The Finnish prime minister has apologised to Asian nations amid a growing controversy over the "slanted eyes" scandal which saw members of parliament post derogatory images.

The controversy started earlier this month when the Miss Finland title holder, Sarah Dzafce, was pictured pulling back her eyes in her friend's social media post captioned: "Eating with a Chinese person".

Dzafce, who is not of Asian origin, said she did not intend to offend anyone and apologised.

But the 22-year-old was nonetheless stripped of the title she had only won in September.

Finns Party MPs Kaisa Garedew and Juho Eerola reacted by posting similar pictures of themselves, Finland's public broadcaster, Yle, reported, as did Finns Party MEP Sebastian Tynkkynen.

Mr Eerola has since apologised for his post.

Dubbed the "slanted eyes" scandal by Finnish media, the incident is the latest in a series of cases in which members of
the Finns Party, a junior partner in the governing coalition, have been accused of posting or making racist remarks.

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo of the pro-business National Coalition Party, who leads a four-party coalition that includes
the Finns, issued a statement offering his sincere apologies on Wednesday.

"These posts do not reflect Finland's values of equality and inclusion," Mr Orpo said in statements released by Finnish
embassies in China, Japan and South Korea.

"Our message in Finland and to all our friends abroad is that the government takes racism seriously and is committed to
combating the issue," he said.

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The Miss Finland organisation, in a statement to Reuters, said it was apolitical but had acted in accordance with its values and principles.

Already shortly after taking office in 2023, Mr Orpo's government faced a no-confidence vote over racist online posts and statements made by several cabinet members from the Finns Party.