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Finnish politician apologises for Hitler joke 

Finland’s Minister for Economic Affairs has apologised for making a Hitler-related joke. 

Vilhelm Junnila, member of the far-right Finns Party, reportedly joked about being assigned the number 88 by the Finnish Election Commission as his candidate number in the 2019 parliamentary election. The number 88 refers to the eighth letter of the alphabet, H, and is used by neo-Nazis as a code for “Heil Hitler”.

Mr Junnila posted on Facebook: “Over the years, I have joked in a way that, looking back, seems foolish and immature. I have acted incorrectly, and I apologise for my actions.”

Mr Junnila also apologised for making a speech at a 2019 rally called “Flower 188”, arranged by the Coalition of Nationalists, a far-right organisation whose members included the militant Nordic Resistance Movement. 

“I would no longer participate in such an event if it was organised,” he wrote, expressing his aversion to the now-banned Nordic Resistance Movement, which he described as “aggressive and deliberately seeking conflict.”

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