Far-right parties Archives - Page 6 of 37

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

Posted on May 6, 2023May 7, 2023 by Migrant Tales

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.

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

Posted on May 3, 2023May 3, 2023 by Migrant Tales

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.

Nordic region’s lurch to the far right

Posted on April 22, 2023April 22, 2023 by Migrant Tales

The problem with xenophobic parties in the Nordic region is that all promote social exclusion and more social exclusion.

If the elections in Sweden weren’t a preview of the political path of the Nordic region, the April elections in Finland confirmed it. In both countries, parties that base their support on suspicion of minorities and migrants fared well.

Apart from such a recipe for election success in Sweden and Finland, the Sweden Democrats, a party with neo-Nazi roots, and the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* were helped and given political legitimacy by a mainstream conservative party: the Moderates and National Coalition Party (Kokoomus).

For me, the rise of parties whose message is maintaining white-Nordic privilege should not surprise anyone. The exceptionalist view that the Nordics are home of social equality and other noble values is a wise tale. The question a serious student should ask is who enjoys social equality.

If we were to look at how anti-immigration and anti-diversity views take root in the Nordic region, Denmark offers us a case in point.

National Coalition Party head Petteri Orpo and PS’ Riikka Purra in the background. Nordic mainstream parties like Kokoomus have enabled and normalized anti-immigration parties like the PS.

At the beginning of this century, we saw the rise of the staunchly Islamophobic Danish People’s Party (DPP), which influenced politics so that the country turned into one of the most hostile countries for Muslims in the EU.

The DDP, like the Sweden Democrats, could eat and have their racist cakes simultaneously through minority governments.

But in 2019, the Social Democrats, under the leadership of Mette Frederiksen scored a huge victory, with the DPP losing 21 seats. What was the lesson learned? If traditional parties use the same anti-immigration rhetoric as populist parties, they can win elections.

The Danish example suggests that if Sweden and Finland want to deflate the popularity of their Islamophobic parties, they should follow what the Social Democrats did in Denmark.

The other opinion, hoped by some, is to allow the PS to form a government and see how well they come through with their promises. It may mean a nosedive in support.

Polish human rights lawyer Eliza Ruynowski warned Finns in an interview with the Finnish League of Human Rights. “I would urge every Finn to question simple answers to difficult questions. Be wary of those who claim to solve the problem by blaming a group of people – whether it is a minority or those with different political ideas.”

Recently at an Islamophobia conference in Ankara, Turkey, I asked the crowd how a country that won for a sixth consecutive time the title of the happiest country on Earth may have such a big racist party.

Silence responded to my question.

The rise of hostile political parties and public discourse against minorities and migrants reveals how Nordic countries have failed to create social equality.

Finland’s radical-right party’s xenophobic copy and paste of Denmark’s hardline immigration policy

Posted on January 31, 2023 by Migrant Tales

There is nothing new in the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* immigration program announced Monday. A surprise for me was that the PS hardline stance means ALL migrants. Previously, I thought the term “migrant” used by the PS was code for Muslims or persons from outside the EU.

If the PS had its way, it would completely overhaul Finland’s immigration policy.

“EUROPEAN DAY AGAINST ISLAMOPHOBIA 2021 (EDAI): European Network Against Racism (ENAR) condemns “woke Islamism” theory as a political weapon to further legitimize the discrimination of Muslims and those perceived as Muslims in Europe.” Source: ENAR

Some takeaways:

Eight years of residence, speaking near-perfect Finnish, and work, before granting a permanent residence permit;
Raise the residence requirement for citizenship to 10 years from five years now;
Tighten further language requirements for the naturalization test;
Only citizens of OECD countries can have dual citizenship;
Exclude foreigners from getting social welfare;
Tighten further already strict family reunification requirements;
Only people within the EU can apply for asylum;
End labor immigration from outside the EU;
Only highly educated people from outside the EU can move to Finland.

As one can see, instigating such an immigration policy proposed by the radical right PS would effectively mean isolating Finland from the world.

The PS’ latest immigration program is nothing more than a copy-and-paste job of Denmark. The party’s ideological love affair with the Danish People’s Party and now its harsh immigration policy is nothing new.

Riikka Purra and the anti-EU PS may be too radical for Finland’s taste

Posted on January 26, 2023 by Migrant Tales

Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairperson, Riikka Purra, stuck her mouth in her foot at a debate with National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) head Petteri Orpo, when she said that it is still the radical-right party’s long-range aim to leave the EU.

“Finnish citizens are not in favor of leaving the EU,” she was quoted as saying in Helsingin Sanomat. “On the other hand, as we saw with NATO membership, the opinions of the Finnish people sometimes change very quickly. Of course, despite its obvious virtues, we will continue to tell people how much the European Union is costing us.”

In other words, Purra reiterated that the PS’ long-range goal is to leave the EU.

Another “long-range” aim of the PS is to exclude non-Finnish citizens from getting social welfare.

**PS MP Riikka Purra. Photo *Helsingin Sanomat*.**

Sanna Marin: Bravo for stating that the PS is a racist party! Better late than never.

Posted on January 14, 2023 by Migrant Tales

Politicians like Prime Minister Sanna Marin have offered long-overdue leadership when challenging racism in Finnish politics by stating what many know: The Perussuomalaiset (PS)* is a racist party.

“Looking at the speeches of individual [PS] MPs, these speeches have been racist and genuinely hostile to certain minorities,” said Marin in a debate with Petteri Orpo, the chairperson of the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus). “There is no denying this; it is a fact. I don’t understand why we politicians should smile and pretend that these speeches are not real.”

Two PS MPs, Vilhelm Junnil and Veikko Vallin, showing off their MAGA caps by former President Urho Kekkonen’s bust. Does a “normal” party cack President Donald Trump after all the revelations of financial crimes and coup plotting? Source: Facebook

Finnish politicians need to be faster to react to the rise of the PS. In the 2011 parliamentary election, when it won 39 seats from 5 seats previously, Finnish political parties like the Social Democrats wanted to capitalize politically on anti-immigration sentiment.

Riikka Purra: I am a racist and proud of it!

Posted on January 13, 2023March 18, 2024 by Migrant Tales

After the leaders of the Social Democrats, Greens, and Left Alliance announced that they would not form part of a future government with the radical-right Perussuomalaiset (PS),* Riikka Purra has lashed out against her party’s critics.

The latest racist talking points of the PS is excluding foreigners from getting social welfare and creating a modern Nordic apartheid state where foreigners would be legally second-class citizens.

The knee-jerk reaction by Purra is because the three parties don’t see the PS as “a normal party” and therefore do not wish to sit in the same government as her Islamophobic party.

Purra tweets: “There is nothing to hide, nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to hide about our (party’s) values. We are a nationalist and patriotic party defending Finland and Finnishness. I am very proud of our concept of humanity and our values.”

**Do you see any visible minorities in the picture? Maybe one. Source: Twitter**

The PS is “offended” because they are not treated as a “normal” party

Posted on January 11, 2023 by Migrant Tales

Bravo, Social Democratic Prime Minister Sanna Marin! Bravo, Green League Minister of the Environment Maria Ohisalo! Bravo, Left Alliance Minister of Education and Culture Li Anderson! Bravo for stating in plain Finnish that your parties would not form part of a new government with the radical right Perussuomalaiset (PS).*

When the PS took 39 seats in the 2011 parliamentary elections from 5 seats previously, the country has not been the same. But could you expect from a party that bases its support on racism, nationalism, and fascism.

Academic researchers like Oul Silvenoinen consider the PS a radical-right party with ties to openly hostile and violent groups like Suomen Sisu, Soldiers of Odin, Kansallismielisten liitouma (National Alliance), Sinimusta Liike (Black-and-Blue Movement), the banned neo-Nazi Pohjoismainen vastarintaliike, and others.

If you listen to the PS chairperson, Riikka Purra,
she wants to turn Finland into a Nordic apartheid state where white and naturalized Finns have all the rights. Her latest outburst is to exclude foreigners from getting social welfare.

It’s been 11 years since the 2011 election, and, certainly, the PS believes and wants you to believe it is “a normal” party, which explains why the party appears offended by the SDP, Green League, and Left Alliance not wanting to be in the same government as it.

A PS ad for the municipal elections. It reads: “National clean-up day. A woman with dyed blonde hair and wearing a national dress is throwing parties like the Left Alliance, Center Party, SDP, and Greens into the hazardous waste bin. UFFE, which aims to promote ecological, social, and economic sustainability, recycles Antifa, feminism, communism, globalism, and BLM. Source: Facebook

Media Monitoring Group of Finland*: HS can and should do a better job when reporting on Riikka Purra

Posted on January 10, 2023 by Migrant Tales

Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party chairperson, Riikka Purra, has actively promoted her racist talking points. Some of these are the far-right great replacement theory and, most recently, her party’s aim to exclude non-Finnish citizens from getting social welfare.

While such a suggestion may appear for now a political stunt to lure voters, Purra’s suggestion is outrageous, to say the least. Did the media see it in the same way?

Nope.

Did any newspaper write an editorial about Purra’s statement?

Nope.

Apart from demonizing foreigners and minorities, her plan has the same ring as the Nurenburg Race Laws, which effectively excluded Jews from German society.

Even if the Nurenburg Race Laws came into force in 1935, Purra’s suggestion could be a modern version of the latter. The idea is the same: label, victimize and exclude whole groups.

Helsingin Sanomat does some fine reporting, but sometimes it falls flat on its face.

The story about Purra’s suggestion to exclude foreigners from receiving social welfare is a good example of deficient or lazy reporting.

A watershed that may impact April’s parliamentary election

Posted on December 13, 2022 by Migrant Tales

Two hard-hitting editorials by Helsingin Sanomat on the mistreatment of labor migrants could indicate how the Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset* will do in the parliamentary election. I make such a claim because I am an optimist.

We saw something similar in the US Midterm elections, which showed how voters rebuked Donald Trump and his election deniers.

Apart from two important editorials, good reporting on the case of a Mongolian nurse showed the good side of the media exposing and defending people’s rights.

The first Helsingin Sanomat editorial, published on Saturday, highlights what Migrant Tales mentioned weeks ago: Youth gang violence is a campaign topic for the opposition. The last one strongly criticizes the Finnish Immigration Service for arbitrarily mishandling Mongolian nurse Anudari Boldbaatar.

Struggling with the slow pace of due process in Finland to challenge Migri’s deportation order, a district court eventually overturned it, Boldbaatar had had enough and moved to another country.

I agree with both editorials and commend Finland’s biggest daily for speaking out against the hostile environment against migrants and minorities. The editorial on Boldbaatar asks how it is possible that Migri can ruin a person’s live and get away with an apology.

“The Agency [Migri] has traditionally played an important role in Finland’s immigration policy, mainly aimed at preventing foreigners from entering Finland.”