A Russian flag was allegedly set on fire in Helsinki on Tuesday. Russia’s Foreign Ministry calls on Finland to take action to prevent a repeat of what it calls “extremist acts,” writes Russia’s state news agency tax.
The incident is said to have occurred during a candlelight vigil on the Finnish National Day on 6 December. The day also marks the fact that the Finns became independent from Russia in 1917. Police say around 250 participants took part in the torchlight procession, which was meant to mark resistance to Nazism.
A video of the alleged flag burning was shared on Twitter and has been viewed over 180,000 times. The video shows several people setting fire to the Russian flag.
After the alleged blaze, Patrik Karlsson of the Finnish police announced that the burning of the flag would be investigated, writes the Finnish newspaper Evening newspaper.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry calls on Finland to take action after alleged flag burning.
– Requests have been made to the Finnish authorities to bring justice to those behind the crime and to prevent such extremist incidents from happening again, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
– Don’t underestimate Russia
According to Tass, Russian diplomats must have sent an inquiry to Finland, where they will assess the alleged incident as unprecedented and call it an “illegal destruction” of a Russian state symbol.
Iltalehti writes that burning a foreign flag is not in itself illegal in Finland. However, it can be considered an offense if it is considered to be incitement against a national group.
