A photo has surfaced showing the leader of Finland’s new largest opposition party posing with friends giving Nazi salutes.
Antti Lindtman, the new leader of the Finnish Social Democratic Party (SDP), is pictured with four friends at a Christmas party.
While Lindtman can be seen in the photo with a dummy gun and balaclava, he does not give the Nazi salute himself.
Nevertheless, the rise of the photo, taken more than two decades ago, has overshadowed Lindtman’s election as the new party leader, replacing the party’s previous leader and former Prime Minister of Finland, Sanna Marin.
The image first started circulating online a few weeks ago, and it continues to haunt him after Lindtman won the SPD leadership.
A photo has surfaced showing the leader of Finland’s new largest opposition party, Antti Lindtman (second from left), posing with friends giving Nazi salutes. While Lindtman can be seen in the photo with a dummy gun and balaclava, he does not give the salute
It also caused a stir when the Scandinavian country’s finance minister, Vilhelm Junnila, was forced to resign over references he made to Nazi terminology — and to the number 88, a numerical code used for “Heil Hitler.” .
In announcing his resignation, Mr Junnila said: ‘For the continuation of the government and the reputation of Finland, I see that it is impossible for me to continue as a minister in a satisfactory manner.’
Lindtman, for his part, has admitted that the photo is real while trying to distance himself from it, emphasizing that he is and never was a Nazi sympathizer.
“Even though the pictures are from my childhood, I’m not very proud of them,” he told the Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat in an interview this summer.
‘It seems the boys have gone a bit too far with their poses… I was not and am not a Nazi sympathiser. Not then and not now.
“On the contrary: I think the neo-Nazis were not happy with my views even then,” he said.
He also discussed issues related to social media.
The image first started circulating online a few weeks ago and it continues to haunt Lindtman (right with Sanna Marin, left) after he won the SPD leadership.
Lindtman has admitted that the photo is real, while trying to distance himself from it, insisting that he is not and never has been a Nazi sympathizer.
“If anyone thinks that by distributing and manipulating photos more than 20 years old, I would give up the fight against extremism, they are mistaken,” he said.
“Let’s defend Finnish democracy together and fight extremism together.”
The SDP was at the center of another controversy when it elected 33-year-old Mikkel Näkkäläjärvi – who has a history of animal cruelty – as party secretary.
In 2006, when he was a teenager, Näkkäläjärvi beat a neighbour’s cat to death with a shovel while at a summer cottage with friends.
After his election, Näkkäläjärvi said: ‘I want Finland to become a country where anyone can become anything. A country where everyone can succeed, but also fail and try again.’
Lindtman succeeded Marin, who stepped down as leader and chairman of the SPD after losing her re-election bid in April to the conservative National Coalition Party, led by Finland’s current Prime Minister Petteri Orpo.
Marin himself was a popular figure abroad and was himself no stranger to controversies at home.
Marin, who announced her intention to retire shortly after the election defeat, was the world’s youngest prime minister when she took up the post in 2019 at age 34. In doing so, she attracted worldwide attention and helped Finland to gain more fame.
Finnish Social Democrats Party Chairman, former Prime Minister of Finland Sanna Marin waves from the stage for her resignation speech at the Party Congress of the Social Democrats of Finland in Jyväskylä, central Finland, September 1, 2023
After leading the country through Covid-19 lockdowns and resulting economic turmoil, Marin became an outspoken supporter of Ukraine after the 2022 Russian invasion and successfully pushed for an end to the Finland’s military non-alignment in favor of NATO membership.
On Friday, she chaired her party’s conference for the last time and repeated her criticism of Finland’s eastern neighbor in a short speech.
“Russia and its representatives must be held accountable for the illegal crime of aggression, war crimes and the consequences of war,” Marin said.
“In addition to Finland’s steadfast support for Ukraine and the Ukrainians, we must also send a strong message of hope for the reconstruction of the country, for a European future.”
Marin, now 37, has appeared on the covers of Vogue and Time magazine, has a million followers on Instagram and is regarded by fans around the world as a millennial role model for progressive leaders.
But at home, voters worried about issues such as immigration and a growing government deficit in April gave Marin a narrow defeat by the right-wing National Coalition and the far-right Finns Party, leading to the fall of the government.
During her tenure, she endured several publicity storms, including for her nightclub attendance during the pandemic, hosting private parties at her official residence, and voluntarily undergoing a drug test after a party video was leaked to the media.
The drug test came back negative, Marin announced, and she apologized to the Finns when, in a photo of a party at the prime minister’s seaside residence, two well-known female influencers covered their bare breasts with a “Finland” sign.
Sanna Marin gets a hug from Social Democrats leader Antti Lindtman, 2019
After her election loss, Marin said she was looking forward to a quieter life and later also announced a divorce from her husband.
Marin took the stage on Friday to the beat of Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” and thanked her party for the support.
She was due to formally hand over the reins later on Friday, after the Social Democrats elected a new leader.
Marin remains a Member of Parliament and has also signed up as a public speaker with a US agency and founded a consulting firm with her former assistant.