Finland PM apologises to Asian countries over MPs’ squinting gestures in posts
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Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said the MPs’ posts do not reflect Finland’s values of equality and inclusion.
PHOTO: EPA
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Helsinki – Finland’s Prime Minister apologised on Dec 17 to citizens of Japan, China and South Korea after MPs sparked outrage by posting pictures of themselves making derogatory squinting gestures.
The parliamentarians from the populist Finns Party, which is part of the right-wing coalition government, posted images on social media where they pulled back the corners of their eyes – widely seen as a racist gesture targeting East Asian people.
They claimed to have shared the pictures in support of Ms Sarah Dzafce, who was stripped of her 2025 Miss Finland title last week for posting a similar picture on social media in November.
“I offer my sincere apologies for the recent offensive social media posts done by individual MPs,” Finland’s Prime Minister Petteri Orpo was quoted as saying in statements on the social media accounts of Finland’s embassies in Japan, China and South Korea.
“These posts do not reflect Finland’s values of equality and inclusion,” the statement said, adding that “racism and discrimination have no place in Finnish society”.
Public broadcaster Yle reported that a Finnish TV production company had put collaborative projects in Japan on hold and Finnish airline Finnair also said their brand had been negatively impacted.
The Finnish Prime Minister’s office told AFP that Mr Orpo wanted to stress that the trio’s behaviour “does not represent Finland’s position”.
The parliamentarians – MPs Kaisa Garedew and Juho Eerola, and MEP Sebastian Tynkkynen – have reacted differently to the controversy.
While Mr Eerola apologised and Mr Tynkkynen said the gesture was not meant to hurt anyone’s feelings, Ms Garedew told the local media she did not believe she needed to say sorry.
The Finns Party’s parliamentary group is due to meet on Dec 18 to discuss potential sanctions against the MPs.
Finland’s government, which came into power in 2023, has been rocked by several incidents where Finns Party members have made incendiary comments.
In August, another Finns Party MP said immigrants were turning Finland into “a pigsty”. AFP
