Reuters reports that Finland’s Prime Minister Petteri Orpo issued a public apology on Wednesday, 17 December 2025. The apology addressed offensive images posted by far-right parliament members.
Orpo’s apology was released via Finnish embassies in China, Japan, and South Korea. He said the posts do not reflect Finland’s values of equality and inclusion.
Finnish media has dubbed the case the “slanted eyes” scandal. It began after Miss Finland Sarah Dzafce appeared in a post pulling back her eyes.
The post was captioned “eating with a Chinese person,” according to Reuters. Sarah Dzafce apologised, but has been stripped of her crown and title as Miss Finland.
The political controversy escalated when two MPs and one European Parliament member shared similar images. All three politicians are from the Finns Party, a junior coalition partner.
The Finns Party said it will discuss the matter at its weekly meeting on Thursday. MP Juho Eerola told Reuters he apologised for his post.
Orpo leads a four-party coalition that includes the Finns Party. Reuters noted the government faced a no-confidence vote in 2023 over racist posts.
