“No party is immortal and there are clear signs of the Perussuomalaiset* party’s vulnerability. Their success hinges on how much they can scapegoat migrants and play down global warming. The fact that migrants are not a threat to Finland and that global warming is a very serious threat ensure an eventual fall from political grace for the PS.”
Valkoinen valta means white power in Finnish. This picture was taken on a school wall in Mikkeli. Photo: Enrique Tessieri
* 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 was 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.
“Harmony makes small things grow. Lack of it makes big things decay.” ? Sallust
Migrant Tales julkaisi vähän aikaan sitten listan “anna hukkua” -eurovaaliehdokkaista. Nämä ehdokkaat katsoivat, ettei ole EUn velvollisuus pelastaa siirtolaisia hukkumisvaaralta Välimerellä. Kolme näistä eurovaaliehdokkaista valittiin parlamenttiin 26.5.: Teuvo Hakkarainen ja Laura Huhtasaari perussuomalaisista sekä Henna Virkkunen kokoomuksesta.
Alma Media vaalikoneen väitteessä 13 lukee: “EU:n velvollisuus on pelastaa kaikki hukkumisriskillä Välimeren ylittävät Eurooppaan pyrkivät siirtolaiset.”
Vaikka ei olekaan yllätys, että islamofobiset puolueet, kuten perussuomalaiset, olisivat “täysin eri mieltä” tai “eri mieltä” yllä mainittusta väitteestä, melkein kaikissa puolueissa oli eurovaaliehdokkaita, jotka olivat eri mieltä tai suhtautuivat neutraalisti väitteeseen numero 13. Virkkunen oli “eri mieltä” väitteestä.
Kaiken kaikkiaan, 36,3% (85/234) suomalaisista eurovaaliehdokkaista olivat täysin eri mieletä, eri mieltä tai neutraali väitteseen.
Se, että näin suuri määrä eurovaaliehdokkaista arvelee, ettei ole EU:n velvollisuus pelastaa ihmisiä hukkumisvaaralta Välimerellä – välittämättä politiista seurauksista – osoittaa, kuinka syvälle me yhteiskuntana olemme vajonneet omaan suohomme.
Holokausistakin tiesi suuri joukko ihmisiä, joista enin osa kuitenkin päätti sulkea silmänsä, olla kuulematta toisten ihmisen kärsimyksistä: juutalaisten, romanien ja muiden vähemmistöjen, Natsi-Saksan vihollisien.
Virkkunen seisoo sanojensa takana ja lähetti seuraavat twitit:
“Harmony makes small things grow. Lack of it makes big things decay.” ? Sallust
Migrant Tales published recently a list of “let them drown” European election (MEP) candidates who felt that it wasn’t the EU’s obligation to save the lives of migrants crossing the Mediterranean. Three of these candidates got elected on May 26: Teuvo Hakkarainen and Laura Huhtasaari of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party and Henna Virkkunen of the National Coalition Party.
Statement #13 of the Alma Media election compass reads: “It is the EU’s obligation to save all those migrants who are at risk of drowning attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.”
While it isn’t surprising that members of Islamophobic parties like the PS and candidates like Huhtasaari and Hakkarainen “strongly disagree” with the above statement, there were candidates of most of the mainstream parties who disagreed or were neutral about statement #13. Virkkunen “disagreed” with the statement.
All in all, 36.3% (85/234) of Finnish MEP candidates disagreed or were neutral about the Alma Media election compass statement.
The fact that so many Euro election candidates can agree that it isn’t the EU’s obligation to save people from drowning in the Mediterranean without any consequences shows how far we have stooped as a society.
A lot of people knew about the Holocaust but the vast majority closed their eyes and became deaf to the suffering of the Jews, Roma, other minorities and enemies of the Nazi regime.
Virkkunen stood by her answer and tweeted the following:
People always have to be helped. My answer in (not the Alma Media) election compass 1/2: “We must stop migrant smugglers already at the port. We have to make migrant smuggling economically unprofitable by creating legal paths to job-seeking migrants who want to move to Europe. And the way @HennaVirkkunen to put an end to migrant smuggling is disagreeing with this [election compass] statement: “It is the EU’s obligation to save all those migrants who attempt to come to Europe and are at risk drowning in the Mediterranean.”My answer continues: “European officials should be given the possibility to handle applications and grant the needed permissions [to migrants]. Moreover, the situation of the migrants’ country should be improved through, among other matters, common [EU] foreign policy, trade policy, and through development aid policy…”The answer continues:…” by fostering peace, stability, better living conditions by investing in better administration, education, entrepreneurship, and investment possibilities” I am not of the opinion that people should be allowed to drown. But the smuggling of people must end.
I tweeted this question to MEP Virkkunen but never got a reply:
I asked you Tuesday @HennaVirkkunen what was your opinion about human rights? (1) Human rights are old fashioned and should be shelved or forgotten; (2) Human rights should be preserved; (3) Human rights should be strengthened.
* 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 was 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.
The European elections on Sunday elected 13 MEPs from Finland. Three of them were Migrant Tales “let them drown” Euro candidates.
Did you know that 36.3% of Finnish MEP candidates who answered (85/234) Alma Media’s election compass stated that they either “strongly disagree,” “disagree” or are “neutral” (have no opinion) about the following claim: “Is it the obligation of the EU to save all those migrants who attempt to come to Europe and who are at risk of drowning in the Mediterranean?”
In plain English, it means that these MEP candidates below don’t mind if people drown, or had no opinion if humans drown in the Mediterranean.
Shameful and cowardly.
All those newly elected MEP that “strongly disagree” that it is the EU’s obligation to save migrants from drowning in the Mediterranean were from the Perussuomalaiset* party.
Teuvo Hakkarainen and Laura Huhtasaari. Source: www.perussuomalaiset.fi
Henna Virkkunen of the National Coalition Party “disagreed” that the EU should save people from drowning in the Mediterranean.
Hanna Virkkunen. Source: https://www.hannavirkkunen.fi
Migrant Tales would like to dedicate the following video to Hakkarainen, Huhtasaari, and Virkkunen:
* 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 was 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.
Eurovaalit pidettiin suununtaina ja Suomesta valittiin 13 eurokansanedustajaa. Kolme heistä olivat Migrant Talesin “anna hukkua” -eurovaaliehdokkaita.
Tiestikö, että 36,3%* suomalaisista eurovaaliehdokkaista (85/234) vastasi ”täysin eri mieltä,” ”eri mieltä” tai ”neutraali” Alma Median vaalikoneen väitteeseen: “EU:n velvollisuus on pelastaa kaikki hukkumisriskillä Välimeren ylittävät Eurooppaan pyrkivät siirtolaiset.”
Selvällä suomen kielellä tämä tarkoittaa, että kyseiset eurovaaliehdokkaat eivät välittäneet tai piitanneet hukkuvatko ihmiset Välimerellä.
Häpeälistä ja raukkamaista.
Eurokansanedustajat, jotka olivat “täysin eimieltä” siitä että EU:n velvolisuus on pelastaa kaikki siirtolaiset hukkumisriksillä Välimerellä olivat perussuomalaisia.
Teuvo Hakkaraina ja Laura Huhtasaari. Lähde: www.perussuomalaiset.fi
Henna Virkkunen kokoomuksesta oli erimieltä, että EU pitää pelastaa ihmisiä Välimereltä.
The racism that originates from the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* and their youth chapter is no surprise. The latest posting by the PS Youth is just another example of how they get attention.
It’s a simple and effective method used by far-right parties like the PS Youth.
How it works:
Say or post something outrageous and racist. Sit back and wait;
You know you have succeeded when your message is picked up by the media and social media;
When a storm raises, you have succeeded. It is now time to back down but never apologize;
The principal aim of the message is to your followers who have read what you said or posted.
Indeed, there are a lot of crocodile tears shed in the process.
When the ministry of education threatened to cut the PS Youth’s 115,000 euros in state aid, we read the following statement 5 days after they posted the following on Facebook but without an apology, according to Yle News:
“My tweet was thoughtless and I acted impulsively when the idea struck me,” writes Toni Jalonen, the PS Youth’s vice chairperson. “I later realized that it was misguided, but the damage was already done. I have learned my lesson and moving forward, I will use better judgment when it comes to the organization’s communications.”
After publishing a tweet on Saturday that people should vote for the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* to keep Finland and Europe white, the far-right party’s youth wing vice chairperson Toni Jalonen offered after six days the following statement but without an apology, according to Yle News:
“My tweet was thoughtless and I acted impulsively when the idea struck me. I later realised that it was misguided, but the damage was already done. I have learned my lesson and moving forward, I will use better judgment when it comes to the organization’s communications.”
Do I believe him? Not.
Is this another prank by the far-right party to get attention?
Definitely.
The trick pulled by the PS Youth is one of the oldest tricks in the books used to get media exposure. Eventually, the outrage picks up and the politician or association making such a claim backs down. By it’s too late because the story is already out there.
The picture is from an EU ad with the following text by the youth organization: “Vote for the Peruomalaiset so that Finland won’t look like this.”
Let’s not forget that the PS is a party that gets its support and following is by making racist statements that fueling nativist nationalism. The only apology that would work is if they are voted back to the political minor leagues.
* 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.
Perussuomalaiset (PS)* leader Jussi Halla-aho is shedding crocodile tears concerning the scandal with the PS Youth’s racist tweet over the weekend.
The tweet is straightforward. A black couple is smiling in an EU ad at their newborn child. The PS Youth tweets: “Vote for the Perussuomalaiset so that Finland won’t look like this.”
There are a few matters that make me wonder about the reaction to the PS Youth’s tweet. One is Halla-aho’s comments to steer clear from its youth wing and the fact that prosecutor general Raija Toiviainen will decide whether to charge PS Youth of ethnic agitation.
Halla-aho and some members of the PS have taken a tight line against the PS Youth. He wrote on Facebook that the aim of the party is not study a person’s genetic makeup or how Finnishness is defined. According to him, people who do not understand this are in the wrong party.
The wrong party?
Despite Halla-aho’s statement, he recently did question on TV that citizenship does not make Somalis Finns. “The question who is a Finn is [an] interesting,” he was quoted as saying. “The problem is that in Finnish, we don’t have a term that classifies who is an ethnic Finn and a Finnish citizen.”
A total of 234 Euro election candidates answered Alma Media’s election compass, a total of 85 (36.3%) stated that they either “strongly disagree,” “disagree” or are “neutral” (have no opinion) about the following claim:
“Is it the obligation of the EU to save all those migrants who attempt to come to Europe and who are at risk of drowning in the Mediterranean?”
Of those parties that have a seat in the Finnish parliament, all of the 19 Perussuomalaiset (PS)* candidates strongly disagreed, disagreed or were neutral about the above claim. That was followed by the National Coalition Paty (9/45% of candidates), Center Party (7/35%), Swedish People’s Party (4/20%), Christian Democrats (4/20%) and the Social Democrats (1/6.3%).
Dark green, fully agree; light green, agree; grey, neutral/no opinion; red, disagree; dark red, totally disagree. SDP = Social Democrats; Kokoomus = National Coalition Party; Keskusta = Center Party; Cihreät= Green League; Vasemmistoliitto = Left Alliance; RKP = Swedish People’s Party; Kristillisdemokraatit = Christian Democrats. Source: Iltalehti.
Of the parties mentioned above, 44/152 (28.9%) disagreed or were neutral about people drowning in the Mediterranean.
