Among other statements during speeches he made in the European Parliament during his tenure as MEP, Finns Party politician Teuvo Hakkarainen referred to what he called an "invasion" of Europe from Africa and the Middle East, saying the possibility posed a "deadly threat".
He has further claimed in the EU legislature that "hostile cultures" would inevitably destroy modern Europe while also describing accusations of racism as "attacks" on people with nationalist beliefs.
Finnish news agency STT trawled through Hakkarainen's speeches in the EU Parliament since 2019 after the Jyväskylä-based newspaper Keskisuomalainen published a guest column penned by the controversial MEP earlier this week.
Hakkarainen made a number of false allegations and factual errors in the column, including labelling the Swedish People's Party — a member of the current four-party, right-wing coalition — a far-left party. He also claimed that "80 to 90 percent of journalists are members of the red-green guard", a reference to left-wing supporters of the Social Democrats or the Green Party.
Immigration in Hakkarainen's firing line
Based on STT's research of Hakkarainen's speeches to the EU Parliament, the MEP has been particularly active in debates on the rule of law, climate change and immigration.
During one parliamentary debate in 2019, when Finland presented a plan for its presidency of the EU Council, Hakkarainen referred to African and Middle Eastern cultures as "hostile".
"The last moments to prevent Europe from turning into Africa and the Middle East are at hand. Hostile cultures will inevitably destroy the Europe of today. And it may not take more than a few decades," he said.
Earlier this summer, the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service (Supo) noted how the Great Replacement theory was popular in Finnish right-wing circles, driven in part by social media posts written by Finns Party politicians, including the newly appointed interior minister Mari Rantanen.
Rantanen later distanced herself from such posts, and denied that she believed in the Great Replacement or any other conspiracy theories.
The Great Replacement is a far-right extremist theory that suggests ethnic white Western populations are being demographically and culturally replaced by non-white people, particularly from Muslim-majority countries.
Hakkarainen: Equality poses "risk"
During a debate in the European Parliament on an anti-discrimination directive in 2019, Hakkarainen argued that equality — which is itself a fundamental right — can be used for nefarious purposes.
"For example, if a violent Islamic extremist or religion emerges or already exists, that entity or its representatives can exploit equality in many ways — even to the extent that it can be difficult to prevent their violent worldview and its implementation," Hakkarainen stated.
During a 2020 debate on tackling anti-Semitism, racism and hatred in Europe, Hakkarainen said that accusations of racism are used as a tool against people with nationalist beliefs.
"Racism as a word has become fully inflated. Accusations of racism are being used to attack all nationalists in particular," he said.
Prior convictions for ethnic agitation, sexual harassment
Hakkarainen has a number of criminal convictions and brushes with the law from when he was an MP in Finland.
In 2017, the Central Finland District Court in Jyväskylä convicted him of incitement against an ethnic group following the publication of an anti-Muslim post on Facebook. Hakkarainen wrote that while not all Muslims were terrorists, all terrorists were Muslims.
Later the same year he sexually harassed and assaulted another MP — Veera Ruoho of the National Coalition Party — on parliament premises, forcefully trying to kiss her during a Christmas party. He was found guilty by Helsinki District Court in June 2018 and ordered to pay a fine as well as Ruoho's legal costs.
These incidents, and others, did not seem to affect Hakkarainen's popularity among voters, as in the next parliamentary election he increased his share of votes from just over 5,500 in 2015 to more than 8,000 in 2019.
Hakkarainen has been a member of the European Parliament since then.
Earlier this year, the Finns Party left the nationalist Identity and Democracy (ID) group in the European Parliament and joined the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR).