Finland Times

Soldiers of Odin. File Photo – Lehtikuva.

The number and frequency of street patrols organised by the extremist organisation Soldiers of Odin have decreased both in Finland and abroad, said the Finnish Security Intelligence Service (Supo).

 

“It would appear that their activities are very modest and on a downward trend. There are still some patrols in the gang’s name, but their activity has been significantly reduced. There are still some local groups who wish to act [in the name of Soldiers of Odin], but they are very few,” said Supo Chief Inspector Tuomas Portaankorva.

 

According to Portaankorva, activities of the organisation have also declined abroad significantly.

 

The xenophobic organisation founded in Kemi made headlines late last year. Their street patrols were active during the autumn, winter and spring in several Finnish cities.

 

The anti-immigrant organisation claimed that the arrival of asylum-seekers in Finland threatened the security of people on the street.

 

While their visible activity has been quite, the organisation has become increasingly fierce on social media.

 

For example, their Finnish-language Facebook page has 46,000 likes. According to Facebook statistics, they will steadily gain more likes.

 

The most popular posts on the open Facebook account are memes about military history and racism.

 

Photos position immigrants, anarchists and the left-wing as enemies. Some of them include the police as enemies.

 

The organisation’s most popular posts are about, for example, Finland leaving the EU, the Brexit, and the MV publication.