Helsinki police urged the city to open its space to “fascists”, i.e., Finnish far-right party Blue-and-Black Movement (the Movement was born in 2020 from the youth wing Finns Party) which received a full-throated response from the mayors.
The deputy mayor finds the police’s views outrageous. The mayor also stands behind the city’s line. The police department refused to give Yle an actual interview.
Over the weekend, Yle published a story in which Chief Inspector Jarmo Heinonen, who was assigned to comment on the matter on behalf of the Helsinki Police Department, criticized the City of Helsinki’s policy regarding space reservations at libraries.
In his opinion, they should also be granted to the Blue-and-Black Movement, which the Supreme Administrative Court has already removed from the party register.
So, this is about the city not wanting to give them that space, and it is due to a political decision that the city's facilities will not be used by these fascists or similar, Heinonen said in an interview with Yle.
He stressed that from the city's perspective, the solution to the library problems would be to give the facilities to the Blue-and-Black Movement.
The city has all the trump cards in its hands. If they want the library to be peaceful again, they will get that, but it could mean that someone who profiles themselves as a Blue-and-Black sits on a chair there and reads a book with someone like-minded, Heinonen said.
In its decision in 2024, the Supreme Administrative Court ruled, among other things, that the party's goals were not compatible with fundamental and human rights and democratic principles, and that the change of the general program to an acceptable form during the registration phase had been done with the intention of misleading.
The Blue-and-Blacks have organized reading circles in libraries, and the reading circles have in turn led to counter-demonstrations. For example, in early January, up to 250 demonstrators arrived at the Helsinki Central Library on Oodi.
Helsinki's Deputy Mayor for Culture and Leisure Paavo Arhinmäki now explains why he himself urged city residents to fill the libraries in early December.
When this first reading circle was held, the idea of filling the library with other reading circles and a cultural program was launched together with the library management. The library also organized activities for that time, Arhinmäki tells about the process that led to the exit.
He believes that, unfortunately, more are to come.
I hope that there are no demonstrations in the libraries and that the library employees have peace of mind, but these counter-demonstrations will probably continue for as long as the Blue-and-Black Movement, which is fascist and racist, seeks to use libraries to spread its ideology.
Arhinmäki's sympathies are with the employees, who have found themselves in a special position.
I am concerned that the situation is not fair to the library employees. The library has become the front line of some kind of culture war. But if we look for something positive, it shows what the significance and value of libraries is for us Finns and why they are considered important.
Helsinki Mayor: “We have a clear common policy”
Arhinmäki says he was shocked by the views expressed by the police in the Yle story.
I found them downright unbelievable. Six and a half years ago, first the council and then the city government decided that city facilities would not be given to racist or fascist purposes. And now the Helsinki police believe that the democratically made decision is wrong and the city should change its policy that fascists and racists will not be given facilities, he says in astonishment.
Helsinki Mayor Juhana Vartiainen will not comment on the positions of the Helsinki Police Department. He emphasizes that the police department is independent in relation to the city and subordinate to the state.
Vartiainen’s view of the city’s own policy is clear:
We have a clear common policy between the city and the library management. The library is an open space where everyone is allowed to come, but if a public event is organized that is advertised publicly, then there is no need to reserve a space for activities that are racist and against equality.
Vartiainen believes that the city's policy can withstand critical scrutiny.
This is morally sustainable and legal, because the library must be a place of equality. It must be open to everyone. People come there to educate themselves. It is impossible to think that, for example, an ethnic group would be discriminated against at a library event.
When asked whether the city and the police are working together on this issue, Vartiainen states that he has not encountered any problems.
I can only comment from the city's perspective, but in general, our practical cooperation with the police works well. There have generally been no problems with that.
The Helsinki Police Department refused to give Yle an actual interview.
The department responded to Yle's ten questions about the case from its organizational email with a summary of the legal sections on the basis of which the police are examining the matter. The Helsinki Police Department did not comment on Chief Inspector Heinonen's statements.
In its response, the police department assures that citizens have no reason to be concerned about their equality or the fairness of the police's actions.
The police's actions are based on the law. The tasks, powers and activities of the police are precisely defined in the law. This means that the police can only use their power when there is a legal basis for it. The police must respect fundamental and human rights and, when exercising their powers, choose from the justifiable alternatives that best promote the realization of these rights. The police's actions are equal and fair in all situations.
Yle would have asked the police, among other things, whether Heinonen's comments represent the police department's line, what the police's view is of the city's actions in the library matter and whether the city and the Helsinki Police Department's views on equality and fairness are in line.
Source: Yle (in Finnish)
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