The True Finns: Finnish Anti-Euro Party Sees Large Gains in Recent Election
April 18th, 2011Via: Reuters:
The True Finns, the anti-euro party voted into a powerful role in the Helsinki parliament at the weekend, expect the European Union to change plans for a bailout of Portugal, its leader said on Monday.
“Of course there will have to be changes,” Timo Soini told reporters a day after his party more than quadrupled its share of the vote to turn Finland’s traditionally pro-EU politics on their head by finishing a close third in the election.
Soini said he expected to hear this week about joining talks on forming a coalition. The center-right National Coalition, which came top with 20.4 percent, should launch negotiations under its leader, the outgoing finance minister Jyrki Katainen.
It remains unclear how far a new coalition, which may take weeks to form, will incorporate True Finns ministers or their views on EU help for heavily indebted member states. But the rise of the True Finns seems likely to shift the debate.
“This is a big, big bang in Finnish politics. This is a big, big change. This will change the content of Finnish politics,” Jan Sundberg, professor at the University of Helsinki, said.
Finland’s parliament, unlike others in the euro zone, has the right to vote on EU requests for bailout funds, meaning it could hold up costly plans to shore up Portugal and bring stability to debt markets.
The strong showing for the populist True Finns reflects growing public frustration in some EU states about footing the bill for weaker economies such as Greece, Ireland and Portugal.
The party got 19.0 percent, according to compared to 4.1 percent in 2007, which means it is likely to be involved in talks on forming a government. The opposition Social Democrats, who support the EU but dislike current plans to aid Portugal, won 19.1 percent and are also likely to join government talks.
