The 612 march (; ) is an annual far-right and anti-immigration march in Helsinki, Finland, that takes place on Independence Day, which is on 6 December.Poliisilta viesti itsenäisyyspäivän viettäjille: Kannattaa harkita millaisiin mielenosoituksiin osallistuu 3.12.2015. Yleisradio.Äärioikeistolaisten hihamerkit ja anarkistiliput vilahtelivat Helsingissä, kun tuhannet marssivat itsenäisyyspäivän mielenosoituksissa – Poliisi otti kiinni 13 ihmistä Helsingin Sanomat. 6.12.2019.

The march leaves from Töölöntori and ends at the Hietaniemi cemetery.Poliisit ympäri Suomen varautuvat mielenosoituksiin – näin Helsingissä marssitaan itsenäisyyspäivänä www.iltalehti.fi. Viitattu 5.12.2022. The event ends with placing candles and wreaths at the graves.Kartta näyttää, missä Helsingissä marssitaan itsenäisyyspäivänä – uutena tulokkaana Convoy-järjestäjien autokulkue Yle Uutiset. 5.12.2022. There are also speeches in connection with the procession.Tässä ovat soihtukulkueen taustavoimat: Äärioikeistolainen ajattelu jyllää 612-kulkueen taustalla Helsingin Sanomat. 3.12.2024.

According to the Police of Finland, the march attracted at its peak 3,000 attendees. By 2025, participation had dwindled to 700–800, with counter-protesters numbering 2000–3000.

Origins The 612 march has been organized by the unregistered organisation 612.fi since 2014. At its founding, the heads of the organisation were chairman Timo Hännikäinen, who is also the owner of the website, and vice-chairman Jari-Pekka Marin.

In the first march organized in 2014, members of the far-right Finnish Resistance Movement acted as security officers for the event. Former leader of the FRM, Esa Henrik Holappa has claimed that they played a key role in the initial organisation of the event, though this claim has been disputed by both Hännikäinen and Marin.

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. The demonstration is also opposed by the yearly antifascist "Helsinki Without Nazis" event.Poliisi varautuu itsenäisyyspäivän mielenosoituksiin – nämä kulkueet marssivat kaduilla Ilta-Sanomat. 5.12.2022. SUPO has characterized the march as "far-right" and "anti-immigrant".Supo 2015, s. 24. Helsinki: Suojelupoliisi, 2016. Teoksen verkkoversio. Arkistoitu. Viitattu 28.4.2016. The participants have allegedly given Nazi salutes and attacked the counterdemonstrators.612 march sparks clashes, arrests, and Nazi salute accusations Helsinki Times 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 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, Teemu Keskisarja and Sheikki Laakso, stated they planned to participate in the march rather than the traditional gala at the Presidential Palace. 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, 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 Year Speaker Description Source2014Timo HännikäinenAuthor and founder of 612.fi2015Tapio LinnaFormer chairman of the far-right organisation National Radical Party and promoter of James Mason's book Siege2016Tuukka KuruPolitician and future chairman of the fascist Blue-and-Black Movement2017Speech replaced by independence day concert at Bar Rock Bear2018No Speaker2019Jasmina OllikainenActivist and member of Finns Party2020Event not held due to the coronavirus epidemic2021Kristian VidingSimo GrönroosActivist and chairman of Suomen Sisu since 2022 politician and member of Finns Party2022Henri HautamäkiPolitician, former chairman of Suomen Sisu2023Daniel MartikainenEstonian-Ingrian activist2024Teemu KeskisarjaHistorian, politician, member of parliament for Finns Party2025Christian HeikkonenActivist and member of Suomen Sisu

Related events Finnish Hammerskins have headquarters called "Hammer House" in Uusimaa 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.

The far-right Suomi Herää -march, held annually by the Blue-and-Black movement formed as even more explicitly fascist march once 612 disallowed organizational symbols. However, the Nordic Resistance Movement took part wearing Nazi symbols the following years.

Police reported around 350 having attended the Suomi Herää march preceding 612.

Organizations that have taken part Nordic Resistance Movement Soldiers of Odin Finns Party Active Club Network Blue-and-Black Movement Suomen Sisu

International Der Dritte Weg Junge NationalistenPotter, 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

Opposing organizations Left Youth Green Youth Friends of the Earth Varisverkosto A-ryhmä Aurora Helsinki

See also Independence March (Poland) Day of Honor (Hungary)

Notes

References