Category: Enrique Tessieri

Thank you, Sanna Marin for your words of encouragement

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There are many surprising factors about Finland’s parliamentary election result in April. One of these is how a progressive government with an internationally acclaimed politician, Sanna Marin, who became the world’s youngest prime minister in 2019 at 34, shifted to a possible conservative and radical right government.

Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s speech upon receiving an honorary doctorate from New York University Wednesday at the legendary Yankee Stadium offers some answers.

History will expose Prime Minister-designate Petteri Orpo’s deep denial and disregard for the country’s most pressing needs like human rights, inclusion, diversity, and empathy, and his disdain for outgoing Prime Minister Marin.

Whenever there was a coup in Argentina, we used to comfort each other by saying “no evil can last a 100 years.” Even if few humans live that long, the saying can be adopted in Finland to state “no evil can last four years.”

Time will expose Orpo, and the new austerity government in formation as a vain attempt to take Finland back to simpler times where 1+1=2 arguments answered all our problems.

The present government in formation, considered the most right-wing and anti-immigration in a long time if it survives present negotiations, is revealing and concerning. It shows we still have a long way to go to create a more inclusive and fairer society.

I will highlight some of the most inspirational parts of Marin’s speech in New York.

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Copout journalism from Helsingin Sanomat

Posted on by Migrant Tales

In a lengthy article on the Perussuomalaiset (PS),* Helsingin Sanomat reporter tells us we should not consider the PS a far-right party. The article offers a lot of sources to look at the question but the writer, Markko Jukkari, trips and falls on his face when he starts to editorialize the story.

He writes:

The Perussuomalaiset is not a revolutionary far-right party. It is the second largest party in Finland, with 620,981 people voting for it in a free and democratic election. It has also demonstrated a commitment to advancing its agenda through parliamentary means. Therefore, one should not call the party far-right.

Source: Helsingin Sanomat

Who says that the PS is a revolutionary far-right party?

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A-studio’s Marja Sannikka: From using the n-word on television to normalizing the term “harmful” migration

Posted on by Migrant Tales

THE STORY WAS UPDATED

When my wife told me about Tuesday’s A-studio talk show, my instant reaction was who the host was. With some dread, I found out that Marja Sannikka hosted the show. The A-studio host has made a name for herself on her shows by labeling and victimizing asylum seekers and minorities.

The latest incident was on Tuesday when Sannikka didn’t object to the PS guest, Simo Grönroos, a far-right Suomen Sisu association member, using the word “harmful” immigration. The PS is the only party in Finland that uses the derogatory term to label and victimize certain groups like Muslims and Africans.

One approach to such a toxic description of asylum seekers and migrants is if people can be placed into good and bad groups. Other favorites of the PS in their quest to tar-and-feather certain migrants are “cheap labor” and “social welfare migrants,” among others.

We believe each migrant is an individual, and labeling them in groups and subgroups is racist.

Source: Twitter

Here are some of Sannikka’s talk show “hits:”

  • Perussuomalaiset’s (PS)* Simo Grönroos labels particular asylum seekers (not Ukrainians) as “harmful migrants.” The PS is the only party that uses such a derogatory term. Sannikka did nothing to stop or question Grönroos’s use of the term but asked her guests what they thought about “harmful” migrants. May 9, 2023
  • PS MP Sebastian Tynkkynen, convicted three times for ethnic agitation, was invited to host Sannikka’s A-studio to talk about freedom of expression, ethnic agitation, and burning the Quran.
  • Sannikka helped spread fear in Finland about minority youth gang violence. She introduced the topic like a crime thriller:“ Knives, violence, revenge. Youth gang violence increases at a worrying pace (sic!). October 25, 2022
  • Guest Esko Valtaoja used the n-word twice on her talk show without any objections from Sannikka (see caption below). November 21, 2021 While she said nothing on her talk show, she later apologized for the n-word incident.

Source: European Islamophobia Report 2021.

Continue reading “A-studio’s Marja Sannikka: From using the n-word on television to normalizing the term “harmful” migration”

Planning to move to Finland? Come at your own peril!

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Finland is suffering from a chronic labor shortage in the face of an ever-shrinking labor force and graying of the population. If you want some friendly advice, Finland would be one of the last countries in Europe I’d move to. There are several reasons you should think twice before moving here.

One of the main reasons you should choose a friendlier country to build your future and bring up a family is that Finland is a hostile country towards migrants, especially Muslims and visible migrants.

We have asylum seekers who have been in legal limbo for eight years. Anywhere up to 10,000 people, according to some estimates, are undocumented.

Don’t be fooled by superficial surveys that claim Finland to be the happiest country in the world. It’s only a PR stunt. But here is the question: How can the happiest country have its second-biggest party in parliament, the Perussuomalaiaset (PS)*, be openly racist and hostile to migrants?

You have a choice: If you are white and can flow with the xenophobia, Finland could be a good country for you. Who knows, maybe you can become an example of a super migrant as seen by xenophobic politicians.

Who are these super immigrants?

Continue reading “Planning to move to Finland? Come at your own peril!”

The Perussuomalaiset: A party that spreads fear and justifies anger

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Finland’s Perussuomalaiset (PS)* is a far-right whose loudest message are foreigners and minorities threaten the country. 

It’s been a while since the PS won its historic election in 2011. While downplaying their victory and rise to the major Finnish political league, people like me knew that this spelled trouble for our democracy.

The PS’ is very good at ethnic- and migration-bating through far-right conspiracy theories like the great replacement. Riikka Purra and the PS want their followers to be constantly angry even if matters are not as bad as they claim.

A new row has erupted in government talks with the PS after Sebastian Tynkkynen asked his followers which YLE content is unnecessary. Mauri Peltokangas, a cantankerous politician who named the government “pitiful a**holes,” lashed out at the Swedish People’s Party.

“I want your opinion,” he wrote on Facebook. “is it really the will of the people that a minority party with a few percent of support should be allowed to fuck around and stir the pot in government negotiations when forming a government n Finland? Och samma på svenska (the same in Swedish).”

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Flirting with the PS is like playing with fire that will get you burned

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There are two opinions about the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* membership in a future coalition government led by the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus): Let them join so the public will see who they are – a cantankerous and messy jumble of bitter hot air; and others point to giving former President Donald Trump the benefit of the doubt, which gave us his toxic polarizing legacy.

We are going through the same arguments about the PS as after the 2011 election when the party scored a historic victory when the party got 39 MPs elected from 5 MPs previously.

“Don’t worry,” some pointed out back then. “It will only be a matter of time before the PS will implode like what happened with the Rural Party (SMP) in the 1970s,”

In 2017, the election of Jussi Halla-aho as the leader of the PS resulted in a small implosion that divided the party into two factions. This event marked the downfall of former PS chief Timo Soini and serves as a prime example of karma. Politically exploiting racism is akin to handling a rabid dog that may bite back with force beyond your control.

Soini is today a wounded politician with his credibility in tatters.

The same fate that Soini suffered threatens Petteri Orpo and the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus).

We should not be surprised that the PS’ second chairperson after Soini, Riikka Purra, considers our constitutional and human rights obstacles to her political ambitions and goals. Her political ideology like that of the party, is based on Finnish white supremacy.

Riikka Purra tweets: “The Finnish government has little chance of influencing anything if you ask the left. The obstacles are at least human rights, the constitution, the EU, international treaties, morality, empathy, [international] image, press freedom, and of course, the correct conclusion[s] of botched investigation[s].”

It would be simplistic to blame only Soini for the rise of a far-right party in Finland. The list includes the whole political spectrum, the media, the education sector, institutions like the police, and denial with a towering D.

Continue reading “Flirting with the PS is like playing with fire that will get you burned”

Nordic far-right populism is a threat to the welfare state and the region

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In Finland’s parliamentary election in April, the country shifted abruptly from a left-wing government led by the charismatic Social Democratic Prime Minister Sanna Marin to a possible right-wing government. Some see the good result of the conservative National Coalition Party, and especially the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS),* as a threat to those values, social welfare, and solidarity held dear to the welfare state. 

Like in neighboring Sweden, the far-right Sweden Democrats did well in the election and helped boost the right-wing bloc to victory through cooperation with the Moderate Party. In Finland, the National Coalition Party is ready to give the PS a ticket to become a government coalition member.

Following the PS’ election victory of 2011, which saw their MPs increase from 5 to 39, the far-right party has done exceptionally well in parliamentary elections. In the last election, the PS saw its MPs rise to 46, a record.

The PS’ claim of success lies in spreading news stories about migrant crime to lure voters with the help of the media and police. 

With some PS politicians openly supporting Viktor Orbán of Hungary, former President Donald Trump, and even violent far-right groups, do populism and polarization threaten Finland’s democracy?

In an interview with the Finnish League of Human Rights, Eliza Ruynowski, a human rights lawyer from Poland, cautioned Finns to avoid accepting simplistic solutions to complex issues. She advised them to be cautious of individuals who blame specific groups of people, whether they belong to a minority or hold differing political views, as a means of resolving problems.

But let’s go back in time to uncover the dangerous political path Finland, and the rest of Europe, are on.

In reporting about Adolph Eichmann’s trial in Israel in 1961, philosopher Hannah Arendt described the war criminal responsible for transporting millions of Jews to their deaths as an ordinary bureaucrat who, in her own words, was “neither perverted nor sadistic, but “terrifyingly normal.”

Arendt called this disposition the banality of evil or the state where Eichmann performed evil deeds without evil intentions. Thus he could fulfill his tasks diligently irrespective of their horrific crimes by the inability to think from the victim’s standpoint.

At the Nuremberg trials (1945-46), US Army psychologist Captain Gustave Mark Gilbert stated that the Nazi war criminals on the dock had one matter in common: Their incapacity to feel with their fellow men and women.

Continue reading “Nordic far-right populism is a threat to the welfare state and the region”

Muistatko vuoden 2019 “anna hukkua lista?” Samat poliitikot, jotka toivoivat kuolemaan turvapaikanhakijalle Välimerellä ovat yhä politiikassa

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TÄMÄ JUTTU ON PÄIVITETTY

Onkin vaikeaa kuvitella moraalia ilman empatiaa.

Anniina

Alma Median EU vaalikone vuodelta 2019 on paljastunut, että perussuomalaisten ja kokoomuslaisten ehdokkaat ovat kaikista innokkaimpia hukuttamaan maahanmuuttajia Välimereen. Tähän vaalikonen kysymykseen neutraali vastaus on vähintään ongelmallinen. Tarkoittavatko, että olevat hiljaa ja katsovat sormien läpi kun ihmiset hukkuvat?

Vaalikonen 13/20 kysymys: “EU:n velvollisuus on pelastaa kaikki hukkumisriskillä Välimeren ylittävät Eurooppaan pyrkivät siirtolaiset.”

Keitä ovat nämä (85/234) EU ehdokkaat, jotka eivät välittää, jos ihminen hukkuu Välimereen?

Katso tästä mitä pienpuoluet ajattelevat?

Tässä on kirjoitus, joka kertoo tosi tarina ihmisestä, joka oli lähellä kuolemaa Välimerellä.

Lapsia hukkuu myös Välimerellä. Vasemmalla on Alan Kurdi ja oikealla pikku tyttö. Yheensä 2014-2019 aikana on kuolut yhteensä 18 328 ihmistä (2019 410, 2018 2 299, 2017 3 139, 2016 5 143, 2015 5 054, 2014 3 283) Välimerellä. Tässä linkki.

Lähde: Iltalehti

Tässä on Migrant Talesin “anna hukkua” häpeälista. Keitä ovat yhä politiikassa?

Perussuomalaiset

Täysin eri mieltä (anna hukkua vaan, se on heidän ongelma)

SIMO GRÖNROOS (entinen puoluesihteeri)


TEUVO HAKKARAINEN (euroedustaja)
ILPO HELTOMOINEN 


LAURA HUHTASAARI (kansanedustaja)
ASSERI KINNUNEN
LAURA KORPINEN
OLLI KOTRO

MAURI PELTOKANGAS (kansanedustaja)
MIKA RAATIKAINEN
MIRA NIEMINEN
 SAMULI SIBAKOFF


SEBASTIAN TYNKKYNEN (kansanedustaja)
TANJA VAHVELAINEN 
MATTI VIREN 

Continue reading “Muistatko vuoden 2019 “anna hukkua lista?” Samat poliitikot, jotka toivoivat kuolemaan turvapaikanhakijalle Välimerellä ovat yhä politiikassa”

Finland’s new government: No evil can last 100 years – but it can, possibly, last for four years

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Finland’s next government will likely comprise of four parties: National Coalition Party (Kokoomus), Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, Swedish People’s Party, and Christian Democrats, according to Helsingin Sanomat. Even if the makeup of the government was pretty clear at the onset, many questions remain.

One is Finland’s chronic labor shortage and PS opposition to asylum seekers and labor migrants. Despite differences with the PS on labor migrants, Prime Minister-elect Petteri Orpo is more focused on having a right-wing government than sharing power with the Social Democrats.

The new government will have a majority (109 seats) in the 200-seat parliament. Source: Yle.

While we can criticize Kokoomus for giving a political platform for the PS to spread its populist rhetoric, one shameful member of the new government is the Swedish People’s Party.

While it is fair to say that the Swedish People’s Party is divided about joining the new government with the PS, it’s clear that the new coalition will be highly flammable and unpredictable.

Those that stand to lose the most with the new government’s austerity policies are the most vulnerable sectors of society: the unemployed, low-wage workers, and minorities like people of color. Even so, the biggest losers will be asylum seekers from outside the EU knocking at our door for shelter.

Continue reading “Finland’s new government: No evil can last 100 years – but it can, possibly, last for four years”

Elections are over in Finland – media and social media interest in “youth gangs” nosedives

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As Migrant Tales correctly predicted, interest in the so-called “youth gang” problem has tanked in the media and social media after the parliamentary election. Twenty-three days after and before the April 2 election, news on the topic by five media outlets (Helsingin Sanomat, Yle, MTV, Iltalehti, and Ilta-Sanomat) plummeted by 54.5% to five stories from 11, according to a Meltwater search. The most significant drop was seen on social media, diving by 87.4% to 314 posts from 2.56k.

The fall was even more pronounced for all media, sinking by 70.5% to 13 stories from 44 stories.

What do these figures tell us about the fake and exaggerated “youth gang” topic spread by the Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset and its National Coalition Party ally? That was a political stunt to attract voters with the help of fear-mongering. The media (more traffic), the police (more funds to fight crime), and politicians (get voters) all profited from the topic.

Source: Finnish Media Coverage of “Youth Gangs” and the Security Guards Scandal 2022-2023

Continue reading “Elections are over in Finland – media and social media interest in “youth gangs” nosedives”