Finnish party drops election candidate for calling Ukraine part of Russia

Yle reports the information.

The head of the party's regional branch, Antti Ahonen, said the reason for the candidate's withdrawal was a lack of trust.

He noted that Turja is also a candidate in the municipal elections in Pori, but the party branch there will make a similar decision regarding her.

According to Ahonen, Turja herself expressed a desire to become a candidate from the party, and the check did not reveal any violations.

“We tried to contact Turja for her to explain what was behind her comments. However, she did not answer us,” Ahonen said.

He emphasized that the party's position on the war in Ukraine remains clear and unchanged - the political force supports the defense struggle of the Ukrainian people.

The day before, the Finnish newspaper Iltalehti drew attention to Turja's statement on Facebook on February 17, where she expressed the opinion that Ukraine's borders had never been officially confirmed, and the country itself had always been part of the Russian Federation.

• Finnish President Alexander Stubb suggested that a ceasefire in Ukraine could be brokered in the coming months and called for support for Kyiv ahead of negotiations.