🇫🇮In Finland, a candidate was removed from the election lists for refusing to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The case concerns Ivan Devyatkin, a member of the Social Democratic Party. He was excluded from the list of candidates in municipal elections for acting contrary to party values.

In an interview, Devyatkin stated that he considered Finland’s closure of the border with Russia a violation of human rights and referred to Finland as the 51st state of the United States. He also failed to answer whether Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was justified. Meanwhile, the Social Democratic Party of Finland requires candidates to have a clear stance on the Russia-Ukraine war.

Ivan Devyatkin was born in Russia. He moved to the Finnish city of Lappeenranta in 2012 to pursue a PhD in ecology.

🪐 Subscribe to Live: Ukraine