Discrimination against people with a Russian background is an ancient island of “permissible racism” in Finland. The statement favored by President Niinistö is also fundamentally questionable, writes HS’s foreign editor Essi Sutinen.
Sodan insanity upsets us all. Ukrainians, Finns – and Russians. It is sometimes forgotten.
The optician’s shop announces that it will no longer serve Russian customers. The authors of Yle’s Russian-language news receive obscene mail. An acquaintance of mine working as a nurse finds feces in front of her front door.
Discrimination against Russian backgrounds is an ancient island of “permissible racism” in Finland. Russophobia is not treated in the same way as other racism because it is considered harmless.
The outbreak of war has added gasoline to the flames. However, it is impossible to see how blaming the Russians will help the Ukrainians.
Russophobia will not win wars because the Russians are not at war with Ukraine. Vladimir Putin is.
Finnish Russians have long borne the political burden of our authoritarian eastern neighbor. They must always be prepared to take a stand against Putin or on his behalf.
Many would prefer to forget politics altogether.
Propaganda inevitably spreads across borders to Russian communities in Finland as well. Family and friendships are put to the test as there is a heated debate over the legitimacy of the war and who is to blame for the attack.
It may be that Russia will soon have no independent media, as the rest of them have been cramped by the state censorship authority Roskomnadzor. This led to the liberal radio channel Eho Moskvyn to close this week.
As freedom of speech elsewhere narrows, we must not abuse our own by insulting our fellow human beings.
Also the President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö repeatedly in various forms, “the Cossack takes what is badly caught” is basically a rather questionable statement.
The report is seen as a kind of folk wisdom about how Russia should be treated as a state. Niinistö has also cultivated metaphor in the international media, among other things In The New York Times in February.
At the same time, it plays with a worn-out stereotype: As if sniffing is part of the core of Slavicism. Theft is one of the most common negative images associated with the Russians.
Besides, there have been known Cossacks outside the borders of modern Russia, including Ukraine.
Why everything should always be taken so literally, one might ask.
Because language is not innocent and harmless: it allows us to classify things and build the reality in which we live. We cannot imagine the harmful side effects of language use and deny them as insignificant.
Russophobia has also been harnessed as a weapon in the Kremlin’s disinformation campaign. Russian politicians have long talked about “anti-Russian” sanctions, for example.
In a report commissioned by the Government Govorit Moscow – Moscow speaks states that the Kremlin’s strategic communications essentially include “the experience of being offended and deceived”. This has also become clear in the twists and turns of the war in Ukraine.
It is part of Russia’s identity to see itself discriminated against by the liberal democracies, which must clear their own path – regardless of the protest. Everything that is being done against Russia is about the evil plot of the West.
Therefore, no one with their racist comments should offer themselves as a useful idiot for the Kremlin’s narratives.
#Columns #Russophobia #win #wars
