Apart from being the most right-wing government in a hundred years, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government is doing everything possible to disenfranchise migrants and minorities. We can mention raising the citizenship requirements from five to eight years and excluding Russians from having dual citizenship as indicators of how xenophobia is driving Finnish politics. One Russian…
Tag: Far-right parties
Minister Mari Rantanen and the government aim to trash human rights
Is it a coincidence that Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Interior Minister Mari Rantanen’s letter Tuesday to the EU Commission on scraping asylum rights temporarily is an accidental coincidence? News of Rantanen’s letter, which has received harsh criticism from Professor of International Law Matti Koskenniemi, was published after a story by The Guardian claiming global inaction on human…
Questioning dual citizenship rights is another indication of Finland’s path to greater insularity.
Why is the dual citizenship issue being raised again by Yle? According to a survey of MPs, 34 would block dual Finnish-Russian citizenship, while 36 said they would not. Twenty-six had no opinion. Is it surprising that the majority of MPs who want to restrict dual citizenship are members of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* and National…
Riikka Purra and the PS are desparate and fear being exposed for what they are: liars
Radical right Perussuoalaiset (PS)* chairperson, Riikka Purra, like Interior Minister Mari Rantanen, loathes Muslims and other minorities. Slamming and suggesting that Deputy Chancellor of Justice Mikko Puumalainen is a”liberal moron,” exposes her hatred and desperation. Purra, the one who said she’d shoot migrant youths on a train in 2008, now takes out her crystal ball…
@onlinehyphen: Geert Wilders’ victory points to a surge in anti-Islam populism across Europe
By Shada Islam* Many mainstream politicians have adopted and amplified the language of the far right Dutch far-right and anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders’ success in this week’s elections in the Netherlands has been widely described as a “shock” result. It is nothing of the sort. Wilders’ Party for Freedom (PVV), whose manifesto calls for bans on mosques…
Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen: Spreading wholesale disinformation about Putin
Thursday’s A-talk not only exposed Perussuoomalaiset (PS)* Interior Minister Mari Rantanen’s total disregard and desire to trash international refugee agreements, but her propensity to spread disinformation to her voter base. The logic is the same that we’ve seen throughout history: I hate this group and this entitles me to spread lies about them at will….
Press freedom, the rule of law, and Finland’s radical-right xenophobic party
The Perussuomalaiset (PS)* congress over the weekend raised some questions and new perspectives about the PS’ alternate reality. The hostile attacks by PS chairperson Riikka Purra and speaker of parliament, Jussi Halla-aho, Matti Putkonen, and others as “spineless liars” are a warning of the perilous direction that the party wants to steer Finland. Apart from…
Petteri Orpo’s government of Finland loathes migrants: Is it an overestimation or underestimation?
By now, after numerous scandals, Prime Minister Petteri Opro may be thinking that getting into bed with the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* was a huge mistake that will have far-reaching consequences for the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) and even end up costing him his job. If Orpo and PS Finance Minister Riikka Purra had a crystal ball…
Let’s test your level of naivety: Is Finland finally awakening to its “r” problem?
It would be wrong to just blame the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* for Finland’s racism problem. The rise of the PS after the 2011 election would not have been possible without the direct and indirect support of other political parties, the media, and the public. When results of the 2011 election started to appear on television screens,…
Finland’s Prime Minister Orpo’s Pyrrhic victory
The only matter that Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s embattled government will gain if it does not go under after its chaotic start on 20 June, is a Pyrrhic victory. In today’s press conference with journalists, Orpo defended Finance Minister Riikka Purra’s apology for her violent and racist comments made in 2008 when she was a…