These annual demonstrations, called "Kuokkavierasjuhlat" ("party of the uninvited guests"), differ from other finnish demonstrations with their exceptionally high level of energy.

This year there were two simultaneous marches: one of radical leftist and trade-unionist groups, and one of colorful and creative resistance led by a dancing and drumming samba band. Like last year, the goal was to siege the presidential palace where the rich and the powerful - the winners of neoliberalism - held their elitist national day celebration. Approx. 600 protestors showed up.

Here are some translations from a report made by one of the protestors.

"Personally I went with the samba rhythms first from the railway square towards the long bridge, where police tried to stop our way towards the presidential palace and tried to direct us to a closed, riot-fenced area in Kauppatori. But even this year we found our way to get near to the palace - despite 300 riot cops. The police didnt always know how to relate to dancers, who aimed to break through their lines."

"This year the manifesto of the demonstrators obviously hit the right spot: the "red-green left" who among others showed up in the presidential palace, were upset by the statement that also they could be responsible for the growing social inequality. The left-wing socialdemocrats, the greens, left-wing party and finnish trade-union confederations have an important role in legitimizing the current neoliberal politics. This is a fact that cant be hidden by beautiful speeches of "welfare state" or tobin-tax - As a matter of fact, instead tobin-tax the demonstrators carried Attack's demand of "ROBIN TAX" (100%).

As we arrived to Senaatintori, we saw some hundreds of protestors gathered at the riot-fences set up by the police. You could sense the frustration of young people towards the system, which, one the one hand, accuses them of their "lack of interest" towards politics, and on the one hand, accuses them of "terrorism" whenever they choose their forms of political action by themselves.

The streets leading to presidential palace were sealed off by riot-fences, and by lines of riot cops with batons and shields. The protestors attempted to break through the police lines for couple of times. A report in the finland's biggest newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat, claimed that here the situation "was about to turn into a riot". But in reality, no action form typical to riots was used. Despite the great availibility of throwable objects, no bottle and no stone was thrown at the police. Also no thing was destroyed."

All in all, the protestors demonstrated very clearly that there exists no national unity and no concensus for the neoliberal order which has been - year after year - growing the gap between the rich and the poor, reducing public services, turning welfare system into panopticon-like control system, increasing precarious forms of labor, detaining and deporting refugees and immigrants...

The struggle continues - Next stop Copenhagen!!!