HELSINKI, (Reuters) – Finland’s economy minister Vilhelm Junnila resigned today just 10 days into his term in office, the nationalist Finns Party said, after being accused of making repeated Nazi references.
“For the continuation of the government and the reputation of Finland, I see that it is impossible for me to continue as a minister in a satisfactory way,” Junnila said in a statement.
He is a member of the Finns Party, part of a right-wing coalition that took office on June 20 after an April election.
While his party may quickly nominate a new minister, Junnila’s quick resignation raised questions about the stability of the new coalition led by Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, whose National Coalition party came first in the election.
On June 28, Junnila survived a no-confidence vote against him in parliament called by the opposition which accused him of repeatedly making statements linked to Nazis.
During his election campaign, public broadcaster YLE reported that Junnila had congratulated a fellow party member on his candidate number, 88 – a known neo-Nazi symbol used in place of the “Heil Hitler” salute referencing Nazi Germany’s leader Adolf Hitler. The Anti-Defamation League calls the number “one of the most common white supremacist symbols”.
“First of all, congratulations for the excellent candidate number. I know it’s a winning card. Obviously, this ’88’ refers to two H letters which we won’t say more about,” Junnila said in an address to a campaign event on March 10, according to YLE.
Junnila later apologised for his choice of words, saying it was a distasteful joke. After taking office, he condemned the Nazi Holocaust and antisemitism “completely” in a social media post.
But after the vote in parliament, more material from Junnila’s past emerged, such as his suggestion in 2019, as a member of Parliament, that Finland should promote what he called “climate abortions” in African countries.
In the April election, the eurosceptic, anti-immigration Finns Party came in second with 20.1% of the vote, right behind the National Coalition at 20.8%. The conservative NCP then formed a coalition with the Finns Party and two smaller groups.