Scandal in Finland: Deputy Prime Minister wrote racist comments 15 years ago

A newspaper report has caused a political earthquake in Finland. According to the report, Deputy Prime Minister Riikka Purra is said to have published racist comments in 2008. Now the past is catching up with the politician – without consequences for the government.

A political scandal has erupted in Finland. The local media made a serious accusation against the acting Minister of Finance and Deputy Head of the Government Riikka Purra. As the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat wrote, 15 years ago, the politician left racist and violence-glorifying comments in the blog Scripta of the current speaker of parliament Jussi Halla-aho. The former leader of Finland's far-right grassroots Finns party was convicted in 2012 for his anti-Islamic statements. The Finnish press identified the author of the commentary with the username "riikka" with the current chairman of the grassroots Finns.

In 2008, her name was Riikka Niskakari and she was a researcher at the University of Turku. In August of the same year, she participated in a science conference in Barcelona. Just at the same time, the user "riikka" wrote in a comment, among other things:

"Greetings from Barcelona. A 'worrying immigration problem' is not to be seen here. Negroes sell fake Louis Vuitton bags on the Rambla."

In other texts, "riikka" used such racist expressions as "mocha penises" and "Turkish monkeys". In a July 2008 post, the user asked:

"Are there Nezis in the city today who spit on beggars and beat Negro children? Anyone?"

Nezis (in the original "netsit") apparently meant an ironic allusion to Nazis. The term was common on the blog and stood for anti-immigrant Internet users. In September of the same year, "riikka" wrote that there would even be corpses on the commuter train if he, or more precisely her, was given a weapon.

On Monday, the politician admitted on Twitter that she had written numerous comments on the Scripta blog at the time, which she would not publish today. She did not want to go directly into whether she had written these comments under the username "riikka" at the time. As an explanation for her behaviour, she argued that she had been frustrated at the time with certain aspects of the immigration situation in her country. Among them, she cited sexual violence against women and gender inequality in Islam. That's why she sometimes expressed herself angry and stupid.

A day later, the minister repeatedly apologized for her "stupid" comments from 15 years ago. She was not a perfect person and had made mistakes. Violence, racism or discrimination are unacceptable to them. She didn't go into politics until later.

At the same time, Purra stressed that her party's program is not based on racism and discrimination, but on the interests of Finns.

"I hope that my performance in politics will be measured by what I do in my positions as a member of parliament, minister and party leader."

On the sidelines of the NATO summit in Lithuania, the president of the EU country, Sauli Niinistö, called on the government to take a clear stand against racism. Conservative Prime Minister Petteri Orpo assured the media that his cabinet does not accept racism in any of its forms. On Twitter, he thanked Riikka as a coalition partner for the "right solution" and ruled out a break in the government. His cabinet will implement his program.

On Wednesday there was a joint statement by Purra and Orpo. The politician described her comments at the time as "indefensible" and apologized again. Nevertheless, she found that her comments had been taken out of context. If you read such discussion forums more closely, you will find that it is a kind of insider humor, but that it is not justifiable. Orpo stressed the government's zero tolerance for racism and said that the finance minister continues to enjoy his trust.

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