Finland's Right Turn Spells Trouble for Europe

[mgc1961]

Now, it is Finland's turn. Following in the footsteps of several northern European countries in recent years -- and continuing a trend that has been particularly apparent in Scandinavia -- Finnish voters on Sunday threw substantial support behind the right-wing populist party True Finns.

The party, led by Timo Soini, 48, grabbed 19 percent of the vote, more than quadrupling its result in 2007. And while Soini adheres to the standard collection of xenophobic and anti-Islam positions common to the right wing everywhere, it is his party's position on the euro which has engendered the most concern across Europe.

"We have to this point been too soft when it comes to Europe," Soini said on Monday, basking in his election success. "That has to change." In particular, Soini said, the euro-zone bailout package currently being designed for Portugal must be revisited.

While the results are not yet final, the True Finns are now set to be the third largest party in the Finnish parliament, behind 20.4 percent for the National Collection Party -- which for the first time in its history received the most votes of any party in the country -- and the Social Democrats, which received 19.1 percent. The Center Party of incumbent Prime Minister Mari Kiviniemi came in a disappointing fourth with 15.8 percent, meaning that Kiviniemi will hand over leadership after just 10 months in office.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,757702,00.html

[mgc1961]

1. Meanwhile, in Germany...

The number of violent neo-Nazis in Germany rose by more than 10 percent to 5,600 people in 2010, the head of the country's domestic intelligence agency said in an interview published on Monday.

"The neo-Nazi scene that is prepared to commit violence has become larger. It grew by 600 to 5,600 people in 2010," Heinz Fromm, the president of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung newspaper. In 2000, the number had been far lower, at 2,200.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,757655,00.html