Five Stories from Europe You May Have Missed
Busy week in Finland. The Finns (Party) could have taken up the whole list it seems. But, I whittled down to two
5. 'Even if I bred with a pitch black Nigerian negro': Finnish government minister in new racism row
Another Finnish government minister from the far-right Finns Party has become embroiled in a racist scandal, after messages he sent to his former girlfriend were published by Helsingin Sanomat newspaper.
Wille Rydman, who wrote the messages when he was an MP for the National Coalition Party, was appointed as minister for economic affairs earlier this month.
Rydman replaced Vilhelm Junnila, who quit after his own racist speeches and connections with neo-Nazi groups came to light.
Among the new messages published included Rydman suggesting that Somalis spread like weeds; and sharing lyrics to a song apparently penned by another Finns Party MP which talked about a Muslim who leaves his home country and rapes a woman. Rydman suggested to his ex-girlfriend that the song could be ideally sung at student parties.
https://www.euronews.com/2023/07/28/even-if-i-bred-with-a-pitch-black-nigerian-negro-finnish-government-minister-in-new-racism
4. Orban Says Romanian Foreign Ministry Gave Him A List Of Topics To Avoid In Speech
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told a large audience in central Romania on July 22 that the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest has given him a list of sensitive topics he should avoid in his public addresses at an annual event held by leaders of Romania's Hungarian minority in Transylvania.
Orban last year triggered a wave of international criticism after a speech at the same event in Baile Tusnad in which he warned against mixing with "non-Europeans."
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"Every year, choosing what our topics for discussion should be causes headaches," Orban told an audience of several thousand mostly ethnic Hungarians on July 22.
"I understand that this year Romania's Foreign Ministry came to our help and told me what I have permission to talk about and what not, and what I should avoid," he said. "They told us all this in an official document, I am letting you know."
https://www.rferl.org/a/hungary-orban-romania-list-topics-avoid-speech/32514559.html
3. Cornish church reverses ban on female vicars
A Cornish church that banned women from applying to be its new vicar – despite once counting Dawn French, star of the TV comedy The Vicar of Dibley, among its flock – has reversed the decision under new management.
A newly elected governing council at St Fimbarrus church in the picturesque port of Fowey in Cornwall has told parishioners that a “new season” has begun.
In a statement, the parochial church council (PCC) said the previous regime’s decision to advertise for a male priest to fill its four-year-old vacancy was “misguided and unrepresentative” of the parish and the town.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/29/cornish-church-reverses-ban-on-female-vicars
2. Far-right terror plot suspects printed 3D guns to ignite Finland 'race war'
Police in Finland say they've stopped a far-right terror plot that would have used 3D printed weapons in an attack aimed at leading to the "collapse of society" in a race war.
The National Bureau of Investigation says their initial probe was just looking into a simple firearms offense, but they soon realised there was a bigger issue involving at least four men with links to the far-right.
Local media reports that one of the men in custody had been a municipal election candidate for the Finns Party, which is one of the four parties which makes up the Nordic nation's coalition government.
The men are suspected of manufacturing submachine guns using 3D printers, as well as other weapons and printed gun parts, in a rented garage as well as in the home of one of the suspects. Police also confiscated a rifle, a home-made pen pistol, and a gas gun converted into a firearm as well as 3D printers and cannabis plants.
https://www.euronews.com/2023/07/21/far-right-terror-plot-suspects-printed-3d-guns-to-ignite-finland-race-war
1. Russian Anti-War Activist Denied Extension Of Temporary Stay In Serbia
Serbian authorities have denied an extension of the temporary residence permit of Russian anti-war activist Vladimir Volokhonsky less than two weeks after temporarily denying entry to Peter Nikitin, the Russian national with whom Volokhonsky helped establish the nongovernmental organization Russian Democratic Society.
The Russian Democratic Society -- a Russian expat association that has grown to tens of thousands of people since Russia invaded Ukraine -- said that Volokhonsky, who arrived from St. Petersburg in May last year and was granted a temporary residence permit, was informed of the decision on July 25.
Volokhonsky told RFE/RL's Balkan Service that the decision not to extend his residence permit is "a form of political pressure."
https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-anti-war-activist-denied-residency-serbia/32518610.html
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