Finland PM apologizes to Asian nations after beauty queen racism scandal
Global News
The scandal arose earlier this month when the former Miss Finland winner was pictured pulling back her eyes in an image shared on social media.
Finland’s prime minister Petteri Orpo apologized to Asian nations on Wednesday in an attempt to stifle a growing controversy over racist images shared by members of his government’s four-party coalition in solidarity with a beauty pageant winner who was stripped of her title.
The scandal arose earlier this month when the former Miss Finland winner, Sarah Dzafce, 22, was pictured pulling back her eyes in an image shared on social media alongside the caption, “eating with a Chinese person.”
Two members of the Finnish parliament and one European parliament member, all from the Finns Party, the country’s right-wing populist movement, responded to Dzafce by posting similar images of themselves pulling back their eyes after it was announced that she would be stripped of her crown over the derogatory post.
In his apology, released by Finnish embassies in China, Japan and South Korea, Orpo wrote, “These posts do not reflect Finland’s values of equality and inclusion.”
“Our message in Finland and to all our friends abroad is that the government takes racism seriously and is committed to combatting the issue,” he added.
Dzafce, who is not of Asian heritage, also apologized, saying she did not intend 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 revoked her title.
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