THIS STORY WAS UPDATED.
The scandal that blew up in FPÖ leader’s Heinz-Christian Strache’s face and which brought down a government in Austria, Perussuomalaiset (PS)*Vice President Laura Huhtasaari’s participation in a meeting organized by Salvini in Milano with far-right leader Matteo Salvini, and the racist tweet below by the PS Youth are just one of many political setbacks.
But that’s not all: PS’ Olli Kotro was quoted as saying in a Moscow-Putin friendly publication that the EU should do away with the Schengen agreement and end visa restrictions for Russia. Moreover, Marine Le Pen was pictured taking a selfie making a white power sign with a far-right Estonian EKRE member.
And let’s not forget newly elected MP Ano Turtiainen, who said that a conviction “in this group [the PS]” for inciting others to commit a crime was “a feather in one’s cap.”
And after all these setbacks for Finland’s far-right party, it’s youth wing lets its racism all hang out with the following tweet with a black couple smiling happily at their newborn child.
It tweets (see ad below): “Vote for the Perussuomalaiset so that Finland won’t look like this.”
The PS Youth have gained notoriety for their ethnonationalist and Islamophobic tweets:
- Twitter: Perussuomalaiset Youth leader condones terrorist attack in New Zealand (March 16)
- White Finnish nationalism and racism reveal themselves on Father’s Day (November 11)
The EU ad encouraging people to vote is the same one used by the PS Youth.
That tweet may end up costing the PS Youth dearly. Apart from possibly being guilty of ethnic agitation, the ministry of education and culture is considering axing the youth group’s annual 115,000 euros of state aid.
The tweet is just one example out of many of Finland’s hostile environment against migrants and minorities.
Associations to get state aid in Finland must adhere to a specific code of conduct and ethics. Openly spreading racism in tweets is not acceptable.
Apart from the danger of losing such funds, the PS’ leader Jussi Halla-aho and hardline racists in the party are at loggerheads. He stated that those who made such remarks should find another party.
All of this is happening in the same week when people in Finland will vote on May 26 in the European parliamentary elections.
Even if Halla-aho stated that he is against what the PS Youth did, he was convicted in 2012 for ethnic agitation and breaching the sanctity of religion.
He has not apologized for his racist writings, which see Blacks as inferiors.
Just like Halla-aho and other Islamophobes were former PS leader’s Timo Soini’s downfall, the same could happen to its present leader.
You cannot control racism and bigotry and keep it on a short leash, even if such a rabid dog attracts attention and lures voters.
If you disagree, why not ask Soini.
* The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.