Finland's delegate to last month's Miss Universe pageant held in Thailand has sparked a racism firestorm over a viral photo that showed her pulling the corners of her eyes.
Sarah Dzafce, who has been dethroned, uploaded the photo with the caption 'eating with a Chinese'. The slanted-eyes pose is often seen as disrespectful to East Asians.
The post drew backlash in Japan, South Korea, and China against the 22-year-old and even against her country's flag carrier, Finnair.
Back home in Finland, the prime minister said on Monday making such gestures was 'thoughtless and stupid' and that the controversy that ensued was 'damaging' to the country.
Ms Dzafce claimed the gesture was her reaction to a headache during dinner. She said a friend added the offensive caption to the 11 December post without her consent, according to local tabloid Ilta-Sanomat.
Ms Dzafce has apologized for the photo, noting it has 'caused ill will in many people'.
'That was not my intention in any way... One of the most important things for me is respect for people, their backgrounds and differences,' she wrote on an Instagram post.
The apology still drew criticism, with some calling it 'insincere' given it was written in Finnish.
Two right-wing MPs in Finland, Juho Eerola and Kaisa Garedew, posted photos of themselves mimicking Ms Dzafce's gesture to show their support for the beauty queen. The posts were taken down after backlash. Eerola apologized adding he felt Ms Dzafce was given 'disproportionately harsh punishment'.
Finland's flag carrier, Finnair, told public broadcaster Yle that the controversy had affected the company, and that there had been calls for tourists to boycott Finland.
The Finnish embassy in Japan said it had received 'numerous opinions and questions' on Finland's efforts to address racism. 'Racism remains a challenge in Finnish society, and its resolution requires continuous and resolute efforts,' it acknowledged in a recent post.
The Miss Finland Organisation said dethroning Ms Dzafce was a 'difficult but necessary' move, emphasizing that Miss Finland must respect all people regardless of their origin, background or appearance.
'We are deeply sorry for the harm these events have caused, especially to the Asian community,' it stated. 'Racism is never acceptable in any form.'
