New Finnish minister survives no-confidence vote over Nazi references

Finland’s economy minister Vilhelm Junnila survived a no-confidence vote in parliament on Wednesday called by the opposition over references he made that were linked to Nazis.
Junnila is a member of the nationalist Finns Party, part of a right-wing coalition that took office last week following an election in April.
The opposition accused him of repeatedly making Nazi references, the latest during his election campaign.
Public broadcaster YLE saw Junnila congratulate his fellow party member on his candidate number, 88.
This is known as a neo-Nazi symbol used in place of the “Heil Hitler” salute referencing Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in World War Two. The Anti-Defamation League calls it “one of the most common white supremacist symbols”.
According to YLE, Junnila said in his address at a campaign event on March 10, “First of all, congratulations for the excellent candidate number. I know it’s a winning card. Obviously, this “88” refers to two H letters which we won’t say more about.”
Junnila has apologised for his choice of words, saying it was a distasteful joke.