Robert Rantala (Russian: Роберт Рантала, born 2002) is a Russian-Finnish dual citizen who at seven years old was taken by the Finnishsocial service to a children's shelter in early 2010. Russian media followed closely the incident for weeks. He escaped from school to his parents and Russia's Commissioner for Children Pavel Astakhov visited in Finland.[1][2]
Robert Rantala is a son of the Russian mother Inga Rantala and Finnish father Veli-Pekka Rantala. The family lives in Turku, Finland. The boy was taken into child custody on 4 February 2010.[3] Robert attended to school but escaped to his family. Russia's Commissioner for Children Pavel Astakhov met Finnish social workers in Finland on 18 March.[1] The result of his efforts was the boy will stay with his family, but Finnish social workers will make regular visits, which solved the issue for both sides. However, in July, Inga and Robert left for Russia. In September of the same year, it was announced that they were living in St. Petersburg, where Robert continued his education. In October 2012, Robert received Russian citizenship.
Incident in the Russian media
The first news of the incident was published by Interfax on 19 February with the commentaries of Finnish Anti-Fascist Committee activist Johan Bäckman and the boy's mother Inga Rantala.[4] After that the event became one of the most debated issues in Russia and Bäckman was a central commentator of the case in Russian media.[5][6] According to Kommersant, Bäckman was the primary source of the incident.[7]
The Russian media has mainly presented the incident by the parents' side. Most of information of the case is from the mother as the Finnish authorities do not give information of any individual child custody case.[8][9] According to Russian media the boy was taken into custody when he revealed that his mother "slapt" him and that the mother planned to take him to Russia.[1] Part of the media speculated that the reason was an anti-Russian sentiment in Finland; according to Kommersant, Bäckman has mostly been the source of these allegations.[7]
Incident in the Finnish media
The Finnish media has mainly focused on the reactions in Russian media. The incident was a minor news until Pavel Astakhov visited in Finland. According to the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat the incident was probably a part of the Russian internal politics, which was led from Moscow. The Russian authorities knew the real background of the case, but kept it on the news for weeks. The peak moment occurred as Astakhov, a lawyer with KGB training, arrived Turku with dozens of Russian journalists. [3] According to YLE news analysis the incident was a serious collision of cultures: "The Finnish authorities believed that they dealt with a child protection case, while the Kremlin's representative made a high international politics."[9]
According to Finnish social authorities, it is unusual for foreign officials to intervene and that child welfare cases are carefully resolved and not decided on a whim. Authorities cannot violate confidentiality practices to comment publicly on the case.[1] There are over ten thousand child custody cases yearly in Finland.[10]
Aftermath
In July 2010 Pavel Astakhov accused Finland of refusing to sign a bilaterial agreement with Russia on family and civil cases.[11] The Russian Children's ombudsman office sent a proposal and draft agreement, similar to the one already signed with Italy.[12] Astakhov also proposed setting up of a bilateral advisory commission to help solve child custody cases.[13] This was rejected as unnecessary by Finland's Ombudsman for Children Maria-Kaisa Aula. According to her there is enough multilateral agreements, such the Hague Convention or the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as the Council of Europe agreement that focuses on child matters.[14] Unlike Finland, Russia had not signed the Hague Convention.[15]
Later, Russia joined the Hague Abduction Convention on October 1, 2011.[16]
References
^ abcd"YLE: Russia Intervenes in Finnish-Russian Custody Case". from the original on 2022-07-06. Retrieved 2010-03-26.
^Jarmo Mäkelä (July 6, 2010). "TAUSTA: Monitoimimiehiä". YLE News. YLE. Archived from the original on August 6, 2011. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
^ abHelsingin Sanomat: Suomalaisarvio: Huostaanottokiista oli Venäjän sisäpolitiikkaa 2010-03-31 at the Wayback Machine (in Finnish)
^Interfax: Власти Финляндии лишают россиянку и ее мужа права общаться с ребенком 2011-06-29 at the Wayback Machine 19.2.2010
^"Robert should forget the Russian language!" Finnish boy kept in shelter because he wanted to go to Russia? 2010-03-14 at the Wayback Machine, Radio Svoboda, in Russian, March 11, 2010
^Gazeta: Finn Veli-Pekka Rantala arrived in Moscow for Russia's citizenship 2010-03-14 at the Wayback Machine (in Russian: Финн Вели-Пекка Рантала приехал в Москву за российским гражданством) 12.3.2010
^ abKommersant: Bronze Boy 2022-07-06 at the Wayback Machine (in Russian: Бронзовый мальчик) 22.3.2010
^"YLE: Rumours Circulate in Russia over Custody Case". from the original on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2010-03-26.
^ abYLE: NÄKÖKULMA: Turun tauti ja tapaus Astahov 2010-03-26 at the Wayback Machine 22.03.2010 (in Finnish)
^Terveyden ja hyvinvoinnin laitos: Lastensuojelu 2007, jatkuu 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine (in Finnish)
^"RIA Novosti: Finland refuses to sign deal with Russia on family, civil cases". from the original on 2010-07-18. Retrieved 2010-07-17.
^Астахов: надо создать российско-финскую комиссию по конфликтам в семье (in Russian)
^"YLE: Russia Proposes Bilateral Commission to Solve Child Custody Cases". from the original on 2022-07-06. Retrieved 2010-07-27.
^"YLE: Finland's Ombudsman for Children: Bilateral Commission Unnecessary". from the original on 2022-07-06. Retrieved 2010-07-27.
^"Status table". from the original on 2010-03-05. Retrieved 2010-08-17.
^"HCCH - The Russian Federation becomes the 86th Contracting State to the Hague Child Abduction Convention". from the original on 2011-12-24. Retrieved 2011-11-14.
rantala, incident, robert, rantala, russian, Роберт, Рантала, born, 2002, russian, finnish, dual, citizen, seven, years, taken, finnish, social, service, children, shelter, early, 2010, russian, media, followed, closely, incident, weeks, escaped, from, school,. Robert Rantala Russian Robert Rantala born 2002 is a Russian Finnish dual citizen who at seven years old was taken by the Finnish social service to a children s shelter in early 2010 Russian media followed closely the incident for weeks He escaped from school to his parents and Russia s Commissioner for Children Pavel Astakhov visited in Finland 1 2 Contents 1 Background 2 Incident in the Russian media 3 Incident in the Finnish media 4 Aftermath 5 References 6 See alsoBackground EditRobert Rantala is a son of the Russian mother Inga Rantala and Finnish father Veli Pekka Rantala The family lives in Turku Finland The boy was taken into child custody on 4 February 2010 3 Robert attended to school but escaped to his family Russia s Commissioner for Children Pavel Astakhov met Finnish social workers in Finland on 18 March 1 The result of his efforts was the boy will stay with his family but Finnish social workers will make regular visits which solved the issue for both sides However in July Inga and Robert left for Russia In September of the same year it was announced that they were living in St Petersburg where Robert continued his education In October 2012 Robert received Russian citizenship Incident in the Russian media EditThe first news of the incident was published by Interfax on 19 February with the commentaries of Finnish Anti Fascist Committee activist Johan Backman and the boy s mother Inga Rantala 4 After that the event became one of the most debated issues in Russia and Backman was a central commentator of the case in Russian media 5 6 According to Kommersant Backman was the primary source of the incident 7 The Russian media has mainly presented the incident by the parents side Most of information of the case is from the mother as the Finnish authorities do not give information of any individual child custody case 8 9 According to Russian media the boy was taken into custody when he revealed that his mother slapt him and that the mother planned to take him to Russia 1 Part of the media speculated that the reason was an anti Russian sentiment in Finland according to Kommersant Backman has mostly been the source of these allegations 7 Incident in the Finnish media EditThe Finnish media has mainly focused on the reactions in Russian media The incident was a minor news until Pavel Astakhov visited in Finland According to the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat the incident was probably a part of the Russian internal politics which was led from Moscow The Russian authorities knew the real background of the case but kept it on the news for weeks The peak moment occurred as Astakhov a lawyer with KGB training arrived Turku with dozens of Russian journalists 3 According to YLE news analysis the incident was a serious collision of cultures The Finnish authorities believed that they dealt with a child protection case while the Kremlin s representative made a high international politics 9 According to Finnish social authorities it is unusual for foreign officials to intervene and that child welfare cases are carefully resolved and not decided on a whim Authorities cannot violate confidentiality practices to comment publicly on the case 1 There are over ten thousand child custody cases yearly in Finland 10 Aftermath EditIn July 2010 Pavel Astakhov accused Finland of refusing to sign a bilaterial agreement with Russia on family and civil cases 11 The Russian Children s ombudsman office sent a proposal and draft agreement similar to the one already signed with Italy 12 Astakhov also proposed setting up of a bilateral advisory commission to help solve child custody cases 13 This was rejected as unnecessary by Finland s Ombudsman for Children Maria Kaisa Aula According to her there is enough multilateral agreements such the Hague Convention or the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as well as the Council of Europe agreement that focuses on child matters 14 Unlike Finland Russia had not signed the Hague Convention 15 Later Russia joined the Hague Abduction Convention on October 1 2011 16 References Edit a b c d YLE Russia Intervenes in Finnish Russian Custody Case Archived from the original on 2022 07 06 Retrieved 2010 03 26 Jarmo Makela July 6 2010 TAUSTA Monitoimimiehia YLE News YLE Archived from the original on August 6 2011 Retrieved July 8 2010 a b Helsingin Sanomat Suomalaisarvio Huostaanottokiista oli Venajan sisapolitiikkaa Archived 2010 03 31 at the Wayback Machine in Finnish Interfax Vlasti Finlyandii lishayut rossiyanku i ee muzha prava obshatsya s rebenkom Archived 2011 06 29 at the Wayback Machine 19 2 2010 Robert should forget the Russian language Finnish boy kept in shelter because he wanted to go to Russia Archived 2010 03 14 at the Wayback Machine Radio Svoboda in Russian March 11 2010 Gazeta Finn Veli Pekka Rantala arrived in Moscow for Russia s citizenship Archived 2010 03 14 at the Wayback Machine in Russian Finn Veli Pekka Rantala priehal v Moskvu za rossijskim grazhdanstvom 12 3 2010 a b Kommersant Bronze Boy Archived 2022 07 06 at the Wayback Machine in Russian Bronzovyj malchik 22 3 2010 YLE Rumours Circulate in Russia over Custody Case Archived from the original on 2011 06 06 Retrieved 2010 03 26 a b YLE NAKOKULMA Turun tauti ja tapaus Astahov Archived 2010 03 26 at the Wayback Machine 22 03 2010 in Finnish Terveyden ja hyvinvoinnin laitos Lastensuojelu 2007 jatkuu Archived 2011 07 17 at the Wayback Machine in Finnish RIA Novosti Finland refuses to sign deal with Russia on family civil cases Archived from the original on 2010 07 18 Retrieved 2010 07 17 Astahov nado sozdat rossijsko finskuyu komissiyu po konfliktam v seme in Russian YLE Russia Proposes Bilateral Commission to Solve Child Custody Cases Archived from the original on 2022 07 06 Retrieved 2010 07 27 YLE Finland s Ombudsman for Children Bilateral Commission Unnecessary Archived from the original on 2022 07 06 Retrieved 2010 07 27 Status table Archived from the original on 2010 03 05 Retrieved 2010 08 17 HCCH The Russian Federation becomes the 86th Contracting State to the Hague Child Abduction Convention Archived from the original on 2011 12 24 Retrieved 2011 11 14 See also EditAnton incident Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Rantala incident amp oldid 1096804385, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
