FINLAND’S NEW ECONOMIC affairs minister Vilhelm Junnila, a member of the far-right Finns Party, has announced his resignation after only 10 days in office following an uproar over past alleged pro-Nazi remarks.

The resignation came just two days after Junnila, 41, survived a no-confidence vote in parliament on the issue, garnering 95 votes in favour and 86 against.

“Despite the confidence of the party and my parliamentary group… I see that it is impossible for me to continue as a minister in a satisfactory way,” Junnila said in a statement.

The vote was called by three opposition parties – the Left Alliance, the Greens and the Social Democrats – because of Junnila’s previous controversial statements and links to far-right movements.

Junnila has spoken at least at one event organised in 2019 by Kansallismielisten liittouma (Coalition of Nationalists), a far-right group with links to the anti-immigration group Soldiers of Odin.

He also joked during this year’s parliamentary elections about the election candidate number 88 being a reference to “Heil Hitler”.

The number 88 is often used by neo-Nazis to represent HH (Heil Hitler) as H is the 8th letter of the alphabet. 

In the 2015 legislative election, he campaigned under a “Gas!” slogan, which many interpreted as a reference to World War II gas chambers.

On 22 June, Junnila tweeted an apology for his earlier statements saying, “I hope it is clear to everyone that I strongly and absolutely condemn the Holocaust, anti-Semitism and all anti-Semitic acts.”

More details emerged last Thursday, when Christian Democrat lawmaker Paivi Rasanen recalled a parliamentary question by Junnila in 2019, when he suggested that Finland should promote abortion in Africa as a measure to tackle climate change.

Finland’s new right-wing coalition government, headed by conservative prime minister Petteri Orpo and presented on 20 June, has said it plans a major crackdown on immigration.

It intends to halve the number of UN quota refugees, establish separate social security benefit systems for immigrants and permanent residents, and tighten conditions for obtaining permanent residency and citizenship.

The anti-immigration Finns Party came second in the parliamentary elections in April, scoring their highest result ever.

Orpo appears to have conceded on the immigration crackdown in order to secure support for his six-billion-euro austerity plan.

Far-right parties have also made the news elsewhere in Europe this week, with the right-wing, anit-immigration Alternative für Deutschland (Alternative for Germany) party winning its first local election in Sonneberg on Monday.  

In Spain today, the right-wing Popular Party and the far-right Vox said that they had reached a deal to jointly govern the southwestern Extremadura region, their latest tie-up just weeks before a snap election.

With additional reporting by David Mac Redmond

- AFP 2023