Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Justice Minister Leena Meri’s decision to disband a ministerial committee on racism, hate crime, and hate speech exposed and killed the government’s anti-racism statement for what it was: a piece of paper. It’s clear that the government wasn’t and isn’t serious about doing anything to tackle the social ll. The elephant in the room is the PS, which has built its political success on xenophobia, would never take steps to shot itself in the leg. Villifying migrants, especially non-EU citizens and Muslims, is an integral part of the PS’ DNA. Reaction has been swift. Alludin ..read more

The recommendations made by the EU Commission in 2019 to the Finnish government to tackle hate crime and racism are facing an uphill battle. Justice Minister Leena Meri of the Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* disbanded a ministerial committee in February based on 20 European  Commission recommendations given to Finland to tackle racism and intolerance, according to tabloid Iltalehti. Some see Minister Meri’s, the PS’ and the government’s anti-racism plan as the three monkeys above. Minister Meri is another PS politician that is multiculturally challenged and who believes in conspirac ..read more

If there is one matter that describes PM Petteri Orpo’s government to the tee, it is it cruelty to the most vulnerable sectors of society and migrants. The personification of antipathy and hostility is none other than Minister of Economic Affairs Wille Rydman, a former member of the National Coalition Party who became after a scandal a member of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party. I chatted briefly with Rydman about his letter to the editor in 2010, which he said was an “article (sic),” and claimed that migrants should throw away their culture and just concentrate on learning the Finnish languag ..read more

Interior Minister Mari Rantanen of the Perussuomalaiset party*, Since the Finnish media won’t ask you critical questions about the tightening of migration policy, I’d like to ask you why are you tightening the screws. Finland needs migrants and, as you know, we are up sh*t creek due to the graying of our population and its cost. Interioir Minister Mari Rantanen. Many parts of your migration policy show the worst of Finland. Take for instance changes in the naturalization law, where you are requiring people to live in Finland eight years from the five required now. What about human rights? Are ..read more

Perusuomalaiset (PS)* Interior Minister Mari Rantanen held a press conference today and outlined how the present government is going to tighten migration policy. There was nothing new in what Rantanen said. We know about plans to tighten the citizenship law, family reunification, speed up deportations, and making it harder to get a residence permit. All of these measures begged for a question: Why? Finland is already suffering from an unprecedented demographic crisis that has hit its economy hard. So many people are retiring that the country cannot plug such a shortage. An article in Helsingin ..read more

The growth of Finland’s economy in the past fifteen years has been disappointing with our indebtedness growing at an alarming rate totaling today about 75% of GDP, according to Yle. If we were to point to the elephant in the Finnish room, it’s clear that our rapidly aging population and too few immigrants are the culprits. To top it off, when Finland’s debt-to-GDP ratio started to rise worryingly in the early 2010s, Finland was hit politically by the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, which made it to the major political league in the 2011 election, when its numbers rose to 39 MPs from 5 MPs previously ..read more

Today’s A-studio with Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Mauri Peltokangas, head of the administration committee, and MP Tytti Tupparainen of the Social Democratic Party was disappointing when they spoke of the law on “refoulement,” also popularly known as the “pushback law.” Even if Tupparainen said that human rights were a cornerstone of Finland’s rule of law, Peltokangas was willing to throw Finland’s human rights commitments under the bus because “national security overrode everything.” Using the excuse of “national security” to trash human rights, internaiontal rights and the rule of law, is a fl ..read more

National Coalition Party Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government is drafting a new pushback law that permits Finland to subvert human rights, international law, and the rights enshrined in its constitution. Even if the law gets approval from parliament, it will not solve but worsen the problem at the Finnish-Russian border. Considering that Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Interior Minister Mari Rantanen has a notorious record as an Islamophobe, expect the worst from Finland’s tightening of immigration and asylum policy. Why would you trust a person like Rantanen when it comes to migration unless you b ..read more

MTV is at it again, depicting migrants as a threat to society and feeding into its own and some of its viewer’s racist inclinations. The interview of Perusuomalaiset (PS)* Interior Minister Mari Rantanen by Ivan Puopolo, notorious for his biased views, shows us how low Finland’s largest privately owned television station can stoop. The reporting and interview by Puopolo is an exercise in stenography journalism. One of the questions that Puopolo asks Rantanen is one of her favorite questions about why the integration program has failed. “I suppose you could take it as a sign that the integratio ..read more

The Eastern Finnish cities of Joensuu, Imatra and Lappeenranta are aiming to shut down Russian-language schools and has led to an intense debate about the future of such institutions. While some argue about economic factors and lack of demand for the closure of such schools, others point the finger at anti-Russian and anti-foreign sentiment. Katja Marova, a local politician of Lappeenranta for the Left Alliance who has lived in Finland for 14 years, is concerned by the rising anti-Russian atmosphere in Finland. “Of course I am concerned about the [xenophobia] situation [in Finland],” she said ..read more