True Finns stay out of power
By Andrew Ward in Stockholm
Published: May 12 2011 16:49 | Last updated: May 12 2011 16:49
Finland’s Eurosceptic True Finns party has ruled out joining the government after refusing to tone down its opposition to European Union bail-outs.
The True Finns won almost a fifth of the vote in last month’s general election, helped by public resentment over the taxpayer-funded rescues for Portugal, Greece and Ireland.
Timo Soini, leader of the True Finns, said the party could not make the compromises required to join the cabinet after Finland’s two biggest parties struck a deal this week to approve the €78bn Portuguese bail-out.
“It would have been nice to be part of the government but you cannot betray yourself,” he told YLE, the broadcaster.
The decision clears the way for the centre-right National Coalition party, the biggest party in parliament, to form a broadly pro-EU government in coalition with the centre-left Social Democrats and some smaller parties.
The exclusion of the True Finns will ease concern in European capitals that Finland, usually one of the more compliant EU members, could disrupt efforts to solve the eurozone debt crisis.
However, analysts said the government would be under pressure to take a tougher approach to negotiations over bail-outs and predicted that the True Finns could grow stronger in opposition.
“There will be an outcry from voters who supported the True Finns that they are not in government,” said Lauri Karvonen, politics professor at Abo Akademi university.
Finnish support is crucial for eurozone stabilisation efforts because each bail-out requires unanimous EU approval.
The National Coalition party and the Social Democrats agreed on Wednesday to support the Portuguese package, which is expected to be authorised by EU finance ministers next week.
However, the Social Democrats made their approval conditional on Portugal selling assets to repay EU loans and taking steps to keep private investment in the country.
Finnish support is expected to be rubber-stamped by a parliamentary committee on Friday.
The inter-party deal also signalled support for plans to strengthen the temporary EU bail-out fund and set up a longer-term European stability mechanism. But the parties said Finland must receive collateral from any eurozone countries requesting financial support.
Analysts said the agreement was likely to form the basis of Finnish policy when the new government was formed. Formal coalition negotiations are scheduled to start next week, led by Jyrki Katainen, National Coalition leader, who is poised to become prime minister.
The European Commission welcomed Finland’s expected backing for the Portuguese rescue as a “responsible decision” and said the parties’ proposals were “constructive”.
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