Old private messages published by newspaper Helsingin Sanomat (HS) highlight repeated racist language used by Minister of Economic Affairs Wille Rydman (Finns).
The messages are from 2016, when Rydman was a 30-year-old MP representing the National Coalition Party (NCP) and a member of the Constitutional and Administration Committees. He resigned from the NCP early this year and joined the Finns Party. The two parties are the main partners in the right-wing party led by Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP).
HS was provided with the content of the messages by Rydman's former dating partner. Yle has not seen the original exchange of messages. HS said it has examined the messages in their original context.
In the messages, Rydman talks to the woman about planting a flowerbed and equates the reproduction of lilies of the valley and Somalis.
"But once the lily of the valley plant has been brought to this plot, you can find it everywhere as it spreads and reproduces like a Somali. So if you want Somali lilies of the valley in your flowerbed, you can find them here and transplant them," Rydman wrote to his girlfriend in the messages.
According to HS, in other messages to his then-partner, Rydman called people with a Middle Eastern background "incomprehensible monkeys" and "desert monkeys".
Rydman also commented on the news that in Belgium, an employer may have the right to ban Muslims from wearing headscarves in the workplace.
"I'd still rather ban people wearing scarves than those headscarves," said Rydman.
Rydman also shared racist content in his messages.
In September 2016, Rydman shared a remix of the patriotic Finnish song "Sininen ja valkoinen" ("Blue and White", referring to the colours of the flag) with his girlfriend. The new lyrics are about a Muslim leaving his homeland.
MP Juho Eerola (Finns) admitted to the newspaper that he was the author of the new lyrics. At the time, Eerola chaired the Administration Committee, where Rydman was also an NCP member at the time.
The new lyrics are about a Muslim leaving his homeland and raping a woman in a park while "the call of the minaret rang out". According to HS, Eerola said there was nothing problematic about the lyrics.
HS justifies publication given Rydman's position
The woman who showed the messages to HS separated from Rydman after about a year of dating following an argument.
HS justified the publication of the messages on the grounds that Rydman, as a minister, is in one of Finland's highest political positions.
According to the newspaper, the messages show how the minister has dealt with minorities while already holding key political positions. The private messages thus shed light on the thinking of the new economic affairs minister, it said.
Yle published extracts from the messages because of the social importance of the issue.
Rydman has not commented to HS or Yle about the messages. He wrote on Twitter that he would not explain any of the private messages he may have sent years ago, because that would legitimise their publication.
Rydman was appointed Minister of Economic Affairs in early July, replacing Vilhelm Junnila (Finns), who resigned over far-right links and jokes about Nazis.
The former dating partner was also interviewed in an earlier HS story on Rydman's alleged pattern of harassing behaviour towards young women. Rydman has filed a request for an investigation into that article, and police are conducting a preliminary investigation.
Rydman tweeted that he was considering whether the latest HS story would also lead to legal action.
The Finns Party chair, Finance Minister Riikka Purra, told Yle that Rydman's messages are inappropriate, but downplayed them, noting that it was a private exchange of messages between a couple.
"I cannot and do not want to comment on that. A politician is a public figure, but they have their private circle too," Purra wrote in a message.
Purra said that the facts revealed earlier show that the former partner has a clear intent to harm Rydman. Purra is currently embroiled in her own scandal over racist comments she wrote 15 years ago on a blog hosted by now-Speaker of Parliament Jussi Halla-aho (Finns).
PM Orpo's aide Katri Manninen told Yle in a text message on Thursday evening that the prime minister was not available for comment.