Finnish MP Atte Harjanne criticizes ministry’s decision to exclude polarization report from publication series

Finnish MP Atte Harjanne (Green League) announced in a statement on Tuesday that a report on polarization, published by the University of Helsinki, was initially meant to be included in the Ministry of the Interior’s publication series. According to Harjanne, the ministry ultimately decided against this due to the report’s critical stance towards the Finns Party. He expressed suspicion that this decision was politically motivated.

Harjanne stated, “Political parties and politicians play a central role in whether societal discussions and decision-making escalate.” He believes the report does not contain criticism that justifies the ministry’s refusal to publish it.

The decision to exclude the report from the ministry’s series was made by Jukka Aalto, head of the Administration and Development Department. Aalto informed STT that one ministry employee contributed to the report alongside their other duties but that the authors had not confirmed approval for inclusion in the series from their supervisor. Aalto emphasized that it is not the ministry’s role to critique political actors: “Our task is to remain neutral.”

Harjanne accused the ministry of interfering with researchers’ work, questioning if the results displeased the Finns Party minister. “Political censorship of researchers does not belong in a society like Finland,” he asserted.

Aalto clarified that the ministry did not intervene in the content or publication of the report, which has now been published in the University of Helsinki’s series. He stressed that the principles of neutrality apply to all political parties, asserting that evaluations of any party’s actions cannot be included in ministerial publications.