The extremist feedback and behavior of Vilhelm Junnila have come beneath scrutiny since his appointment as minister for financial affairs final Tuesday.
Finland’s minister for financial affairs resigned on Friday, slightly greater than every week after taking workplace, amid a flurry of scandals linking him to neo-Nazi ideology.
Vilhelm Junnila, of the far-right Finns Social gathering, stop amid a brand new furore over feedback he made in parliament the place he stated an answer for the local weather disaster is to present extra abortions to African girls.
He known as the idea “local weather abortions”.
Junnila made the speech in parliament in 2019 when he was a freshman MP.
“It could be justified for Finland to shoulder its duty by selling local weather abortions. Local weather abortion can be a small step for an individual, however a large leap for humanity,” he stated on the time.
When the parliament paperwork re-surfaced, Christian Democrat MP Päivi Räsänen — who has grow to be a trigger celebre for the Evangelical right-wing over her uncompromising stance on abortion and LGBTQ points — additionally criticised Junnila.
“The idea of local weather abortion is eco-fascist anyway with out the racist connection. And eco-fascism can also be an extremist motion,” stated Räsänen, a former inside minister.
Junnila stated he was resigning to spare Finland’s fame, “regardless of the belief of the social gathering and my parliamentary group.”
Present schooling minister, and chief of the Swedish Individuals’s Social gathering, Anna-Maja Henriksson, stated it was a “clever choice” that Junnila stop his put up.
On Friday, Finland’s public broadcaster Yle revealed in an investigation that Junnila had by no means taken any political science courses at college, regardless of claiming to be finding out the topic.
Yle additionally discovered no proof of Junnila’s declare that he began, then offered, a tech firm in Poland.
The brand new minister additionally appeared to have misplaced the arrogance of Finnish President Sauli Niinistö who stated throughout a Friday morning interview the state of affairs was “very embarrassing, to say the least.”
What have been Vilhelm Junnila’s different controversies?
Final week Euronews highlighted how Junnila had given a speech at an occasion within the southwestern metropolis of Turku in 2019.
The occasion was organised by the Coalition of Nationalists, an umbrella group shaped in 2017 for these on the far-right together with the Finns Social gathering, the now-banned Nordic Resistance Motion militia, and the Troopers of Odin vigilante motion.
Specialists say the occasion Junnila attended was a “who’s who of neo-Nazis in Finland”, with members of those shadowy excessive right-wing organisations seen in images standing behind Junnila as he spoke, albeit on the alternative riverbank.
The revelations triggered an outcry in Finland, prompting Junnila to subject an apology for attending the occasion.
He additionally apologised for joking in regards to the quantity 88, which was randomly assigned by the Finnish Election Fee as his candidate quantity within the 2019 parliamentary elections.
For neo-Nazis, 88 is coded shorthand for Heil Hitler, as H is the eighth letter of the alphabet.
He described his actions as “silly and infantile”, and stated, “I’ve performed one thing improper and I’m sorry for my actions.”
New points come to gentle
On Wednesday, Junnila survived a vote of confidence in parliament whilst new and problematic points about him have been being raised on an almost-daily foundation.
Earlier this week social media posts from Junnila to his parliamentary assistant have been unearthed, which included an image of a snowman taken from the web which resembled a Ku Klux Klan member holding a noose, with the remark “I made a snowman in keeping with your directions.”
There was additionally a birthday video message that includes Adolf Hitler despatched in 2013, and in 2014 he posted an image of a gate with a swastika, writing how a lot he favored the design.
Junnila’s election marketing campaign has additionally featured the phrase “get gassed” which is similar wording as Germany’s far-right AfD had utilized in a earlier marketing campaign.
Analysts say it sends an innocuous message on the floor to potential voters, however offers one other, darker, which means to different far-right supporters about Junnila’s ideas on the Holocaust.
Rajneesh Singh is a journalist at Asian News, specializing in entertainment, culture, international affairs, and financial technology. With a keen eye for the latest trends and developments, he delivers fresh, insightful perspectives to his audience. Rajneesh’s passion for storytelling and thorough reporting has established him as a trusted voice in the industry.
