“This should not happen. Not now and not in the future,” said Jukka Kopra, the National Coalition Party’s parliamentary group chair.

Following a meeting on Tuesday, government’s parliamentary group chairs strongly criticised what they characterised as rude and inappropriate comments that damage Finland’s reputation.

The criticism was directed towards some Finns Party members’ reactions to the former Miss Finland, Sarah Dzafce, who was recently stripped of the title following public outrage about a leaked photo that showed her making an apparent racist gesture.

The picture showed the former beauty pageant winner smiling for the camera as she pulled her eyelids to the sides of her face, with Finnish text that read: “eating with a Chinese person”.

The image was widely seen as mocking people with Asian heritage. However, the decision to strip Dzafce of the Miss Finland title did not sit well with some Finns Party MPs.

For example, the party’s MPs Kaisa Garedew and Juho Eerola each shared photos of themselves in similar, squinting poses — saying they were expressing support for Dzafce. Finns Party MEP Sebastian Tynkkynen also shared a similar photo.

Eerola has since apologised that his post was seen as offensive.

“In this context, I’d like to say to all people with Asian backgrounds that I apologise if you felt that way. It was never my intention to offend,” he told Yle on Friday.

‘Should not have happened’

On Tuesday, government party chairs strongly condemned the MPs’ reaction posts.

“This should not have happened. Not now and not in the future,” Jukka Kopra, the National Coalition Party’s parliamentary group chair, told reporters after the meeting on Tuesday.

“Social phenomena and decisions can and should be objectively criticised. But derogatory gestures and images are irresponsible actions that don’t promote anything,” Kopra continued.

However, the group leaders did not take a position on possible sanctions facing the MPs in question. According to Kopra, that matter will be decided by the Finns Party’s parliamentary group. He said other parties would not take a position about possible sanctions until the Finns Party has made its decision.

The Finns Party’s group chair, Jani Mäkelä, told reporters that his party is taking the government partners’ message seriously, vowing that its parliamentary group would discuss the matter. He emphasised that the group members have a wide interpretation of the matter.

“Not all of the groups necessarily have exactly the same view of the situation, but as government cooperation is being carried out, the views of the other government parties must also be taken into account,” Mäkelä said.

The working committee of the Finns Party’s parliamentary group are due to meet on Wednesday, and the group itself is to meet the following day.

When asked, Mäkelä confirmed that MP Eerola continues to have his support.

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) condemned the Finns Party members’ posts on Sunday.

“It became childish,” the premier said, adding that MPs should set an example of dignified behaviour and that the shared images were not in line with that.

On the other hand, the Finns Party’s leader, Finance Minister Riikka Purra, has not publicly condemned the posts. According to her, party members wanted to show their support for the dethroned beauty pageant contestant.

Finnair hears feedback from Japan

Finland’s flag carrier Finnair, which has invested heavily in Asian markets for decades, told Yle that the racially charged photos circulating on social media are harming the airline’s operations.

“We have received several comments on Finnair’s Japan X [social media] account about these images, which are perceived as racist and discriminatory. The message in all the comments is the same: ‘do not travel to this country, do not travel with Finnair’,” the airline’s communications chief Päivyt Tallqvist told Yle by email on Tuesday.

However, the airline’s other social media channels have so far not received comments about the matter, she noted.

“The ongoing discussion on social media is harmful to Finland’s image and our operations in important international markets,” Tallqvist explained. “We have a very international customer base and our own personnel represent over 50 nationalities.”

According to Tallqvist, next summer Finnair will be the largest airline linking Japan and Europe.

She said that the airline has worked with Business Finland for years to increase attractiveness to Japanese customers.

Edited at 14:09 on 16 December 2025 to add comments from Finnair.