Finland’s new economy minister in hot water for past Hitler joke, neo-Nazi ties – Vilhelm Junnila says previous behavior was ‘foolish and immature’; another key figure in new government, House Speaker Jussi Halla-aho, also has history of racist remarks | Timesofisrael

Finnish politician Vilhelm Junnila apologized Thursday for remarks indicating sympathy toward Adolf Hitler, which drew further attention to the economic affairs minister’s far-right connections.
The incident occurred during an event hosted by a local branch of Junnila’s far-right Finns party in Raisio in March. There, Junnila remarked that the local party chairman’s election number was 88, the same number that Junnila himself had in 2019 elections. The number 88 is widely recognized among neo-Nazis as a symbol for the “Heil Hitler,” due to H being the eighth letter in the alphabet, making 88 signify “HH.”