snob"

• Finnish daily newspaper "Aamulehti" (second popular newspaper in

2.Television-respondents prefer watching Russian channels such as ORT, NTV, RTR, TNT, Channel 5 and the channel "Spas." Respondents particularly noted such political programs browsing as "K Bariery" on RTR channel and "Pyater-

3.Internet sources used by respondents in order to learn political news are

Newsru.com, Yandex.ru, Euronews, Facebook, Vkontakte and Odnoklassniki.

4.Small groups-another popular method of respondents' political communica-

Migrants' survey results draw the following conclusion: newspapers (in electronic and printed form) were used by active and idle respondents. There is also a study outlining that newspaper reading and participation in discussions motivate to participate in political activities [30]. At the same time, it prevents from viewing

1.Newspapers (both printed and electronic) are divided into three groups

Finland after "HelsinkinSanomat" and "TurunSanomat")

• Finnish resources in Russian language "Spector" и "YLE"

kapoekonomike" on "Spas" channel.

tion with coworkers and family members.

**Idle respondents** are those who would listen about political issues in the general daily news flow but would not try to find information about political topics themselves. They would listen to political discussion and even might slightly participate in it but would not initiate it themselves. Politics for them is a parallel world in

**Blocking respondent**: Mentioning politics brings negative emotions to members of this group. They generally have a skeptic approach toward political affairs. They

Thus, respondents' answers gave us an opportunity to categorize migrants in accordance with the above-mentioned types and also to allocate channels of politi-

Four main channels of receiving political information by Russian migrants in Finland-Internet, TV, newspapers and social circles-were outlined. It should be noted that information obtained by Russian migrants living in Finland is performed through a wide range of channels. However, another peculiar feature should also be mentioned. Thus, for some respondents who do not know Finnish language or possess low knowledge of it, it is difficult to access news in Finnish. Despite this, it is still believed that the most favorable conditions for migrants are established in Finland, which is actively working on migrants' integration including Russian

**320**

*Political communication intensity of Russian migrants in Finland based upon information channels.*

entertainment television programs. Thus, according to the results, people with higher interest in political events prefer to read newspapers and analytical articles, but refuse to participate in any political activity. Those who prefer TV programs to newspapers are trying to participate in the elections.

Different channels' influence on political communication intensity was also studied.

Frequency of turning to different information sources (number of days per year when sources were viewed in relation with the total number of days) was used as an indicator characterizing migrants' political communication intensity. Thus, "1" is presented as a maximum (daily frequency) and minimum is corresponding to "0.03," which is several times per year.

**Figure 6** shows the mean intensity of migrants' political communication depending on the type of source.

It is visible from **Figure 6** that political communication is getting more intensive when a migrant gets information from newspapers. In part, this might be due to the predominant position of Finnish newspapers that usually publish many details on municipality/city life in Finland. The second place goes to TV and the third to Internet.

Migrants' survey results showed that migrants' political communication evaluation is highly important since it allows to identify the underlying trends in political preferences, to obtain information for a rapid response in certain cases as well as identify areas where migrants need support or assistance.

#### **6. Discussion**

The chapter analyzed the interaction of the target group with ambient environment, and cause-and-effect relationship together with factors influencing respondents' behavior is outlined.

According to the study of Mutz and Mondak [31], the most likely place for the policy debate is a working place. However, data obtained under the interview indicate that the situation has some limitations for Russian migrants in Finland. In the workplace, both in mixed teams (with Russian and Finnish colleagues) and in teams where only Russian migrants work, there are some discussions on political topics. Colleagues discuss political events not only in Russia and Finland but also on international arena; however, in companies with international staff, political themes often get avoided.

The probability of discussion upon conflicting topics is much higher within the family members, since the level of trust is high. In the workplace, employees often prefer to avoid such issues, though it is not an absolute rule, and if there's trusting relationship between colleagues, it is quite possible to exchange opinions.

Under the interview, it was also defined that the role of small groups has an impact on Russian migrants' political communication in Finland.

Under the interview, the correlation between level of integration into the host society and choice of an interesting event in Russian and Finnish societies was found. For example, young migrants (students and young migrants in a labor market), who grew up in Finland and are fluent in Finnish language, have a higher degree of social inclusion, which allows them to understand more easily what is happening in the political arena.

Senior migrants often lack language skills and socialization experience in the new society (no work and no new education) and often prefer to concentrate on Russian political events, obtaining information mainly from Russian media. However, this is not a widespread rule. In Finland, there are Russian migrants who are active in the preretirement and retirement age. They continue to familiarize themselves with the host society and to stay up to date with its main events. For some Russian migrants, Finnish news daily newspaper "Aamulehti" is the main source of information, and they read it, even if they have to use the dictionary constantly.

Migrants' survey results confirmed previously identified relationship between the level of education and breadth of political interests (see [32, 33]) and have showed that migrants with higher education seek to educate a wider range of political topics. They used a wider range of information, including analytical programs and magazines. These respondents refer to news critically and compare news from various sources. The results of conducted migrants' interviews confirm this relationship again. Thus, "active" respondents with higher education are more eager to talk about information analysis from different (or even multilingual) sources ("I compare information from different sources, in particular, the Finnish sources-YLE, Russian news channels in Internet, British sources, then I can Skype with my friends and ask how it is in reality."). Thus, the analysis of a wide range of news gives a clearer picture of the situation in a political world and can provide a more solid basis for political communication and political participation later.

The research also proved the fact that migrants' social inclusion into host society is highly dependent on language knowledge. For confirmation of the hypothesis, a causal analysis of the social inclusion impact upon political communication intensity was conducted. As an indicator, which characterizes Russian migrants' social inclusion, we use factor of foreign languages' knowledge, including Finnish and English. The final indicator for political communication intensity became the frequency of interaction with information sources (access to Internet sources, reading newspapers, watching TV, small group discussion, etc).

Knowledge of Russian language is accepted as a minimum factor of migrants' social inclusion. Knowledge of one foreign language (English or Finnish) correlated to average value of migrants' social inclusion. The maximum value of the factor is the knowledge of two or more foreign languages.

**Figure 7** below shows migrants' political communication intensity depending on foreign language knowledge.

**Figure 7** shows that migrants' political communication intensity is higher if a migrant knows one or more foreign languages; accordingly, he/she has an opportunity to get acquainted with a wide range of multilingual sources.

**323**

more likely."

**Figure 7.**

critically (see also [34]).

survey data processing:

groups, 18%.

within the family.

*Public Diplomacy in Cross-Border Cooperation DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.92663*

These results confirm the theory of Sotirovich and McLeod [30] that: "Education provides both knowledge and skills to work with information, and therefore, improves access to political process, at least, makes political participation

*Political communication intensity of Russian migrants in Finland depending on foreign language knowledge.*

The survey results have showed that workers with higher education, in general, seek to familiarize with a wide spectrum of political topics and thus analyze events

It is worth noting that research has proved the fact that migrants' social inclusion into society is heavily dependent upon foreign language skills. The following characteristics of migrants' political communication were outlined as a result of

• Respondents are distributed according to the following types of political com-

• Relationship is found between the level of education and both quantity and quality of media sources accessed by respondents; for example, only migrants

• Positive correlation between the number of foreign languages and migrants'

• The following priorities for the use of political information sources among migrants are identified: Internet, 64%; TV, 45%; newspapers, 27%; and small

• The impact of various information channels on political communication

• The role of small groups in migrants' political communication is discovered.

So, at the workplace and, in particular, in companies with an international team, despite the presence of small groups (colleagues), political topics are shot out by tolerant reasons. On the contrary, political situation is discussed more frequently

intensity of Russian immigrants in Finland is estimated.

munication: "active"—45%; "idle"—45% and "blocking"—10%.

with higher education accessed analytical journals.

political communication intensity is found.

*Public Diplomacy in Cross-Border Cooperation DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.92663*

*Heritage*

constantly.

participation later.

The probability of discussion upon conflicting topics is much higher within the family members, since the level of trust is high. In the workplace, employees often prefer to avoid such issues, though it is not an absolute rule, and if there's trusting

Under the interview, it was also defined that the role of small groups has an

Under the interview, the correlation between level of integration into the host society and choice of an interesting event in Russian and Finnish societies was found. For example, young migrants (students and young migrants in a labor market), who grew up in Finland and are fluent in Finnish language, have a higher degree of social inclusion, which allows them to understand more easily what is

Senior migrants often lack language skills and socialization experience in the new society (no work and no new education) and often prefer to concentrate on Russian political events, obtaining information mainly from Russian media. However, this is not a widespread rule. In Finland, there are Russian migrants who are active in the preretirement and retirement age. They continue to familiarize themselves with the host society and to stay up to date with its main events. For some Russian migrants, Finnish news daily newspaper "Aamulehti" is the main source of information, and they read it, even if they have to use the dictionary

Migrants' survey results confirmed previously identified relationship between the level of education and breadth of political interests (see [32, 33]) and have showed that migrants with higher education seek to educate a wider range of political topics. They used a wider range of information, including analytical programs and magazines. These respondents refer to news critically and compare news from various sources. The results of conducted migrants' interviews confirm this relationship again. Thus, "active" respondents with higher education are more eager to talk about information analysis from different (or even multilingual) sources ("I compare information from different sources, in particular, the Finnish sources-YLE, Russian news channels in Internet, British sources, then I can Skype with my friends and ask how it is in reality."). Thus, the analysis of a wide range of news gives a clearer picture of the situation in a political world and can provide a more solid basis for political communication and political

The research also proved the fact that migrants' social inclusion into host society is highly dependent on language knowledge. For confirmation of the hypothesis, a causal analysis of the social inclusion impact upon political communication intensity was conducted. As an indicator, which characterizes Russian migrants' social inclusion, we use factor of foreign languages' knowledge, including Finnish and English. The final indicator for political communication intensity became the frequency of interaction with information sources (access to Internet sources, read-

Knowledge of Russian language is accepted as a minimum factor of migrants' social inclusion. Knowledge of one foreign language (English or Finnish) correlated to average value of migrants' social inclusion. The maximum value of the factor is

**Figure 7** below shows migrants' political communication intensity depending on

**Figure 7** shows that migrants' political communication intensity is higher if a migrant knows one or more foreign languages; accordingly, he/she has an opportu-

ing newspapers, watching TV, small group discussion, etc).

nity to get acquainted with a wide range of multilingual sources.

the knowledge of two or more foreign languages.

foreign language knowledge.

relationship between colleagues, it is quite possible to exchange opinions.

impact on Russian migrants' political communication in Finland.

happening in the political arena.

**322**

**Figure 7.** *Political communication intensity of Russian migrants in Finland depending on foreign language knowledge.*

These results confirm the theory of Sotirovich and McLeod [30] that: "Education provides both knowledge and skills to work with information, and therefore, improves access to political process, at least, makes political participation more likely."

The survey results have showed that workers with higher education, in general, seek to familiarize with a wide spectrum of political topics and thus analyze events critically (see also [34]).

It is worth noting that research has proved the fact that migrants' social inclusion into society is heavily dependent upon foreign language skills. The following characteristics of migrants' political communication were outlined as a result of survey data processing:


So, at the workplace and, in particular, in companies with an international team, despite the presence of small groups (colleagues), political topics are shot out by tolerant reasons. On the contrary, political situation is discussed more frequently within the family.
