Earlier: Finland Follows Sweden To Immigration Restriction: Inspiration For U.S. Patriots
Leftists despise democracy. So it is unsurprising that 400 of them protested in Helsinki’s Senate Square on June 27 because April’s general election didn’t go their way, and party-girl Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s woke government lost power. After much negotiation, a new “right-wing” coalition emerged in late June. It intends—and outrageously so, the Leftists believe—to enact the policies that it actually has a democratic mandate to enact. Tops among them are tough immigration measures. The new government has proposed a bracing menu of controls that put Finland first … not “migrants” and “refugees.”
The fragile coalition hit a bump because Economics Minister Vilhelm Junnila, a member of the Finns Party, unwisely joked in March with another candidate about a famous Austrian known in some circles online as “88.” Junnila survived a no confidence vote, but then more imprudent remarks surfaced, so he (arguably unnecessarily) resigned [Finnish nationalist minister resigns over Nazi references, by Anne Kauranen, Reuters, June 30, 2023].
(Extremely weirdly, Sanna Marin’s most likely successor as SDP leader, Antti Lindtman, a particularly sanctimonious critic of Junnila, has just run into trouble after photographs surfaced of him posing naked with other men, wearing ski masks and giving Nazi salutes [Top left-wing Finnish politician tries to explain naked Hitler salute picture scandal, RMX, July 06, 2023].)
And the protesters would have marched anyway, Junnila’s remarks regardless. Leftists don’t like losing power, which is why they despise democracy. “Pride” flags flapped above the marching malcontents, and young women held placards emblazoned with contradictory and inaccurate slogans such as “Culture Thrives on Diversity.” If true, then distinct “cultures” would never develop.
400 people joined a demonstration in Helsinki on 27.06.23 to protest Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's (NCP) right-wing government's plans to tighten immigration rules. The programme raises the bar for those seeking Finnish citizenship or permanent residence. https://t.co/T4z3Wwg4KN
— Corinna Casi (@CorinnaCasi) June 28, 2023
Finland’s “African Anti-Racist Society” organized the rally and its key speaker, a member of Parliament from Marin’s Social Democrats, was an Afghan called Nasima Razmyar [Protesters march over government immigration plans, by Veronica Kontopoulou, YLE News, June 27, 2023]. Leave aside that an Afghan is a member of Finland’s legislature and why Finns should care what he thinks about anything—in particular, how real Finns order their lives. Ordinary working Finns in the nation’s capital, the people who count, don’t object to the new government.
Announced on June 20, the new government is led by the National Coalition Party, which is essentially free-market conservative and has, by a tiny margin, the highest vote share and number of seats in the legislature: 20.8 percent and 48 percent. Its leader, Petteri Orpo, is Prime Minister. The anti-immigration Finns Party, 20.1 percent and 46 seats, is followed in the coalition by two smaller parties: the Swedish People’s Party, which represents the country’s 5 percent, relatively elite Swedish-speaking minority, and the Christian Democrats, a fundamentalist Christian party [Finland’s new government takes office, by Ronan Browne and Mark Odom, YLE News, June 20, 2023]. Marin’s Social Democrats won 19.9 percent of the vote and 43 seats.
The new coalition government has a majority of just nine seats over all other parties, which clearly leaves it open to back-bench rebellions when trying to pass contentious of legislation [New government aims to reshape Finnish economy with carrots and sticks, by Wif Stenger, YLE News, June 16, 2023].
And contentious legislation there is.
The agreed-upon program is patriotic and interesting, though whether the majority has the courage to fully enact it over inevitable Leftist fanatical outrage and unscrupulous chicanery remains to be seen. The government has drawn a blueprint to strongly discourage immigration that includes deporting useless immigrants and stopping them from voting.
The number of annual “quota refugees” from the European Union will be cut by half, from 1050 to 500. Attaining Finnish citizenship will require continuously living in the country for eight years instead of five; and passing a Finnish or Swedish language test. If a legal immigrant loses his job, he will have three months to find a new one or be deported. Immigrant workers who cannot support their families will not be permitted to import them. New applicants must be employed for two years prior to applying. Also imposed will be far stricter “integrity” requirements to stop foreign criminals from immigrating [Protesters march over government immigration plans, by Veronica Kontopoulou, YLE News, June 27, 2023].
The latter policy is crucial. Like neighboring Sweden, though to a lesser extent, Finland has learned that “diversity is its greatest strength” in an eye-opening way:
These sex and violent crimes were unheard of 20 years ago when the country was still overwhelmingly Finnish. But the joys of multiculturalism have come for this innocent little northern nation, spearheaded by decades of treacherous government and the naïve or conformist Finns who elected those governments.
So Finland now has a new government that claims it wants to fix the problems diversity has created. But even this government foolishly insists that the country “needs immigrants.” Immigration is, the new government’s 240-page policy document says, “very important for Finland’s economic growth.” Even so, the government is loosening regulations to help Finns enter business more easily, and to help retirees continue working.
Working assiduously against the new government will be the entire Leftist media and academic establishment, along with fanatical Woke mobs that are beginning to emerge in Finland as it inevitably copies bigger countries.
Such is the government’s thin parliamentary majority that I will believe it can make its proposed changes to immigration policy when I see them.
But the winds of change that have already hit the rest of Scandinavia (here, here, and here) have certainly started to blow through Finland.
Harri Honkanen [Email him] is a student of Scandinavia.
