Finland PM Apologises to Asian Nations: The "Slanted Eyes" Scandal That Rocked Helsinki

Finland PM Apologises to Asian Nations: The "Slanted Eyes" Scandal That Rocked Helsinki

If you’ve been scrolling through your news feed lately, you might have noticed that Finland—the poster child for progressive values, education, and being interminably "happy"—is currently undergoing a very public, very ugly meltdown. For Australians who view the Nordics as a utopia of social cohesion (or just a convenient stopover on the way to London), the current Finland racism scandal is a jarring reality check.

It turns out that beneath the carefully curated veneer of saunas and social security, Helsinki is grappling with a diplomatic nightmare that has managed to offend three major Asian economies in one fell swoop. The catalyst? A beauty queen’s Instagram story. The fuel? A coalition government that seems incapable of keeping its right-wing fringe from treating international diplomacy like a 4chan message board.

From Pageant Wave to Diplomatic Tsunami

The saga began with Sarah Dzafce, the 22-year-old Miss Finland 2025. While in Thailand, presumably to promote world peace and cultural understanding, Dzafce posted a photo of herself making the "slant-eye" gesture with the caption "eating with a Chinese person". It was the kind of casual, lazy racism that might have flown under the radar in 1995, but in 2025, it went viral for all the wrong reasons.

The Miss Finland organisation, to their credit, eventually stripped Dzafce of her title, citing a violation of their values. That should have been the end of it—a celebrity scandal, a tearful (if insincere) apology, and a slow fade into obscurity.

But this is where Finnish politics entered the chat.

Instead of condemning the behavior, members of the Finns Party—a right-wing populist group that serves as a junior partner in Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s coalition—decided this was the hill they wanted to die on. MPs Juho Eerola and Kaisa Garedew, along with MEP Sebastian Tynkkynen, posted their own photos performing the same derogatory gesture in "solidarity" with the deposed beauty queen. Eerola even went so far as to caption his post "Je suis Sarah," co-opting a slogan born from a terror attack on journalists to defend his right to mock Asians.

It’s a level of political tone-deafness that borders on performance art. These aren't random trolls; these are lawmakers in a government that relies on international trade and stability.

The Apology Tour: Clean-Up on Aisle Orpo

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has spent the last week doing arguably the worst job in politics: apologizing for colleagues he can't fire because he needs their seats to stay in power. Orpo issued formal apologies via Finnish embassies in Japan, China, and South Korea, stating that "racism and discrimination have no place in Finnish society" and that the MPs' posts "do not reflect Finland's values".

The cynicism of this situation is palpable. Orpo is essentially telling the world, "Please ignore the people running the country with me; they don't represent the country they are running." The apology was meant to staunch the bleeding, but for many observers, it highlighted a Finns Party controversy that is structural, not accidental. This isn't the first time this government has faced a racism scandal; in 2023, Finance Minister Riikka Purra had to apologize for old blog posts describing immigrants as "monkeys".

The diplomatic fallout has been swift. Japan’s government expressed official concern, and Chinese social media users have been tearing apart Finland’s reputation, with students and tourists questioning whether the country is safe for Asians. A petition launched by a Japanese resident in Finland demanding an investigation into discrimination garnered over 33,000 signatures in days.

Why This Matters to Australians: The Finnair Factor

You might be wondering, "Why should I care about Finnish MPs acting like schoolyard bullies?" Aside from the general interest in international politics, there is a very practical angle for Australians: travel.

For years, Finnair has marketed itself aggressively to Australians as the "fastest way to Europe," leveraging the Great Circle route over Russia (pre-2022) and Asian hubs to funnel travellers into Helsinki. It’s a strategy entirely dependent on good relations with Asian nations.

The airline has now admitted that the Finnair boycott risk is real. The carrier stated that the scandal has "negatively impacted" its brand in Asian markets. When government ministers are actively insulting the very demographic that makes up a significant chunk of your transit passengers, your business model is in trouble.

For Australians planning European summer trips, this adds a layer of uncertainty. If Asian hubs or passengers turn their backs on the Finnish carrier, route viability and prices could fluctuate. Moreover, for Asian-Australians, the question of safety and welcome in Finland is now valid. If lawmakers feel comfortable mocking Asian features publicly, what is the atmosphere like on the streets of Helsinki?

The "Fingolia" Irony and Structural Hypocrisy

The analytical tragedy of this scandal lies in the history of Finland itself. There is a deep, bitter irony in Finnish nationalists mocking Asian features. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Western European racial taxonomists categorized Finns not as "Nordic," but as "Mongoloid," labeling them "Fingolians" to marginalize them as non-European.

For decades, Finland fought desperately to prove its "whiteness" and European heritage. Now, populist MPs are using anti-Asian caricatures to assert a superiority that was historically denied to them. It’s a psychological pretzel that would be fascinating if it weren’t so offensive.

Furthermore, this incident shatters the myth of Nordic exceptionalism. We tend to view Scandinavia as a post-racial paradise, but reports tell a different story. The "Being Black in the EU" report identified Finland as one of the most racist countries in the union based on harassment rates. This scandal isn't a glitch; it's a feature of a society that has arguably never fully reckoned with its structural issues.

As Amnesty International points out, racism in Finland is often brushed under the rug of "humour" or "free speech". The MPs' defense—that they were just "protesting cancel culture"—is a classic cynical deflection used to avoid accountability for punching down.

Conclusion

So, where does this leave us? Prime Minister Orpo is stuck in a marriage of convenience with a party that seems determined to burn the house down for retweets. The "happiest country in the world" tag is looking increasingly like a marketing gimmick rather than a reflection of social reality for minorities.

For Australians, this serves as a reminder that the political stability of our favourite travel destinations can be fragile. It also underscores the global nature of the fight against racism—a gesture made in Thailand by a Finn can trigger a diplomatic crisis involving Japan and China, impacting trade and travel for everyone else.

We watch with interest to see if the Finns Party will face genuine consequences, or if this will simply be another entry in the long list of "isolated incidents" that somehow keep happening.

References

1. Xinhua. (2025). Finnish PM apologizes over racist gesture toward Asian people. Retrieved from Xinhua

2. TRT World. (2025). Finland PM apologises to Asian nations amid outrage over MPs' racist posts. Retrieved from TRT World

3. Amnesty International. (2023). Finland must dismantle structural racism – NOW!. Retrieved from Amnesty Finland

4. Global News. (2025). Finland PM apologizes to Asian nations after beauty queen racism scandal. Retrieved from Global News

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