Finland’s new government has lost a key cabinet member just 10 days after its formation as the economy minister from the populist Finns Party resigned following pressure over extremist remarks.
(Bloomberg) — Finland’s new government has lost a key cabinet member just 10 days after its formation as the economy minister from the populist Finns Party resigned following pressure over extremist remarks.
Vilhelm Junnila said he will step down from Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government following a week of mounting scrutiny over his association with far-right.
“Based on 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,” Junnila said in a statement on Friday.
Earlier this week, the opposition filed a motion of no confidence in Junnila arguing his association with far-right movements are not “a single incident, misunderstanding or bad humor, but frequent, systematic and comradely contact.” Junnila still won the confidence vote.
The alleged sympathies with far-right include a speech given at a rally organized by the Nationalist Alliance in Turku four years ago to commemorate the victims of a stabbing attack in the city. The event also attracted some members from the now disbanded Nordic Resistance Movement, which Junnila acknowledged in an apology in a Facebook post last week.
Junnila has also made comments over his previous election number 88, which is seen as a white supremacist numerical code. Earlier this year, he congratulated a candidate who was given the same number, calling it a “winning card,” public broadcaster Yle reported. “This 88 refers, of course, to the two ‘H’s, but let’s not dwell on that,” he said, according to Yle.
“Over the years, I have joked in a way that, in retrospect, seems silly and childish,” Junnila wrote on Facebook. “I have acted wrongly, and I regret my actions.”
On Friday, Junnila said in a new Facebook post that he has never had any relationship or connection with extremists and that he condemns all anti-Semitism.
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