Radical Right-Wing Political Parties and Groups
March of the far-right group Northern Resistance Movement, 12/06/2017. Helsinki.
True Finns is the main nationalist party in Finland. Established in 1995 (leader - Timo Soini), the party won 20% of votes and 39 seats (out of 200) in the 2011 parliamentary elections.
Besides the True Finns, Suomen Sisu (Finnish Power) positions itself as an elite club and tries to influence the decision-makers. Some experts believe that Finnish Power is part of the True Finns party that does not publicise its affiliation. In 2013, an international neo-Nazi organisation called Blood and Honour appeared in the Finnish cities of Helsinki and Tampere, acting as a recruiting centre for neo-Nazis. True Finns are significantly influential in the Finnish society. In 2011 parliamentary elections, the party was extremely successful given the fact that it only received five seats in 2007.
They were able to replicate this success in the 2014 European Elections. Gathering 12.9% of votes, the party received two seats in the European Parliament making it third in Finland.
True Finns MEP Jussi Halla-aho came second in Finland by the number of votes – almost 80 000 – outranked only by Alexander Stubb, a prominent MP from the Coalition Party and current Prime Minister. Halla-aho is a known racist, aggressively speaking against Muslims and black immigrants. He was sentenced for insulting religious feelings and inciting ethnic enmity on multiple occasions.
True Finns were able to consolidate around conservative-minded voters and convince them of the idea that xenophobia and Migrantophobia are normal attitudes (according to the survey, conducted in November 2014, 16.3% of the electorate were ready to vote for the party ).
It is noteworthy that no candidate from immigrant backgrounds was successful in the last parliamentary elections.
True Finns in their 2011 manifesto demand a reduction in the number of Swedish-language TV and radio broadcasts, abolish the requirement of Swedish language proficiency imposed on the civil servants and make Swedish language courses elective in schools. True Finns also seek to introduce quotas for foreign students. With regard to migration, the True Finns demagogically stated that they welcome legal migrant workers (while persistently pushing the term “criminal immigrants”), and demanded reducing social benefits for migrants and reducing the number of asylum applications. They opposed the granting of citizenship to a wide range of foreigners, stating: “Citizenship should be a reward”.
Suomen Sisu programme states that the organisation is a nationalist party, whose activities are aimed at creating a Finnish national society. Chairman of the organisation, Olli Immonen (True Finns MP) argues that current developments in Finland are moving in a nationalist direction and that the country is moving away from the “ideology of multiculturalism”.
True Finns also support Pro-Karelia – an organisation seeking to return the Vyborg territory to Finland along with territories given to Russia after the Russo-Finnish War of 1939-40 and the Second World War.
Nationalists also demand a ban on the sale of real estate to foreigners in Finland. They do not hide the fact that such a demand is the underlying reason of “massive” buy-outs of houses and apartments by Russians in the border zone. According to the nationalists, it threatens national security.
In 2007, the Nordic Resistance Movement was created in Finland as a branch of the Scandinavian neo-Nazi organization of the same name, uniting branches not only in Suomi, but also in Sweden, Norway and Denmark. It grew out of a smaller organization, the National Youth (Nationell ungdom), established back in 1997. The Nordic resistance movement considers itself to be a National Socialist worldview. According to the American Anti-Defamation League, as expressed in its report, published in March 2022, the Nordic Resistance Movement is distinguished from other right-wing extremist groups in the Scandinavian region and elsewhere in Europe in three ways: (1) the generally accepted and fanatical Nazi ideology, combined with the proclaimed goal of revolution by any means; (2) a strong focus on violence; and (3) a bureaucratic organizational structure that has evolved to keep the group consistent even as it expanded to cover all of Scandinavia.
The clearly stated political goal of the NRM is to carry out a revolution, overthrow democracy and replace it with a Nazi dictatorship to cover all of Scandinavia and the Scandinavian region. The group has stated that it will not rest until its banner flies over the parliaments of the Scandinavian countries, and the revolutionary goal is the premise and motive of all NRM activities and operations. Once they have established their dictatorship, the organization will instruct the government to identify and clear the territory of the state from the so-called "racially alien" ( rasfrämmande ) and "hostile to the people" ( folkfientliga ) elements.
The organization's primary symbol is the Tiwaz rune, which was used as an emblem in the Third Reich, and its chosen banner and uniform colors are green, white, and black, modeled after the historic Romanian fascist group, the Archangel Michael Legion.
The NRM is explicitly Nazi, espousing what it calls the "National Socialist worldview", and Hitler's Third Reich serves as an inspirational model. Its ideology is centered on anti-Semitism, so-called biological racism, reactionism ("traditionalism"), ecofascism and conspiracy beliefs. The name of the group comes from its belief that it is waging a war of resistance against the "Jews" and their supporters for the survival and victory of the "Nordic race".
NRM claims that Nazism is a "biological" ideology, consonant with the laws of nature. People who the NRM does not identify as white are classified as "alien by race" (rasfrämlingar), who must be eliminated or exiled. Anti-racist activists, journalists, civil servants and politicians from all democratic parties are considered "traitors to the People" (folkförrädare) who will eventually be executed.
The Nordic Resistance Movement looks at the world through the lens of anti-Semitism and connects any problem with the belief in a global Jewish conspiracy. Their rallies, leaflet campaigns, podcast recordings and online activities are all aimed at promoting virulent anti-Semitism. NRM anti-Semitism is expressed in both abstract and more direct terms, such as in a 2015 speech when the group's leader Simon Lindberg spoke out against "those who organized the genocide [against white people], referring to the Jews.
The most recent demographic survey, dated 2020, identified 196 active NRM members. In 2018, there were 281. A significant decrease in the number and a slight increase in the average age to 35 years. The gender balance remained constant: 83% of men and 17% of women.
The consequences of the activities of this organization were the most serious. For example, in 2017 a small Jewish association in Umeå was forced to vacate its premises following a series of intimidation incidents involving swastikas, Adolf Hitler NRM stickers and threatening messages reading "we know where you live" that were pasted on a Jewish community center. Attempts were made to find new premises and restart the association, but in May 2018 the Jewish community decided to disband it instead.
Based on all this, and after a man was killed in September 2016 after being attacked during a neo-Nazi rally at Helsinki Central Station, in November 2017, the Pirkanmaa District Court banned NRM. The decision was confirmed on September 28, 2018 by the Turku Court of Appeal and finally by the country's Supreme Court in September 2020.
