Finnish foreign minister raps euro pact plan

Report of a FT interview with Finland's Foreign Minister, Erkki Tuomioja, January 2012. He said that the proposed new European fiscal treaty for the eurozone was 'unnecessary and harmful'.

The article suggests that the comment might raise fears that one of the few triple A rated countries left in the eurozone could try to block the new rules. However, the Finnish government denied this and put the comments down to campaigning for the forthcoming presidential election in Finland, 22 January 2012.

Finland was one of a number of northern European countries which had become increasingly eurosceptic in the since 2010 amid mounting resentment over taxpayer-funded rescues of more fiscally profligate parts of the European Union.

Helsingin Sanomat, 8.1.12: Smears and dirty tricks largely missing from presidential campaign http://www.hs.fi/english/article/NEWS+ANALYSIS+Smears+and+dirty+tricks+largely+missing+from+presidential+campaign/1135270168044

ESO: Background information: Populist parties gain from uncertainty http://www.europeansources.info/record/populist-parties-gain-from-uncertainty/

ESO: Background information: Why did Finland decide to join the euro? http://www.europeansources.info/record/why-did-finland-decide-to-join-the-euro/

Wikipedia: Finnish presidential election, 2012 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_presidential_election,_2012

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