EU makes free speech equal to terrorism, Räsänen says

She said this in the Finnish parliament on Tuesday in a reaction to a proposal from the European Commission, which wants to extend the list of ‘EU crimes’ to hate speech and hate crime.

The Christian Democrat Räsänen is concerned about the direction of this EU policy. “The EU wants to play a bigger role in social policy, taxation and now also in criminal justice issues of member states”, Räsänen said, according to the website of KD magazine. This weekly magazine supports the Finnish Christian Democrats. “Instead of laying the foundations for comprehensive freedom of expression, which is the basis of democracy, the EU intends to restrict freedom of expression through directives that go beyond national decision-making power.” According to Räsänen, the proposal challenges national sovereignty, and the politician emphasised that this should not be accepted.

According to Räsänen, equating hate speech to terrorism is questionable since there is no uniform definition for hate speech among member states. “The EU is breaking away from its own principles: freedom and the power of the people, a liberal democracy in which society is built through freedom and respect”, Räsänen said.

The Finnish parliament is currently debating the European Commission proposal. Member states need to approve the initiative before the Commission can present a legislative proposal.

Court

Räsänen took the stage a few days before the second day of her trial coming Monday. She has to answer the court for her statements about homosexuality. According to Räsänen, marriage should be reserved for man and woman only, since the Bible says so. The Finnish prosecutor believes that Räsänen’s statements are likely to cause intolerance, contempt and hatred towards homosexuals.