In a since-deleted Facebook post, the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats accused NCP leader Petteri Orpo of pandering to the far right.
A mocked-up photo showing a puppet resembling National Coalition Party (NCP) leader Petteri Orpo sitting in the lap of a caricature of Finns Party chair Riikka Purra was posted on the official Facebook page of the European Parliament’s S&D group.
The photo includes the caption “puppets of the far right”, an apparent reference to Orpo’s decision to invite the Finns Party to formal talks aimed at forming Finland’s next coalition government.
The S&D group is the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, a political group in the European Parliament which includes Finland’s Social Democrats — the party of outgoing Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin.
The since-deleted post also criticises the European People’s Party (EPP) — a separate group within the EU Parliament of which the NCP is a member — of enabling the far right to operate in Europe.
Finnish MEP Miapetra Kumpula-Natri, of both the SDP and the S&D, replied on Twitter to criticism of the Facebook post.
“The S&D group’s post has been removed, therefore it can no longer be found. European political culture is different, but this doesn’t really sit right in Finland. Hopefully it doesn’t happen in the future. It requires action and responsibility from everyone,” Kumpula-Natri wrote.
The Finns Party is often referred to in Finland as a right-wing or right-wing populist party, but many international news outlets — including the influential Politico (siirryt toiseen palveluun) newspaper — have used the term “far right” for the party when reporting on Finland’s coalition negotiations.
The far right label also became a topic of heated debate during this spring’s parliamentary elections, when SDP leader Sanna Marin referred to a possible government between the NCP and the Finns Party as a “blue-black” alliance.
This was interpreted as a reference to the fascist Lapua movement, active in Finland during the 1930s. A splinter group of former Finns Party members has since created a new political party named in honour of the movement.
Orpo said he was offended by the comparison, and Marin later apologising for making it.
Source: YLE News
