Right Turn

Finland Boosts Euroskeptic Parties in Elections

Could sabotage plans to rescue Portugal from financial crisis.

Finnish voters gave the European Union a headache Sunday by boosting two of the country’s euroskeptic parties at the polls and casting into doubt Finland’s support for a planned EU bailout of Portugal. The outgoing center-right party supported the rescue plan, but two anti-immigration, anti-EU parties received enough votes combined to gain clout in the Finnish government. It’s a watershed moment in Finnish politics, as the more centrist parties have historically dominated. "This result will give Europe gray hairs," political analyst Olavi Borg said. The ascendant nationalist parties oppose using European resources to bail out countries they call “squanderers.” The EU has already rescued Greece and Ireland, and has lately had plans in the works to bail out Portugal. The bailout requires a unanimous vote from the 17 member nations of the eurozone; a single dissenter would crash the system and could require much larger economies like Italy and Spain to need rescue funds.