After scandals, Finland govt pledges anti-racism plan

Finland’s government on Thursday outlined a plan to fight racism that includes a ban on denying the Holocaust, after the coalition cabinet has twice been rocked by scandals.

“Every government minister renounces racism and commits to actively work against it,” Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said at a press conference.

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As part of a new plan, the government will seek to criminalise Holocaust denial and explore the possibility of banning the use of Nazi and Communist symbols.

The move comes after Finland Finance Minister Riikka Purra, leader of the far-right Finns Party, apologised after the emergence of years-old racist comments by her online, leading to condemnation from cabinet colleagues.

The inflammatory comments included anti-immigrant, anti-Islam and racial slurs, as well as threats of violence, written by Purra in 2008.

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Purra became the leader of the Finns Party in 2021.

In June, another Finns Party minister, Vilhelm Junnila, announced his resignation after only 10 days in office following an uproar over pro-Nazi remarks.

During his election campaign, Junnila had joked about the election candidate number 88 being a reference to “Heil Hitler”, because ‘H’ is the eighth letter in the alphabet.

The scandals in Finland sparked significant tensions within the four-party right-wing coalition, in particular clashes between the Finns Party and the Swedish People’s Party.

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“We have found solutions, between the four governing parties, to issues that were difficult even to talk about as recently as July,” Orpo said at the press conference.