Finnish Prime Minister apologizes to Asian nations after beauty queen discrimination scandal – National
Finland’s Prime Minister Petteri Orpo apologized to Asian nations on Wednesday in an effort to stem a growing row over racist photos shared by members of his government’s four-party coalition of a stripped-down beauty pageant winner.
The scandal erupted earlier this month when former Miss Finland winner Sarah Dzafce, 22, was photographed making eye contact in a photo shared on social media with the caption, “eating with a Chinese man.”
Two members of the Finnish parliament and one member of the European parliament, all from the Finns Party, a human rights organization in the country, responded to Dzafce by posting similar pictures of themselves rolling back their eyes after it was announced that he would be stripped of his crown over the humiliating position.
In his apology, which was released by the Finnish embassies in China, Japan and South Korea, Orpo wrote, “This post does not reflect Finland’s values of equality and inclusion.”
“Our message to Finland and to all our friends abroad is that the government takes racism seriously and is committed to fighting this issue,” he added.
Dzafce, who is not of Asian descent, also apologized, saying he did not mean to offend anyone.
“I take responsibility for my actions and learn from this,” she wrote in an Instagram post, days before the Miss Finland organization withdrew her title.
In a statement on Saturday, the organization wrote that the content she posted was “offensive, dangerous, and completely against the standards of the Miss Finland pageant.”
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“We are deeply sorry for the damage caused by these incidents. Especially to the Asian community, but also to everyone affected. Racism in any form is unacceptable,” it continued.
One of Dzafce’s MPs, Juho Eerola, told Reuters that he apologized for his position and declined to comment.
Kaisa Garedew, a Finnish Member of Parliament, and Sebastian Tynkkynen, a member of the European Parliament, have also shared defamatory images and have been reprimanded by their group, the Finnish Broadcasting Company, the national public affairs newspaper reported.
“We discussed this issue seriously in the parliamentary group and concluded that the photos should not have been published. We agreed that it will not happen again. The MPs received a serious warning from the group,” Finns Party leader Jani Mäkelä told the broadcaster.
Shortly after taking office in 2023, Orpo’s government faced a no-confidence vote over racist online posts and statements made by several Finns Party cabinet members.
The scandal is the latest in a series of problems surrounding this year’s biggest Miss Universe pageant in Thailand, where organizers have faced scandals and allegations of fraud.
Miss Mexico, who eventually won the pageant, along with other contestants pulled out of the pageant during a belting ceremony in November, after one of the pageant hosts called her “dumb.”
Also in November, a Thai court issued an arrest warrant for the owner of the Miss Universe Organization in connection with a fraud case.
– With files from Reuters
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