Business leaders in Finland have heavily criticised comments made by Finns Party chair Riikka Purra on work-based immigration, with one well-known entrepreneur remarking that the party's position is "damaging" to Finland's economy and reputation.
The criticism has been levelled in particular at a statement made by Purra on Twitter earlier this week.
"The claims made about labour immigration are bluffs, because Finland hardly ever gets immigration that is economically beneficial, but receives a lot of immigration that is economically detrimental," Purra wrote.
Entrepreneur and investor Peter Vesterbacka offered a blunt reply to Purra's tweet.
"Finnish gaming companies employ dozens of different nationalities, with the world's best creators making the world's best games. It's a pity that we have these pernicious politicians trying to make everyone's life miserable," Vesterbacka wrote on Twitter, while quote-retweeting Purra's original post.
Vesterbacka further said he considers the nationalist Finns Party's immigration policy to be causing "irresponsible damage" to Finland.
Nokia's CEO Pekka Lundmark also joined the discussion, noting that Nokia hired about 700 people in Finland last year, mainly for product development positions.
"Almost half of these are nationals of other countries. In Nokia's Finnish workforce of around 6,900 people, about 80 different nationalities are represented," Lundmark said.
In response to Lundmark's tweet, Purra specified that her statement was directed at people coming to Finland and relying on social security payments to survive.
"If you were to read our statements outside of the influence of Vesterbacka's negative depictions, you might quickly discover that we are critical of social security-based immigration from outside the EU," Purra wrote.
The Finns Party leader previously told business magazine Talouselämä that she is opposed to work-based immigration that "relies on social security".
Janne-Olli Järvenpää, CEO of private healthcare provider Mehiläinen, also commented on the debate.
"There are many different nationalities involved in the development of software at Mehiläinen. The nursing homes would not run without immigrants. And the nursing homes are being built by immigrants. I've been a 'mamu' [Finnish word for immigrant] myself, having lived and worked in Sweden, the US, France, the UK and Estonia," he said.
The Finns Party are in third place, close behind the prime minister's SDP, in the latest Yle opinion poll ahead of April's parliamentary election.
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