Finland vs. Frankfurt
The latest Frankfurt Book Fair controversy involves the event’s “country of honour” selection for 2011. Frankfurt has unveiled Iceland as the recipient of the 2011 honour – disappointing another Scandinavian country, Finland, which considered itself the frontrunner. A Helsingin Sanomat report is crying politics:
[Finnish cellphone giant] Nokia’s decision to close down its factory in the German city of Bochum has aroused plenty of negative feelings against Finland in Germany, as has been regularly reported on these pages.
“In fact, [Frankfurt director] Jürgen Boos admitted that the Bochum situation did not make the atmosphere favourable for Finland. However, he offered us another opportunity to apply for the guest of honour position for 2013-2014″, reported Schwanck.
In a followup story in the Helsinki paper, though, Boos denies it: “The Nokia case had no impact on the choice. None whatsoever.”
