Finnish Finance Minister Riikka Purra apologises for past racist remarks amid cabinet criticism
Riikka Purra
Riikka Purra, the leader of the Finns Party and Finland's Finance Minister, issued an apology on Tuesday for the racist comments she made online more than a decade ago. This apology comes after her remarks were condemned by her cabinet colleagues.
Purra, who assumed leadership of the far-right Finns Party in 2021, was accused of making inflammatory comments in 2008. These included various anti-immigrant, anti-Islam, and racial slurs, as well as threats of violence.
The apology
Taking to Twitter, Purra wrote in Finnish: "I apologise for the stupid comments I made 15 years ago and the understandable harm and upset they caused."
"I'm not a perfect person, I've made mistakes," she added.
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This controversy arises just two weeks after another Finns Party minister resigned due to similar issues.
As per an AFP news report, initially, Purra neither confirmed nor denied the allegations.
In a blog post on Monday, she stated, "It would not occur to me to start denouncing or apologising for what I did and said years and decades ago". However, she later acknowledged her past remarks on Twitter, stating that she used to feel "very frustrated and hopeless" about certain issues.
"I used to feel very frustrated and hopeless about certain aspects of immigration in Finland."
"Then you might say or write angrily and stupidly," she added.
The controversial comments
According to AFP, the controversial comments were posted under the username "riikka" on a blog that belonged to her predecessor, Jussi Halla-aho.
Evidence linking the blog author "riikka" to Riikka Purra includes coinciding visits to Barcelona, similar educational backgrounds, and both proclaiming to be vegetarian. These similarities were reportedly noticed by social media users.
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President Sauli Niinisto weighed in on the controversy on Tuesday, stating, "it would be wise for the Finnish government to take a clear stance of zero tolerance on racism."
This incident follows another controversy in June when Vilhelm Junnila, another Finns Party minister, was forced to resign due to various pro-Nazi remarks. Junnila had made the remarks during this year's parliamentary elections.
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