The polarized debate in parliament Monday on renewing the Border Guard Act and Emergency Powers Act is just another example of how Finland has lurched into a dark place where human rights are a nuisance and should not take presedence The far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS), with the helping hand of the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus), and other minor parties like the Christian Democrats and Liike Nyt, are picking on their favorite target: asylum seekers.
According to some, the new laws are not in conflict with the EU, which does not allow member states to stop people from seeking asylum. Others, like European Union Institute professor of international law and human rights Martin Scheinin, believe the new laws will send Finland back thirty years.
Scheinin tweets: “Today, Parliament will finalize the content of the amendments to the Emergency Powers Act and the Border Guard Act. The idea is to introduce a constitutional derogation found in Section 23 of the Constitution, which deals with exemptions in times of crisis. This [the exemptions] turns back the clocks at least 30 years.” Section 23 of the Constitution states that fundamental rights and liberties in situations of emergency cannot breach its human rights obligations.
Here’s the question: Are the draft Border Guard Act and Emergency Powers Act in conflict with EU laws? Looking at parties like the PS and Kokoomus, who speak of asylum seekers as a threat to Finland, would be the first parties to trash human rights or severely water them down.
It was about 11 years ago on 22/7 when Norwegian Anders Breivik shocked us by murdering 77 victims. His motive? Anti-Muslim racism. Yesterday, there was a hint of déjà-vu when a 22-year-old “ethnic Dane,” a term used to mean white Dane, went on the rampage in the Fields shopping center of Copenhagen killing at least three and wounding a number of victims.
The “ethnic Dane” suspect? Source: Facebook.
While the police have not ruled out terrorism, unverified reports allege that the shooter had ties to the far right. Some eyewitnesses even heard the man shout at the scene of the crime, “Get out of my country!”
Why does the evidence point toward a deranged white Dane committing these heinous acts? For one, no Perussuomalaiset (PS)* politician has posted anything about the attack. PS chair Riikka Purra hasn’t even sent condolences to the victims.
Contrary to how far-right groups react to such a shooting, one important matter to remember is that we cannot generalize. For example, if the suspect is a white Dane and was motivated by racism, we should not label all white Danes as terrorists. The act at the shopping center was by a sick person who is a danger to society irrespective of his background.
If these accounts are true, that the suspect has ties to the far right and whose motive was anti-Muslim racism, it should be another stark reminder of how words and racism have deadly consequences.
A country like Denmark, which has a reputation for being one of the most Islamophobic countries in the EU, has not toned down its anti-Muslim rhetoric. The hardline anti-immigration policy comes straight from the government.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that the country had been hit by a “cruel attack,” according to CBS News. “It is incomprehensible. Heartbreaking. Pointless,” she said. “Our beautiful and usually so safe capital was changed in a split second.”
Migrant Tales will launch stories about how the cold war, or Finlandization, encouraged self-censorship and censorship. My journalism career began in 1986, when I made a living from writing. As a journalist writing for the Finnish and foreign media, the foreign ministry warned me several times about questioning Finland’s foreign policy and human rights violations in the former USSR. One official said if I didn’t stop writing negative things about the Soviet Union, I’d be blacklisted by the foreign ministry. It was a shameful period that we must never repeat.
Since September 19, 1944, just after Finland signed an armistice with the USSR, which concluded the so-called Continuation War, the lights of that period of turmoil were turned off. Those who turned off the lights did so in the hope that no-one would ever find his way back into that era characterized by so much irrationality and rivers of blood.
Two years previous, in April 1942m a book on Field Marshall Carl Gustaf Mannerheim had been published by one of the country’s leading publishers, WSOY. Field Marshall Mannerheim is a leading figure in Finnish history; he was one of the main architects in keeping Finland free from the communists.
The Continuation War should not be mistaken for the Winter War (1939-40) when, for over a period of 105 grueling days, the vastly outnumbered Finns miraculously kept the Red Army in check. During the Continuation War, Finland fought side by side with Nazi Germany against a common enemy – the Soviet Union.
In a thousand years, if there’s History, America will be remembered as a nasty little Country. Full of Pricks…
Allen Ginsberg, Epilogue from “The Fall of America poems of these states 1965-1971”
Following the dysfunctionality and cultural war raging in US politics, any sensible person can conclude that the present situation is due to several factors. As a Latin American who has seen how US foreign policy has ruled and destroyed the region for its selfish benefit, it’s clear that the US is getting a bitter taste of its own medicine.
What is happening in the United States, how it is lurching into becoming an autocratic country, is nothing new. Money, greed, gullibility, and fairy tale exceptionalism are some culprits.
What is happening in the US will not end well. Even so, what is transpiring now in that country is a warning that we must avoid the same mistakes: unchecked capitalism, greed, and our misguided belief that money talks and has the last word.
Finland has succeeded in building a model society where the state attempts to take care of its own. In recent years, however, parties like the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus), Center Party, Christian Democrats, Liike nyt have started to dismantle our welfare state piece by piece.
Politicians like Petteri Orpo, Elina Lepomäki, Heikki Vestman, Wille Rydman, Kai Mykkänen, Hjallis Harkimo, Päivi Räsänen, Jussi Halla-aho, and scores of others, would not think twice about selling out our welfare state for the USAmerican model based on extreme social inequality.
Even if we have one of the best education systems in the world and the highest standards of living in the world, about 18% of the population votes for a racist far-right party.
Watch and follow what is happening in the United States and cringe.
The recent decision by the US Supreme Court to strike down Roe and Wade and abortion rights for millions of women is an example of the lunacy that has inflicted USAmerica.
Certainly, one factor that has polarized the United States is racism and white supremacy.
Below is Republican Congressperson Mary Miller of Ohio, who thanks Trump for the Roe and Wade decision.
She said: “I would like to thank Trump on behalf of all the MAGA [Makke America Great Again] patriots in America. I want to thank you for the historic victory for white life in the Supreme Court yesterday.”
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/P9Pse3mb7NM
If that wasn’t enough, check the speech below where she quotes and thanks Adolf Hitler. “Hitler was right on one thing, he said whoever has the youth has the future,” said Miller. “Our children are being propagandized. I want to encourage you to do two things: tell your children’s minds what is true, right, and noble, and then they can overcome evil because then they can discern what is evil and what is good. ”
Setting aside the US Supreme Court decision to reverse Roe and Wade, which effectively took away women’s rights to have an abortion, we saw the cold-blooded attack at a gay bar by a man in Oslo that left two dead and 21 wounded.
Meanwhile, in Finland, Yle reported some MPs’ reaction to the Supreme Court decision.
A staunch anti-abortionist, Päivi Räsänen of the Christian Democratic Party, hailed the Supreme Court decision as good news that would have a global impact on the abortion debate.
Yle approached other MPs from parties like the National Coalition Party, Center Party, Swedish People’s Party, and Green League, who expressed disappointment at the decision.
Center Party MP Jouni Ovaska echoed US President Joe Biden’s words, ”It’s a sad day for the court and for the country.”
Considering that the Supreme Court ruling passed thanks to three President Donald Trump appointed judges and that the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* has been the most outspoken supporters of the Trump administration, the silence coming now from the far-right party is defeating.
What are the party’s opinions about the J6 Commission?
The scandal that embroiled National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) MP Wille Rydman, has forced him to resign “indefinitely” from the Kokoomus parliamentary and Helsinki city council groups.
A Helsingin Sanomat investigative story exposed MP Rydman’s sexual harassment of underage girls to whom he sometimes offered alcohol. The police, who investigated the case, did not bring any charges against the MP.
Rydman, who has denied any wrongdoing, has built his political career by spreading anti-Muslim hatred and conspiracy theories like the great replacement theory. He has also pushed for closer ties with the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* and asked, among other matters, to do away with hate speech laws.
One tweet suggested that apart from Rydman leaving the Kokoomus party, he could join the PS. PS MP Sanna Antikainen, in a tweet below, wished Rydman welcome to join her party.
The shift from Kokoomus to the PS would be a perfect fit for the likes of Rydman.
Source: Twitter
In the latest development, the police said they would not open the case again because there was no new evidence. Moreover, Helsingin Sanomat said it would write a new story about the scandal.
A big question remains after a Helsingin Sanomat investigative journalism piece exposed how National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) MP Wille Rydman treated women – even underaged ones – inappropriately. Some of these women, who were minors then, claimed that Rydman forced them to drink alcohol.
A question remains: Why does Kokoomus appear so shocked today, even after the police decided not to press charges in 2020 against the MP?
I wonder if National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) MP Wille Rydman has ever heard of Florida Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz, who is under investigation for sexually abusing minors, among other crimes? Helsingin Sanomat exposed in a story Rydman of inappropriate behavior and abusing sexually minors Sunday.
Like Gaetz, Rydman is in hot water and denies all charges against him.
Apart from being unofficially christened as the Jussi Halla-aho by some Kokoomus MPs, it is ironic that such a politician warns Finns of the dangers of the crimes of asylum seekers, which include rape, is suspected of the same crimes.
Former Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairperson Jussi Halla-aho was convicted in 2012 for ethnic agitation and breaching the sanctity of religion. In his blog writings, he hoped that migrants rape certain MPs.
One of the far-right conspiracy theories spread by Rydman is the great replacement theory, which warns that Muslims and people of color will take over Europe and whites will become a minority.
A campaign poster for the 2011 parliamentary election, where Rydman claims, among other matters, that Finland should only accept the number of migrants it can adapt. In the ad, Mukhtar Abid, a social worker, states, ” This is why I, a Helsinki Social Democrat, will vote for Kokoomus’ Wille Rydman.” I sent Abib a message to ask him what he thought about the scandal and if Rydman was the right person to back in 2011. He has not responded to my message. Source: Migrant Tales
Apart from the hypocrisy of Finnish exceptionalism and that of Kokoomus’, it is surprising how little the party did to get to the bottom of these alleged crimes committed by Rydman.
Writes Helsingin Sanomat: “The women who were in contact with Rydman say he acted inappropriately and was sexually explicit in his words, behaved in a threatening way and forced them [to consume] alcohol. Some of the women were minors when Rydman approached them.”
Kokoomus chairperson Petter Orpo had heard about the allegations against Rydman in winter when journalists were investigating Rydman.
National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) MP Wille Rydman, whose xenophobic views have earned him the dubious label of being Kokoomus’ Jussi Halla-aho, is suspected by the police of harassing underaged girls. He is the same MP pushing hardline policies against asylum seekers because he is worried about sexual harassment.
Former Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairperson Jussi Halla-aho was convicted in 2012 for ethnic agitation and breaching the sanctity of religion and has, in his blog writings, hoped that migrants rape certain MPs.
One of the far-right conspiracy theories spread by Rydman is the great replacement theory, which warns that Muslims and people of color will take over Europe and whites will become a minority.
National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) MP Wille Rydman is suspected of harassing underaged girls. Source: Helsingin Sanomat (paywall)
Helsingin Sanomat leads the story: “Several women report harassing behavior by MP Wille Rydman. Some were minors at the time of the incident, while others reported alcohol abuse and violence. In Kokoomus, Rydman’s interest in young women and girls has been widely discussed [and known] only inside the party. Rydman denies acting inappropriately.”
Rydman tweeted that he is planning to press charges against Helsingin Sanomat for writing a baseless “grossly stigmatizing article” He added that he would most probably report the matter to the police and charge Finland’s largest daily for aggravated defamation.
The recent article and editorial in Helsingin Sanomat about social segregation in Finland is a good example of how white privilege deals with growing social segregation.
Finland’s largest daily, Helsingin Sanomat, published an editorial Thursday about how social segregation is growing in Finland. That follows a story about how some schools in Espoo have more pupils who speak other languages than Finnish, Swedish, or Saami.
One of the most important matters in a story written by a predominantly white newsroom about migrant and minority groups is what they overlook in the story. What the story discards can be seen as a Freudian slip.
Suppose the editorial board of Helsingin Sanomat had taken the time to address the problem of social segregation from an EU perspective. In that case, they’d encounter some good solutions to challenge such a social ill. These would include the usual issues: tackling institutional racism, effective social policy, and making cities more inclusive.
Thus urban segregation is the unequal distribution of different social groups based on occupation, income, education, gender, and ethnicity, according to the EU. In recent years, the gap has widened.
Social segregation is a growing problem in Finland as in Europe. Source: Google
Why the Helsingin Sanomat editorial does not address the core issues behind urban segregation reveals volumes about the daily and its editorial board. One possible reason why they are not mentioned is a common phenomenon: denial.
