Finland’s prime minister apologised on Wednesday to citizens of Japan, China and South Korea after MPs sparked outrage by posting pictures of themselves making derogatory squinting gestures.
The parliamentarians from the populist Finns Party, which is part of the right-wing coalition government, posted images on social media where they pulled back the corners of their eyes – widely seen as a racist gesture targeting East Asian people.
They claimed to have shared the pictures in support of the 2025 Miss Finland, Sarah Dzafce, who was stripped of her title last week for posting a similar picture on social media in November.
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“I offer my sincere apologies for the recent offensive social media posts done by individual MPs,” Prime Minister Petteri Orpo was quoted as saying in statements on the social media accounts of Finland’s embassies in Japan, China and South Korea.
“These posts do not reflect Finland’s values of equality and inclusion,” the statement said, adding that “racism and discrimination have no place in Finnish society.”
Public broadcaster Yle reported that a Finnish TV production company had put collaborative projects in Japan on hold and Finnish airline Finnair also said their brand had been negatively impacted.