In today's #vatnik soup I'll tell the tragicomedic saga of a Finnish political party, Valta Kuuluu Kansalle ("Power to the People"; VKK). It is one of the two parties with pro-Russian stances (the other is Vapauden liitto, "The League for Freedom").
1/15
Most of the people involved in these parties were ridiculed even before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but after Feb, 2022, after they've come out with their true pro-Russian colors, they are basically the laughingstock of the whole country.
2/15
This we can attribute to three things: 1) high level of digital literacy in education, 2) our recent history and wars we had with the Soviet Union, and 3) these people are generally simpletons whose projects will almost always implode because of internal conflicts.
3/15
VKK actually has a member in the Finnish Parliament at the moment: Ano Turtiainen. Turtiainen was elected to the Parliament from the True Finns party, but was discharged from the party after sharing a racist meme. Initially VKK had only one promoted theme, he fought...
4/15
...against the COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other restriction, but later Ano started praising Russia and emphasizing the importance of collaboration between Finland and Russia. In addition, the party members have promoted "anti-globalist" and euro-skeptic views and ...
5/15
... many leading figures in the party have also spread the "Great Reset" conspiracy theory. Turtiainen also focuses on religious rhetoric and often speaks of the "end times".
6/15
VKK's roster has been ever-changing & there's been a lot of internal conflicts inside the party. Antivaxers Ossi Tiihonen (@OssiTiihonen), Heli Rämäkkö (@heliramax) and Cia Grönberg (@cia_kirsikka) left the party after Ano started touting his pro-Russian and religious views.
7/15
Tiihonen was previously discharged from True Finns for his antivax views. They became the leadership of the before-mentioned Vapauden Liitto.
In Feb, 2023, the party's first vice-chairman Ilkka Tiainen (@IkeNovikoff) tried to set up a coup by defaming Ano to get him...
8/15
...discharged, but failed miserably. Tiainen, Suvi Ahonen and Jarno Vähäkainu left the party. Tiainen is best-known for starting a pro-Russian TV channel, Posi TV. It's been since closed for lack of financing. Suvi Ahonen has started Fixit, Finnish version of Brexit, ...
9/15
... and Vähäkainu is best-known for taking secretly photos of a female MP in the Parliament cafeteria and sharing them on social media.
Like Stalin, Turtiainen solidified his power in the party by appointing his wife and his appeasers in the party's board of directors.
10/15
He also appointed Nico Giansanti as first vice-chairman. Giansanti is one of the hosts of the LEVELI podcast, a show which focuses on conspiracy theories, mysticism and "antiglobalism". Giansanti is good friend of a Finnish "independent journalist", Janus Putkonen.
11/15
Giansanti (@ReaverTeknoGods) received Bitcoin from his co-worker after which he left his job as a software developer and tried to became a prestigious figure, living lavish life, publishing awful music, sharing his "wealth" and joining some ridiculous "secret knighthoods".
12/15
Nobody really cares (or knows) about the political profile of VKK. As I mentioned, they are mostly ridiculed both in media and in social media. Of course we will have similar political coalitions in the future, too, and in some countries they will prevail.
13/15
Viktor Orban, Robert Fico, Marine Le Pen and Matteo Salvini are just a few examples of politicians who are appeasing or are closely connected to Putin's regime and who have thrived in national politics.
14/15
Of course the difference between the VKK folk and these politicians is, that the latter group has had a lot of funding from Russia. But if we give these people and parties too much power, they will try and take over and reign in a kleptocratic manner - just like Putin.
15/15
Support my work (and get some AI art!): buymeacoffee.com/PKallioniemi
Past soups: vatniksoup.com
Related soups:
Ano Turtiainen:
Janus Putkonen:
Disinformation in Finland:
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