Finnish nationalist minister resigns over Nazi ‘joke’

Finland’s economy minister Vilhelm Junnila resigned on Friday just 10 days into his term in office, the nationalist Finns Party said, after being accused of making repeated Nazi references.

“For the continuation of the government and the reputation of Finland, I see that it is impossible for me to continue as a minister in a satisfactory way,” Mr Junnila said in a statement.

He is a member of the Finns Party, the Nordic country’s second biggest, part of a right-wing coalition that took office on June 20th after an April election.

While his party may quickly nominate a new minister, Mr Junnila’s quick resignation raised questions about the stability of the new government led by prime minister Petteri Orpo, whose conservative National Coalition party came first in the election.

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Commenting on the resignation, Mr Orpo said Mr Junnila had made the “right and only possible decision” amid the revelations.

“This made his continuation (in office) impossible, it was not good for the government or for Finland,” said Mr Orpo, adding that he condemned extremism and racism in all forms.

On June 28th, Mr Junnila had survived a no-confidence vote against him in parliament called by the opposition, which accused him of repeatedly making statements linked to Nazis.

During his election campaign, public broadcaster YLE reported that Mr Junnila had congratulated a fellow party member on his candidate number, 88 - a known neo-Nazi symbol used in place of the “Heil Hitler” salute referencing Nazi Germany’s leader Adolf Hitler. The Anti-Defamation League calls the number “one of the most common white supremacist symbols”.

“First of all, congratulations for the excellent candidate number. I know it’s a winning card. Obviously, this ‘88′ refers to two H letters which we won’t say more about,” Mr Junnila said in an address to a campaign event on March 10th, according to YLE.

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Mr Junnila later apologised for his choice of words, saying it was a distasteful “joke”. After taking office, he condemned the Nazi Holocaust and antisemitism “completely” in a social media post.

But after the vote in parliament, more material from his past emerged, such as his suggestion in 2019, as a member of parliament, that Finland should promote what he called “climate abortions” in African countries. - Reuters

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