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Freedom Alliance Vapauden liitto (Finnish) | |
|---|---|
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| Abbreviation | VL |
| Chairperson | Ossi Tiihonen |
| Secretary | Lasse Paananen |
| Vice-Chairpeople | Heli Rämäkkö Niko A. Kauko Pekka Timonen |
| Founded | February 2022 (2022-02)[1] |
| Split from | Power Belongs to the People |
| Headquarters | Antinkatu 3D, 00100Helsinki |
| Ideology | National conservatism Localism Euroscepticism Paasikivi-Kekkonen doctrine Direct democracy |
| Political position | Right-wing tofar-right |
| Colours | Yellow White[2] |
| Eduskunta | 0 / 200 |
| European Parliament | 0 / 15 |
| Municipalities | 17 / 8,859 |
| County seats | 6 / 1,379 |
| Website | |
vapaudenliitto | |
TheFreedom Alliance (Finnish:Vapauden Liitto,VL),[3][4] is anational conservatist registeredpolitical party inFinland.[5] The party was founded byOssi Tiihonen [fi] as a result of a split from thePower Belongs to the People (VKK) party in February 2022,[6] receiving 5,000 signatures on 19 April 2022, and being later registered on 6 May 2022.[7][8]
The Freedom Alliance was founded by influential members of thePower Belongs to the People (VKK) party following a party split related to theRussian Federation andVladimir Putin,[9] alongside the leadership style and organization of the political party and the religiosity of the party.[10]
Ossi Tiihonen, who founded the Freedom Alliance, is a regional councilor forLohja and a former member of theFinns Party and the VKK.[10] Cia Grönborg, the former party secretary of VL, and Heli Rämäkkö, a vice-chairwoman of the VL, were both influential members of the VKK and have worked as a regional councilors forEspoo andSeinäjoki, respectively. They later left the VKK due to the leadership style and what they perceived asauthoritarianism and the apparent lack of freedom to criticize the party leadership underAno Turtiainen.[10] Turtiainen accused the splitters of being only self-interested.[10]
The Freedom Alliance advocates for Finland to leave theEuropean Union and condemns the EU as beinganti-democratic,globalist andelitist.[11] The Freedom Alliance is also againstNATO and theUnited States, proclaiming that cooperation with the United States has made Finland asatellite state.[12][13] The party can be described as againsttransatlanticism, instead wishing for the return to thePaasikivi–Kekkonen doctrine.[14] Despite the opposition to the European Union, the Freedom Alliance wishes to promote European and international cooperation.[15]
The party promotes conspiratorial ideas,denying the existence ofclimate change, claiming that the European Union is "force-feeding harmfulgreen ideology, which theFinnish MEPs cast their green plagues on the Finnish people."[16] The Freedom Alliance is against what they describe to be the "neoliberalNew World Order", in which the "EU-virus" is promoting mass immigration,gender diversity, and "men who give birth."[17][18]
The Freedom Alliance is againstthe sanctions on theRussian Federation for theirterritorial conquests, stating it to be hypocritical, illogical and emotional.[19] The party believes thatUkraine is a proxyclient state of theUnited States, and that Ukraine is oppressing itsRussian-speaking population, suppressing its peoples'freedom of speech andpolitical power.[20][21]
The Freedom Alliance describes itself as aindividualist andlocalist party.[22] The party is in favour of what it describes as "bringing back"freedom of speech, and the party promotesclassical liberal ideas in relation to society, stating the need for various freedoms.[note 1] The party also believes in theright to privacy, opposing the proposedEuropean Digital Identity.[15] In relation tohealthcare, the party wishes to promote freedom to choose healthcare provider, either private or public, the party also wishes to give unemployed jobseekers the right to a free health check-up, and to invest into healthcare services for the elderly and caregivers.[15] The party wishes to promotedirect democracy, however in order to achieve that wishes to promote education and enlightenment about state affairs, especially in relation to theConstitution of Finland.[23]
The party wishes to abolishForced Swedish in schooling and believes in freedom of choice in language learning. The Freedom Alliance believes that Finland is a trilingual country, and that people should have the right get services in theofficial national languages, alongside in theSámi languages.[24]
The party wishes to stop non-work-based immigration, however still wishes to allow humanitarian immigrants orasylum seekers, the party states it will perform a mass deportation ofillegal immigrants and re-examine the application of every accepted refugee.[25] The party also opposesaffirmative action, and wishes to "rationalize"violation of religious peace [fi] laws, and removeincitement to ethnic or racial hatred from thecriminal code.[15]
The Freedom Alliance in relation to theFinnish economy, wishes to reinstate themarkka as the sole currency to promote national economic growth,[26] promoteself-sufficiency in order to keep thewelfare state, as according to the party it is incompatible with the European Union. The Freedom Alliance also supports independentfree trade, separate from the European Union. The party wishes to lower thevalue-added tax (VAT) to 15 percent, lower taxation of domestic food and food production, expand mining jobs, especially promote self-sufficiency in relation to agriculture and energy, wishes to renew the pension insurance system.[15]
The Freedom Alliance has been described as pro-Russian,[27][28] though the party's vice chair has rejected the label.[29] Another point of controversy is the party's support for the candidacy ofJuha Korhonen, a media entrepreneur known to be a supporter of theNordic Resistance Movement,[30][31][32] a domestic terrorist group.[33]Junes Lokka, a candidate in the European Parliament elections and a town councillor for the Freedom Alliance, who has been sentenced two times for incitement against an ethnic group,[34] and is known to have attended Nordic Resistance Movement events.[35]
The party ran in the2023 parliamentary election in anelectoral alliance with theCrystal Party andFinnish People First,[36] but won no seats.[37] The party supported the candidacy of Saara Huhtasaari in the2024 Finnish presidential election,[38] but was unable to gather enough support for registration. The party nominated candidates for the2024 European Parliament election,[39] notably includingTeuvo Hakkarainen,[40] a member of theEuropean Parliament who was expelled from theFinns Party due to his affiliation with the Freedom Alliance.[41][42]
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/- | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 27,526 | 0.89% | 0 / 200 | New | Extra-parliamentary |
| Election | Councillors | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 0 | 5,490 | 0.2 |
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 16,717 | 0.91 (#9) | 0 / 15 | New | – |