Several politicians have shared “racist” photos in support of disgraced ex-Miss Finland Sarah Dzafce.
The beauty queen was pictured using her fingers to stretch her eyes into a slanted shape.
The caption underneath said “kiinalaisenkaa syömäs”, which roughly translates to “eating with a Chinese person”.
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The image was considered derogatory towards Asian people.
The 23-year-old initially claimed that she was rubbing her temples and stretching her eyes due to a “severe headache”.
She explained: “I leaned on the table, rubbed my temples and stretched my eyes because it relieved the pressure.
“My friend thought it looked funny and said, Let me take a picture. ‘”
The Miss Finland organisation apologised for the incident and announced that Sarah was stripped of her title during a press conference last week.
The organisation’s CEO, Sunneva Sjögren, said it was “offensive, harmful and completely contrary to the values of the Miss Finland competition”.
Sarah, who has a Finnish mother and a Kosovan father, apologised for her actions at the press conference.
Tara Lehtonen, who finished as runner-up in September, was crowned the new Miss Finland, as reported by Need To Know.
But several right-wing politicians have come out in support of Sarah – and to apparently have a dig at Miss Finland officials.
MPs Juho Eerola and Kaisa Garedew, and MEP Sebastian Tynkkynen – all members of the populist Finns Party – shared potentially offensive posts on social media.
Juho posted a photo ofhimselfm similarly stretching his eyes to the dismissed beauty queen.
He said: “Je suis Sarah!”
He told local media: “I want to give my support to Sarah Dzafce, who was forced to give up the Miss Finland crown.”
Kaisa posted a similar photo with the ironic message: “Still at the office, a long day since my morning run.
“I thought I’d try a temple massage to avoid a headache in this crazy world.”
Sebastian shared a two-minute video on his X account about “the cancellation of Miss Finland”.
Education minister Anders Adlercreutz, of the Swedish People’s Party of Finland, said in response: “This is irresponsible, childish and stupid.
“It’s obvious that it offends people.”
National Coalition Party MP Pia Kauma said, “If an MP behaves in a way that can lead to conclusions about racism, it can easily spread elsewhere.
“This needs to be stopped right at the start.”
The developments have put pressure on Finland’s current coalition government, as reported by Need To Know.
Led by Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, the government is a right-wing alliance consisting of the Finns Party, the National Coalition Party, the Swedish People’s Party, and the Christian Democrats.
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