The campaign goes under the slogan "Actions, not just words", reports Hufvudstadsbladet. It is launched against the background of revelations about racism among government colleagues in the far-right party The Finns.
Racism and discrimination erode trust in society at the edges, says Petteri Orpo (conservative National Coalition Party) at a press conference on Tuesday, according to HBL.
According to the Prime Minister, this work is anchored among ministers and the government parties' parliamentary groups.
However, The Finns' party secretary Harri Vuorenpää tells the Finnish social democratic newspaper Demokraatti that the party's decision-making body is still considering whether to participate and if so, how.
"It's pointless"
When Petteri Orpo formed the government last summer, The Finns' Vilhelm Junnila was Minister of Trade and Industry for eleven days before it was revealed that he had spoken at far-right events and repeatedly made provocative Nazi allusions.
The Finns' party leader Riikka Purra was later linked to racist texts written on online forums 15 years ago, which she apologized for.
These revelations led the government parties to jointly declare zero tolerance for racism, which was also the starting point for the work that has led to this campaign.
The Finns' group leader in parliament, Jani Mäkelä, tells HBL that the group has not committed to doing more than supporting zero tolerance and that he has not familiarized himself with what the campaign is about.
I think it has elements of so-called virtue signaling or posturing. You imagine that things are moving forward because you declare something. It's pointless, he says to the newspaper.
Worked on for a long time
In connection with the declaration of zero tolerance, Prime Minister Orpo was asked if he believes that all government parties live up to it.
There have been individual unfortunate statements. But despite that, I think it's quite clear that our government is committed to working against racism. And that's the main thing, he said to HBL then.
During the long process of shaping the campaign, a trade union has dropped out and described it as an attempt by the government to cover up problems. The opposition parties also accuse Orpo of trying to wash his hands of the issue.
