Orpo demands talks over Finns Party immigration comments before budget ends

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				Orpo demands talks over Finns Party immigration comments before budget ends

Orpo to HS: Keskisarja’s remarks are unacceptable. Photo: Antti Aimo-Koivisto / Lehtikuva

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has declared that the government will not close budget negotiations until controversial immigration remarks by senior figures in the Finns Party are addressed within the cabinet.

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Orpo said that “the recent language and statements from the Finns Party leadership must be discussed in government. The budget session will not conclude before this has been done.”

The government is set to begin budget negotiations next week. Orpo’s statement came after the party’s vice chair and MP Teemu Keskisarja described immigration to Finland as a “partially realised catastrophe and the end of Finland” during a live broadcast on Yle’s A-studio.

Keskisarja claimed that “in one generation, several hundred thousand mostly low-quality newcomers” had arrived in Finland, and went on to question whether migrants from Africa and the Middle East were “on the same educational and professional level” as native Finns.

The comments have drawn widespread criticism and prompted at least four police reports. Finnish police are assessing whether to launch a preliminary investigation.

When asked to clarify what he meant by “low-quality,” Keskisarja said on air that it referred to “education, civilisation, and professional readiness” of migrants, specifically those from Africa and the Middle East.

The Finns Party leader and Minister of Finance Riikka Purra defended the remarks in an interview on Yle’s Ykkösaamu on Saturday. “There is no racism in this,” she said. “There is no violation of equality. We must be able to talk about immigration without constant offence and outrage.”

Purra added that immigration to Finland is “not of the quality we would hope for, especially in terms of education.”

When presented with a clip of Swedish People’s Party chair and Minister of Education Anders Adlercreutz, who described Keskisarja’s statements as “baseless and irresponsible,” Purra rejected the claim. “What exactly in the comments was untrue or unrelated to the topic?” she said. “We want to discuss the issue, not isolated adjectives.”

She said that the party’s vocabulary may be more colourful than that of the average politician but asked what specifically should be condemned. “The fact remains that the arriving population does not match our expectations regarding dependency on social security and employment levels,” she said.

Orpo had already stated in an earlier interview with Helsingin Sanomat that he disapproved of Keskisarja’s language and that the matter would be addressed in cabinet. The latest announcement signals his intent to tie the issue directly to the state budget process.

When asked whether the prime minister’s comments would influence how the Finns Party communicates in future, the party’s parliamentary group leader Jani Mäkelä told Helsingin Sanomat the situation made him “smile a bit.”

“This is not an economic issue,” Mäkelä said. “I don’t know how one would write the Finns Party’s language into the budget document, but perhaps a creative solution will be found.”

He also said he had heard and noted Orpo’s views but did not confirm whether they would change anything. “If someone has something to say, I will listen and draw conclusions if I find it necessary,” he said.

Yle reports that Keskisarja has also promoted the so-called “Great Replacement” theory, stating that “the native Finnish birth rate has collapsed while hundreds of thousands of low-quality newcomers have arrived.” The theory suggests a deliberate effort to replace Western populations with migrants and has been linked by Finland’s security services to far-right violence.

Asked on Yle whether Keskisarja’s language towards the prime minister was acceptable, Purra replied that she does “not in any way encourage our MPs to criticise the prime minister.”

According to Yle, Orpo refused to comment further when approached.

The Finns Party continues to hold key positions in government. Purra, as Finance Minister, is central to the upcoming budget decisions. In her interview, she said she believed the budget talks could be concluded as early as Tuesday, despite the added tensions.

The controversy has exposed deep rifts in the government coalition, with pressure mounting on Orpo to respond decisively to language some lawmakers describe as unacceptable. Parliament will resume full session in September.

HT

Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi

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