Finland’s government has been thrown into crisis after fresh racist remarks from senior figures in the far-right Finns Party forced Prime Minister Petteri Orpo to halt autumn budget negotiations.
The latest uproar came when deputy party chair Teemu Keskisarja described immigrants as “people of low quality” and claimed they were turning Finland into “a developing country, a pigsty and a massacre.” He also repeated the debunked “great replacement” conspiracy theory. Finance Minister and Finns Party leader Riikka Purra had voiced similar views just a day earlier.
Orpo responded by freezing fiscal talks until coalition leaders address the language used by their second-largest partner. “Classifying people by origin, education or social background is inhumane and unacceptable,” he said.
Four party leaders—Orpo, Purra, Education Minister Anders Adlercreutz of the Swedish People’s Party, and Agriculture Minister Sari Essayah of the Christian Democrats—held an emergency press conference Monday night. They insisted the government would hold together, but admitted the budget process will now take longer than planned.
Where things stand
- Government survives, timetable slips: Orpo confirmed the coalition stays intact, but budget negotiations will run behind schedule.
- Cross-party condemnation: The NCP, Swedish People’s Party and Christian Democrats all slammed Keskisarja’s remarks as “incomprehensible,” “unacceptable” and “inappropriate.” Opposition parties demanded Purra distance herself from her deputy, which she has so far refused to do.
- No sanctions yet: Despite talk of a crisis meeting, the Finns Party defended Keskisarja’s “free speech” and no disciplinary action has been taken.
Wider context
This is the third racism scandal to shake Orpo’s centre-right cabinet since it took office in June 2023. Earlier controversies included the resignation of Finns Party economy minister Vilhelm Junnila over neo-Nazi sympathies, and Purra’s apology for violently racist blog posts from 2008.
The Finns Party, weakened after losses in April’s local elections, now faces growing pressure from coalition partners who must decide how far they are willing to tolerate extremist rhetoric. For the Swedish People’s Party, with just ten MPs, the choice is stark: continue propping up a fragile coalition or walk away and risk government collapse.
Meanwhile, protests against planned cuts to social and health services have erupted outside parliament, underscoring the wider tensions feeding into Finland’s political turmoil.
The coalition is still targeting €1 billion in budget cuts, but the racist outbursts have pushed fiscal policy to the sidelines. What happens next hinges less on numbers than on whether Finland’s governing partners can live with the rhetoric of the far right—or whether this coalition finally cracks.