Finnish poll threatens EU bail-out plan

By Andrew Ward in Stockholm
Published: April 14 2011 22:49 | Last updated: April 14 2011 22:49


A knife-edge general election in Finland on Sunday is prompting concern around Europe as fears grow that a strong showing by parties opposed to eurozone bail-outs could hamper the bloc’s efforts to help Portugal.

Senior European officials have begun contingency planning in case Finland is unable to take a decision on participating in the bail-out of Portugal that Lisbon hopes to conclude in May.

Finland matters because, unlike in most eurozone countries, the parliament has the right to vote on the state’s contributions to EU bail-outs, giving lawmakers in Helsinki a de facto veto.

Opinion polls point to a tight race, with the four main parties, including the populist anti-EU True Finns, within four percentage points of each other.

With a reputation as one of the EU’s more compliant members, Finland could usually be relied on in the past to toe the line in Brussels.

But that is beginning to change amid public anger over the succession of bail-outs for crisis-hit countries, such as Greece and Ireland.

Now, in the final days of campaigning, the proposed rescue package for Portugal has taken centre stage.

There is resentment at the bail-outs elsewhere in northern Europe, above all in Germany and the Netherlands, but it is particularly intense in Finland.

“We had our own crisis in the early 1990s and got ourselves out of the mess without any outside help so people are asking why they have to pay now that these southern European countries are in trouble,” says Jan Sundberg, a political scientist at the University of Helsinki.

Seizing on this resentment, True Finns, which scored only 4 per cent in the 2007 election, has surged in popularity with its promise to vote against the Portuguese bail-out.

That has prompted other parties to toughen their rhetoric and demand stringent conditions are attached to any aid package for Lisbon.

Polls have shown the True Finns with more than 16 per cent support, putting it close to mainstream parties such as the opposition Social Democrats and the Centre party of Mari Kiviniemi, the prime minister.

Only the centre-right National Coalition party, the junior partner in Ms Kiviniemi’s coalition, has been consistently ahead of the True Finns, making its leader – Jyrki Katainen, the finance minister – favourite to become prime minister.

A poll published on Thursday suggested that True Finns had lost ground in the later stages of the campaign.

However, analysts say the outcome remains uncertain, with a chance the True Finns could win enough support to enter government.

The nightmare for Brussels would be an alliance between the True Finns and the centre-left Social Democrats, who voted against the Greek and Irish bail-outs.

More likely is the populist group being invited to join a National Coalition-led government, although this would present Timo Soini, the True Finns’ charismatic leader, with a dilemma because Mr Katainen’s party supports the Portuguese rescue.

“For a populist party, entering government can be the kiss of death,” says Lauri Karvonen, a political scientist at Abo Akademi.

Even if the True Finns stay in opposition, Finland’s next government will be under pressure to listen to the fears and resentments fuelling support for Mr Soini’s party.

Mr Karvonen says, while the eurozone crisis was the catalyst, there are deeper underlying causes of the populist upsurge.

Finland’s manufacturing-led economy is more robust than many in Europe but it has been hit by decline in the paper industry and faces a fresh challenge as Nokia, the country’s biggest company, goes through a painful restructuring expected to result in thousands of job losses.

“The True Finns speak for the losers from globalisation – the people from small towns who could rely on work in the local factory until it closed,” says Mr Karvonen. “They are exploiting resentment towards the elite and the EU is part of that.”

The ruling parties have sought to defuse populist anger by toughening their own rhetoric towards the EU and demanding stringent conditions for the Portugal bail-out. However, Juha Jokela, director of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, says that, far from signalling a rift with Brussels, Finland’s newly assertive stance shows the country is becoming more engaged in the EU 16 years after joining.

“In the past, Finland has always been the good pupil following the EU rules but now we are seeing more critical debate,” he says. “We are becoming true members rather than subjects.”

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FT.com / Europe - Finnish poll threatens EU bail-out plan

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Yes folks, HERE COMES THE SNOWBALL ...

“We had our own crisis in the early 1990s and got ourselves out of the mess without any outside help so people are asking why they have to pay now that these southern European countries are in trouble,”

:Apla uso:

Traducción para los analfabetos que hay en la política española

"Tuvimos nuestra propia crisis a principio de los noventa y salimos nosotros mismos del desastre sin ninguna ayuda exterior asi que la gente se pregunta porque tienen que pagar ahora que esos paises del sur de europa estan con problemas"

Porque semos la reserva "espirituá" de occidente.

Mode "yugo y flechas" off..

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Bien por Finlandia, que cada palo aguante su vela.

La bola de nieve empezó a rodar hace unos meses.

(11/08/2010) Parlamento eslovaco ratifica plan rescate del euro y rechaza ayuda a Grecia

Parlamento eslovaco ratifica plan rescate del euro y rechaza ayuda a Grecia - ABC.es - Noticias Agencias

Cita del artículo:


(13/08/2010)Eslovaquia rechaza ayudar a Grecia mientras la crisis se agrava

Eslovaquia rechaza ayudar a Grecia mientras la crisis se agrava · ELPAÍS.com


Hay que recordar, que Eslovaquia aceptó el rescate de Irlanda. ¿Confiaban mas en los irlandeses que en los griegos? Creo que las presiones de la Unión Europea pararon en ese momento la pequeña bola de nieve eslovaca.

Ya. Pero dista mucho en tamaño al iceberg que hundirá el Titanic, perdón, Hispanic ...

Es verdad que los True Finns (Perus-Suomalaiset) están subiendo en las encuentas de voto, pero es más un descontento general por la crisis que por los rescates en sí.
Los Perus Suomalaiset son un partido nacional-fascistoide, de esos de inmigrantes fuera, no a la UE, nada de comida importada y esas cosas.
Una Democracia Nacional a la finlandesa (sin las pintas de neonazis porque aqui no caen bien) o un partido de Ruiz MAteos o GIL que capta el voto de descontentos!

En España tambien auguro un auge de este tipo de partidos!

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Me encanta. Un NO a la UE es lo que toca. Y un NO bien contundente.

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En el caso de España -de ser necesario un "rescate"- va a ser difícil de explicar a los ciudadanos de la UE que aquí no podemos pasar sin tener un aeropuerto en casi cada provincia, 17 televisiones autonómicas, AVE a media hora de cada hogar, diputaciones, 8000 ayuntamientos (UK no llega a 500), autonosuyas varias...