The Blue-Black Movement returned to the party register. Photo: Jussi Nukari / Lehtikuva
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The Blue-Black Movement, a far-right group previously removed from Finland’s political party register for violating constitutional and human rights principles, has regained official party status.
The Ministry of Justice confirmed on Wednesday that the group is now re-listed as a political party after meeting the required threshold of 5,000 supporter declarations.
Arto Jääskeläinen, director of electoral administration at the ministry, said there were no legal grounds to block the re-registration after the group submitted a revised party programme.
The Blue-Black Movement was first entered into the party register in 2022. That registration was later challenged by the Justice Ministry, which argued that the group’s published programme was incompatible with Finland’s constitution and international human rights obligations.
In 2024, the Supreme Administrative Court upheld the ministry’s appeal and removed the movement from the register.
Since then, the group has made changes to its party rules and platform. Jääskeläinen told Yle earlier in May that the revised version had been reviewed and found to comply with current legal standards.
The Blue-Black Movement was formed by former members of the nationalist Finns Party who split from the main organisation over ideological differences. The group embraces overt ethnonationalist positions and references the historical Lapua Movement, a 1930s fascist organisation known for political violence.
On 1 May, the group organised a march in Tampere where participants dressed in black carried Finnish flags and a banner reading “May Day is White”.
The Justice Ministry does not assess political ideology as a criterion for registration unless it breaches legal frameworks such as hate speech laws or constitutional protections. With the revised materials passing legal checks, the group was entitled to be re-listed.
HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
