Scandal-Ridden Finnish Government Presents Anti-Racism Agenda

Finland’s government has presented a new anti-racism policy — detailing measures to promote equality and fight discrimination in various aspects of Finnish life {snip}

The statement, presented to the public Thursday, includes a series of measures for the government to strengthen the legal and institutional framework for combating discrimination; improving education on human rights, equality and gender sensitivity; combating hate speech; promoting equality at work; and protecting women from violence in certain patriarchal cultures. It also criminalizes Holocaust denial.

“The Government is committed to promoting equality on a broad front throughout the parliamentary term,” Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said in a press release. {snip}

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Despite being in office for little over two months, Finland’s government has already faced three major racism scandals involving Orpo’s junior coalition partner, the right-wing Finns Party. After 10 days in office the economy minister, Vilhelm Junnila, had to resign after making jokes about Nazism and attending a far-right event with links to neo-Nazis in 2019.

Deputy Prime Minister Riikka Purra later came under fire for making racist comments in online blog posts published in 2008, but she did not resign. And Junnila’s replacement, Wille Rydman, was revealed to have used racial slurs in private messages with his then-girlfriend.