Thors reacts to Katainen comments on immigration
Jyrki Katainen
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Astrid Thors
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Minister of Migration and European Affairs Astrid Thors (Swedish People’s Party) is taking issue with comments made by National Coalition Party chairman and Minister of Finance Jyrki Katainen (Nat. Coalition Party) on the immigration question.
Katainen said during a meeting of the National Coalition Party executive that immigration would come up next week in connection with a government discussion on political issues.
The immigration issue would have surfaced at the meeting even without Katainen’s call, as it is on the agenda. Thors herself has prepared proposals on issues such as immigration and integration of immigrants for the review of the halfway point of the government’s term in office.
Proposals are being put forward to strengthen the ability of local authorities to assure good integration policy. The preparations are based on a decision that was made already in connection with the most recent budget negotiations.
Katainen noted in his speech to his party’s leaders that silencing the voices of those who take a negative attitude toward immigration will only lead to more negative attitudes.
Thors, for her part, hopes that it would be possible to avoid labelling immigrants in the debate.
“Not all opinions that are critical of immigration should be labelled as racist, but on the other hand we cannot consider all immigrants, or certain groups of immigrants, to be problems. People migrate to Finland mainly for work, love, or studies”, Thors points out.
Katainen said on Thursday that people who present well-argued opinions that are critical of immigration are silenced, or automatically pushed aside, and labelled as racist. He said that this kind of attitude tends to increase hostility toward immigrants.
“This only radicalises those who have seen problems linked with immigration in their own lives”, Katainen said to Helsingin Sanomat on Thursday.
Katainen noted that he has been hearing for a couple of years how difficult it is to talk about immigration issues.
True Finns chairman Timo Soini welcomed Katainen’s comments on Thursday.
“Now it is most important to have a calm and fact-based discussion. It is important both for those who are coming here and those who are here”, Soini said.
Earlier in the week Soini complained about how difficult it is to debate immigration policy in Finland.
Katainen sharply denies any political manoeuvring aimed at undermining the populist True Finns, who have seen their popularity increase recently.
“That is a cynical notion. I just thought that it is my obligation to somehow try to examine the question, because I am genuinely worried”, Katainen said, adding that it is not true that there is any tougher line being taken on immigrants.
He had no ready solutions to offer.
“I have more questions than answers.”
If the matter cannot be discussed, the situation can, in the view of Katainen, even lead to rioting in Finland. He notes that immigration policy in Sweden has not been very successful.
“I hope that we Finns would be able to deal with the question of immigration in a more responsible manner, and to note that there are always problems in the world that can be caused by a native-born Finn or an immigrant.”
Katainen said during a meeting of the National Coalition Party executive that immigration would come up next week in connection with a government discussion on political issues.
The immigration issue would have surfaced at the meeting even without Katainen’s call, as it is on the agenda. Thors herself has prepared proposals on issues such as immigration and integration of immigrants for the review of the halfway point of the government’s term in office.
Proposals are being put forward to strengthen the ability of local authorities to assure good integration policy. The preparations are based on a decision that was made already in connection with the most recent budget negotiations.
Katainen noted in his speech to his party’s leaders that silencing the voices of those who take a negative attitude toward immigration will only lead to more negative attitudes.
Thors, for her part, hopes that it would be possible to avoid labelling immigrants in the debate.
“Not all opinions that are critical of immigration should be labelled as racist, but on the other hand we cannot consider all immigrants, or certain groups of immigrants, to be problems. People migrate to Finland mainly for work, love, or studies”, Thors points out.
Katainen said on Thursday that people who present well-argued opinions that are critical of immigration are silenced, or automatically pushed aside, and labelled as racist. He said that this kind of attitude tends to increase hostility toward immigrants.
“This only radicalises those who have seen problems linked with immigration in their own lives”, Katainen said to Helsingin Sanomat on Thursday.
Katainen noted that he has been hearing for a couple of years how difficult it is to talk about immigration issues.
True Finns chairman Timo Soini welcomed Katainen’s comments on Thursday.
“Now it is most important to have a calm and fact-based discussion. It is important both for those who are coming here and those who are here”, Soini said.
Earlier in the week Soini complained about how difficult it is to debate immigration policy in Finland.
Katainen sharply denies any political manoeuvring aimed at undermining the populist True Finns, who have seen their popularity increase recently.
“That is a cynical notion. I just thought that it is my obligation to somehow try to examine the question, because I am genuinely worried”, Katainen said, adding that it is not true that there is any tougher line being taken on immigrants.
He had no ready solutions to offer.
“I have more questions than answers.”
If the matter cannot be discussed, the situation can, in the view of Katainen, even lead to rioting in Finland. He notes that immigration policy in Sweden has not been very successful.
“I hope that we Finns would be able to deal with the question of immigration in a more responsible manner, and to note that there are always problems in the world that can be caused by a native-born Finn or an immigrant.”
Helsingin Sanomat