The 612 march (, ) is an annual far-right march in Finland that takes place on

Finnish Independence Day Independence Day ( ; ) is a national public holiday in Finland and a Flag flying days in Finland, flag flying day held on 6 December to celebrate Finland's Finnish Declaration of Independence, declaration of independence from Russia after the Bol ...

. The march leaves from

Töölöntori Töölöntori () is an urban square and marketplace in the Töölö district of central Helsinki, Finland. It is bounded in the west by Runeberginkatu and the southern end of Topeliuksenkatu, in the north by Tykistönkatu; Töölöntorinkatu fo ...

and ends at the Hietaniemi cemetery. The event ends with placing candles and wreaths at the graves. There are also speeches in connection with the procession. The march has attracted up to 3,000 attendants according to the Finnish police.

Origins

The 612 march was initiated by the

Finnish Resistance Movement The Nordic Resistance Movement is a Scandinavism, pan-Nordic neo-Nazi movement in the Nordic countries and a political party in Sweden. Besides Sweden, it is established in Norway, Denmark and Iceland, and formerly in Finland before it was ba ...

(FRM) in 2014 and organized under the guise of the association 612.fi. According to , first leader of the FRM, the FRM created and maintains the event's website, and its activists serve as guards during the processions. , editor-in-chief of the online newspaper ''Sarastus'' and member of the far-right organization

Suomen Sisu Suomen Sisu (Translated: ''Finnish Sisu'') is a nonpartisan Finnish association that defines itself as nationalist and patriotic, criticizing unlimited immigration and multiculturalism. Suomen Sisu proclaims to support the idea of independent nati ...

, is also one of the initiators of this torchlight procession.

Perspectives on the event

The march has been criticized in foreign media as a neo-Nazi "SS march" because the event ends at the Hietaniemi cemetery where participants visit the monument to the Finnish SS Battalion and the tomb of

Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (, 4 June 1867 – 27 January 1951) was a Finnish military commander, aristocrat, and statesman. He served as the military leader of the White Guard (Finland), Whites in the Finnish Civil War (1918), as List of ...

. The demonstration is also opposed by the yearly antifascist "Helsinki Without Nazis" event.

SUPO The Finnish Security and Intelligence Service (, ; , ), formerly the Finnish Security Police and Finnish Security Intelligence Service, is the security and intelligence agency of Finland in charge of national security, such as counter-intelligenc ...

has characterized the march as "far-right" and "anti-immigrant". The participants have allegedly given nazi salutes and attacked the counterdemonstrators.612 march sparks clashes, arrests, and Nazi salute accusations

Helsinki Times ''Helsinki Times'' is the first English-language daily online newspaper in Finland providing domestic and international news for the country's English-speaking readers. A weekly printed edition was issued between 2007 and 2015. History ''Hels ...

16 March 2025 According to literature professor Kuisma Korhonen of University of Jyväskylä, the torches symbolize "eternal Finnishness" and are reminiscent of a Ku Klux Klan rally.Korhonen, K. (2019). Politics of fire: the commemorative torch rally 612 of the Finnish radical right. European Politics and Society, 21(3), 307–322. https://doi.org/10.1080/23745118.2019.1645423 The march is attended and promoted by the Finns Party while it is condemned by left-wing parties. Iiris Suomela of the

Green League The Green League, ( , Vihr; ; ; ; ) shortened to the Greens, (; ) is a green political party in Finland. Ideologically, the Green League is positioned on the centre-left of the political spectrum. It is a reformist party and it supports femi ...

characterized it as "obviously neo-Nazi" and expressed her disappointment in it being attended by such a large number of people. In 2024, two members of the Finnish parliament, and Sheikki Laakso, stated they planned to participate in the march rather than the traditional gala at the

Presidential Palace A presidential palace is the official residence of the president in some countries. Some presidential palaces were once the official residences to monarchs in former monarchies that were preserved during those states' transition into republics. ...

. The Finns Party leader, Riika Purra, defended their plans on the basis of freedom of assembly and speech, although she clarified that her party did not condone the far-right.

Petteri Orpo Antti Petteri Orpo (; born 3 November 1969) is a Finland, Finnish politician currently serving as the prime minister of Finland since 2023 and as the leader of the National Coalition Party since 2016. He briefly served as speaker of the Parliame ...

, while noting he did not have the authority as prime minister to tell people where they "should go and not go", denounced their decision to attend as "inappropriate and wrong."

Speakers

Speakers at the event have included members of

, leader of the neo-fascist

Blue-and-Black Movement The Blue-and-Black Movement (, SML) is a neo-fascist registered political party in Finland. The party was born out of row over ethnonationalism in the Finns Party, which led into the Finns Party Youth disintegrating and representatives being exp ...

Tuukka Kuru, Finns Party MP and Tapio Linna, who promoted

Siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

on his website.

Related events

Finnish

Hammerskins The Hammerskins (also known as Hammerskin Nation) are a neo-Nazi group formed in 1988 in Dallas, Texas. Their primary focus is the production and promotion of white power rock music, and many white power bands have been affiliated with the group ...

have headquarters called "Hammer House" in

Uusimaa Uusimaa (; , ; both lit. 'new land') is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme), and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, Helsinki, alo ...

that hosts participants of the 612 march. Sarastus has also organized bussing from the cemetery to neo-Nazi music gigs organized in concert with the event.

Participating organizations

Nordic Resistance Movement The Nordic Resistance Movement is a pan-Nordic neo-Nazi movement in the Nordic countries and a political party in Sweden. Besides Sweden, it is established in Norway, Denmark and Iceland, and formerly in Finland before it was banned in 2019. ...

Soldiers of Odin Soldiers of Odin (SOO; ) is an anti-immigrant group which was founded in Kemi, Finland, in October 2015. The group was established in response to the thousands of migrants who were arriving in Finland amidst the European migrant crisis. They ca ...

Finns Party The Finns Party ( , PS; , Sannf), formerly known as the True Finns, is a right-wing populist political party in Finland. It was founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. The party achieved its electoral breakthro ...

Active Club Network The Active Club Network are decentralized cells of white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups active in many U.S. states, with multiple chapters in other nations. Largely inspired by the defunct street-fighting Rise Above Movement formed by Robert Ru ...

Internationally

Der Dritte Weg The III. Path or The Third Path (, ) is a Far-right politics, far-right and Neo-Nazism, neo-Nazi political party in Germany. It was founded on 28 September 2013 by former National Democratic Party of Germany, NPD officials, and activists from ...

Junge Nationalisten National Democratic Party of Germany (, NPD), officially called The Homeland () since 2023, is a far-right, neo-Nazi and ultranationalist political party in Germany. It was founded in 1964 as successor to the German Reich Party (, DRP). Part ...

Potter, Nicholas (6 January 2021
"The Pan-European "Ikea Fascism" of Nordiska Motståndsrörelsen"
''Belltower.News'' "The exchange has been mutual, with members of Der III. Weg also travelling to Finland: In 2019, party founder Klaus Armstroff visited the head of the Swedish NMR, Simon Lindberg, in Helsinki. Together with a delegation of his fellow party members, Armstroff took part in the “612 March” on Finnish Independence Day. Holiday snaps from their Helsinki trip are even on the party’s website: The delegation visited a tank museum and the Finnish-German military cemetery. There also appear to be links between the NMR and the Junge Nationalisten (Young Nationalists, JN), the youth organisation of the German far-right party NPD. In 2017, the JN also participated in the “612 March” in Helsinki." * Golden DawnTransnational Ties Between Selected U.S. and Foreign Violent Extremist Actors: Evidence from the Mapping Militants Project
Martha Crenshaw - Stanford University. Kaitlyn Robinson -Rice University. National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center. p. 22. 17 March 2025 *

CasaPound CasaPound Italia (abbr. CPI; "House of zraPound") is an Italian neo-fascist movement. It was formerly a political party, born as a network of far-right social centres arising from the occupation of a state-owned building by squatters in th ...

Opposing organizations

* Left Youth * Green Youth *

Friends of the Earth Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is an international network of grassroots environmental organizations in 73 countries. About half of the member groups call themselves "Friends of the Earth" in their own languages; the others use other ...

Notes

References

{{Finnish far right Far-right politics in Europe Protests in Finland Neo-Nazism in Finland December observances