Background: Snake exhibition

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In jargon that has developed in the Finnish civil service, the ongoing annual meeting of Finnish ambassadors is called a “snake exhibition”.
      At the gathering, Finnish ambassadors and other key diplomats stationed in different countries meet in Finland.
      The jocular expression harkens back to the idea according to which the pliable diplomats operating in different parts of the world are summoned once a year to their home base and put on display.
     
When necessary, these serpents can even shed their skin.
      The expression takes no stand on how slick or venomous they might be.

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