Pegida, a self-proclaimed “anti-Islamization” movement, which saw its leader Lutz Bachmann bow out after he posted a picture where he impersonated Htiler, is trying to get a foothold in Finland. The movement, which has established a Facebook page in Finland with 1,800 likes, has spread from Germany to other Nordic countries like Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
It is ironic that Finland’s largest daily Helsingin Sanomat writes about Pegida Finland on the 70th anniversary of Auschwitz’ liberation by the Russians in World War 2.
Since intolerance, bigotry and outright hatred of groups are based on outright lies, anti-immigration groups and politicians like Pegida must constantly change their arguments.
Pegida appears to be a new type of Islmophobic English Defense League with extremist and overblown views of Islam and the threat it poses.
One of the aims of Pegida in Finland is that Europe must stop taking refugees especially from Muslim countries.
It’s clear that movements like Pegida can become a great threat to our society since their ultimate aim is to exclude and maintain a climate of hatred and suspicion in Europe of minorities like Muslims.
Don’t be surprised if you find numerous members of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party as some of Pegida Finland’s most active members.
* The Finnish name for the Finns Party is the Perussuomalaiset (PS). The names adopted by the PS, like True Finns or Finns Party, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and xenophobia. We therefore prefer to use the Finnish name of the party on our postings.