Finland’s most right-wing government since the 1930s was hit by controversy on its first day Tuesday due to its links with neo-Nazis, the far-right, and unapologetic racist blog posts.
One of the epicenters of the scandal is Minister of Economic Affairs Vilhelm Junnila, whose neo-Nazi and white supremacist sympathies are readily seen through a trail of evidence.
Apart from taking part in a rally organized by far-right groups, Junnila congratulated in 2019 a Peerussuomalaiset (PS)* candidate for receiving the 88 election number. “First of all, congratulations on an excellent election number,” he was quoted as saying by The Times of Israel. “I know it’s a winning card.”
As everyone knows, 88 is code used by neo-Nazis to mean “Heil Hitler,” or “HH.”
It is odd why Junnila now apologizes for such inappropriate behavior by stating on Twitter that “I condemn holocaust, antisemitism and all anti-Semitic acts completely.”
Sorry, but Junnila’s about-face apology is BS served on a platter.
(From top left to right) Junnila visiting the United States and posing with Confederate General Robert E. Lee suggesting white supremacist sympathies. Wearing a Donald Trump MAGA (Make America Great Again) cap with former PS MP Veikko Vallin. Junnila giving a speech at a far-right rally in Turku in 2019.
Petteri Orpo’s problematic minister with messy neo-Nazi ties are nothing more than a blow to his government’s credibility. Junnila is one example that in Finland you can spread neo-Nazi sympathies and end up as a minister.
Tweet (top) by the Finnish police: “Under the rule of law in Finland, we all have equal opportunities to stop a racist, be it a politician, a public figure, a next-door neighbor or a police officer, says police chief Sanna Heikinheimo.”
Minister Wilhelm Junnila tweets below: “Do you have a security problem and are these [tweets] written by a glue-sniffer or somebody suffering from a heat wave?”
