Finland: Minister Resigns after 10 Days in Office over ‘Nazi’ References

By Staff, Agencies

Finland’s economy minister Vilhelm Junnila resigned on Friday after only 10 days in office over so-called “Nazi” references he made four years ago.

Even though the minister of the nationalist Finns Party apologized for his remarks and survived a no-confidence vote earlier this week, he still decided to step down to protect the government’s reputation.

“I see that it is impossible for me to continue as a minister in a satisfactory way,” Junnila said in a statement.

The resignation comes after Finnish media learned that in 2019 the politician addressed a Nationalist Alliance event in Turku where he noted that the local party chairman’s election number was 88, which is known as a neo-Nazis symbol for the “Heil Hitler” greeting. Later that year, Junnila also congratulated another candidate with the same number.

“First of all, congratulations on an excellent election number. I know it is a winning card. This 88 refers, of course, to the two 'H's, but let's not dwell on that,” he was quoted as saying.

Junnila issued a statement saying he was sorry for his actions.