Iltalehti has another exclusive about the failed appointment of a senior official by a Finns Party minister. Last week the paper reported that party leader Riikka Purra's choice for a media advisory role had been abandoned after a background check by Finland's Security Intelligence Police, Supo.
On Tuesday IL is reporting that Communications Minister Lulu Ranne (Finns) had her first choice for State Secretary rejected after he underwent a security check. Kari Ilkkala has been a councillor in Hämeenlinna alongside Ranne, and served as her special adviser in parliament.
There are eleven State Secretaries appointed by this government, with the National Coalition getting to choose five, the Finns Party four and the Swedish people's Party and the Christian Democrats getting one each.
The role has broad responsibilities, and involves serving as a stand-in when ministers are unavailable. The other ten have already been appointed, but IL reports that Ilkkala has been dropped after the security check.
The paper does not state what Ilkkala's security check uncovered, but does detail a total of 73,000 euros in debts to payday lenders, different companies and the tax administration that are on the debt collection register.
Holocaust denial
As the government prepares to look into banning Holocaust denial, Helsingin Sanomat columnist Saska Saarikoski recalls the record of Jussi Halla-aho in opposing the "special position" of the Holocaust in history.
Saarikoski (then Snellman) had in 2004 written a column detailing the disconnect between Finnish interpretations of history, in which the Holocaust is commonly seen as a horrific event, and European interpretations, in which the Holocaust was seen as a unique moral lowpoint, a symbol of moral depravity that had almost come ro replace religious fables.
Halla-aho had responded to that on his own blog, arguing that the Holocaust's position was not as important as "anything actually happening at the moment".
He also repeated an anti-semitic trope in stating that Armenia has struggled to get recognition of atrocities perpetrated against Armenians by the Ottoman empire as genocide because "the Armenians don't own Hollywood or the American media".
Saarikoski argues that Halla-aho has indirectly forced the government to look at criminalising Holocaust denial, as several racist scandals (including some stemming from comments made on his blog) rocked the government this summer. That forced this week's statement on racism to parliament, which includes the possibility of criminalising Holocaust denial.
Long-distance oarsman
Ilta-Sanomat checks in on Jari Saario, who is rowing from Canada to Finland and has just reached Scotland's archipelago.
His plan is to continue through the Caledonian Canal (and therefore Loch Ness), before heading across the North Sea and into the Baltic.
There is one catch though. After 73 days at sea, he might be vulnerable to sniffles and bugs — so he is planning to avoid any well-wishes who try to collar him for a chat along the tourist-thronged Scottish waterway.
He may even buy some face masks to ensure he stays healthy for the final leg of his lengthy journey.
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