THE right-wing government of Finland was sworn in on Tuesday amid a scandal over the racist links of two senior members of their coalition. 

Jussi Halla-aho, a former MEP and now in a senior role as Speaker of the House, has a long track record of racist comments and writings. 

Among his blog posts Mr Halla-aho has written about Islam as a “religion of paedophiles,” and described the Prophet Mohammed as “a paedophile.”

He also described “robbing passers-by” as being a ‘genetic trait’ of Somalis.

Mr Halla-aho has never apologised for his earlier comments or writing. 

The incoming economy minister, Vilhelm Junnila, has addressed a rally organised by neonazis.

Mr Junnila, who like Mr Halla-aho is a member of the far-right Finns Party, was the featured speaker at an event in 2019 in the western city of Turku allegedly organised to commemorate a terrorist attack two years previously.

But, the rally was organised by the Coalition of Nationalists, an umbrella group formed in 2017 for far-right groups including the Finn Party, the now-banned Nordic Resistance Movement and the Soldiers of Odin vigilante movement. 

At the time the Star went to print there had been no comment from Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s National Coalition Party.