Wilhelm Gonella has apologized for his remarks but has now resigned from his ministerial post
Finland’s new economy minister has resigned after only 10 days in office over comments he made at a far-right event four years ago.
Wilhelm Gonella, of the nationalist Finns’ Party, was accused of making frequent Nazi references.
He apologized and survived a vote of no confidence, but announced his resignation on Friday.
Gonella said he would step down so as not to damage the reputation of both the government and Finland.
“I consider it impossible for me to continue as Minister in a satisfactory manner,” Mr. Gonella added in a statement.
His resignation comes after it emerged that he had addressed a National Alliance event in the southwestern city of Turku in 2019.
The number 88 is seen among neo-Nazis as a symbol of the “Heil Hitler” salute, as H is the eighth letter in the alphabet, making 88 stand for “HH”.
“First of all, congratulations on an excellent electoral number. I know it’s a winning ticket. This 88, of course, stands for the ‘H’, but let’s not dwell on that,” the 41-year-old reportedly joked.
“I hope everyone is clear that I strongly and unequivocally condemn the Holocaust, anti-Semitism and all acts of anti-Semitism,” he added in a separate Facebook post.
Gunella survived a vote of no confidence in parliament earlier this week after opposition parties accused him of repeatedly making Nazi-linked statements.
His resignation comes just 10 days after his party was officially sworn in as junior partner in Finland’s new right-wing coalition government.
Petteri Urbu, the Prime Minister of Finland and leader of the National Coalition Party that came first in the April elections, said that Gonella’s resignation was the “right and only possible decision”.