With poll ratings heading south and the municipal election approaching in April, parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* are turning (as usual) to racism and bigotry. They do this because they are fascists to the core.
The media in Finland is part of the country’s racism problem. Since it is white, it would care less for the well-being of migrants and minorities. How many editorials have Finland’s largest daily, Helsingin Sanomat, written about the PS’ and the government’s draconian migration policy?
Zero.
All of this tightening and making life harder for migrants and minorities living in Finland is ok if you explain your flimsy reason: security.
Despite the reasoning, the PS and the government offer no proof that migrants are a threat. Here is a question to the government: Why is Finland’s migration policy so hostile to migrants?
Remember Finland’s day of infamy in July when it passed the pushback law? Well, there has been no rush of migrants to the border. The only fact is that the border continues to be closed, and businesses in cities like Lappeenranta suffer economic hardships.
On the left, Minister of Transport and Communication/Interior Minister Lulu Ranne is smiling because she is announcing how Finland will tighten its migration policy and enforce harsher sentences against migrants. On the right, is a picture that unmasks Ranne as a bully and racist. She is saying to migrants enter Finland at your peril. Sources: Suomen Uutiset and Haleingin Sanomat.
The government continues to shamelessly expose its racist policies. The latest of these is a Helsingin Sanomat scoop that claims the PS wants to exclude Muslims from the quota-refugee scheme in 2025.
The plan, promoted by Ranne and Mari Rantanen, on leave as interior minister until the end of the year, should not surprise us since it is another example of Finland’s zero asylum seeker policy.
The PS has copied much of Denmark’s anti-asylum policy, one of the most restrictive in the EU. Finance Minister Purra said in 2023 that she too would aim to have a policy of zero asylum seekers, or no Muslims.
It’s clear that with each negative statement and scapegoating of migrants, Finland’s racism problem will grow thanks to politicians like Prime Minister Petteri Orpo.
At the end of the day, such policies will do immense harm to Finland and cause its economy to shrink.
Why? Because they are fascist to the core.
