Finland 'will not give up more powers to the EU'

Petteri Orpo, leader of the National Coalition Party, is expected to become Finland's next prime minister. Credit: KIMMO PENTTINEN/AFP via Getty Images

Finland will oppose transferring any national powers to the EU, the new government in Helsinki has warned as it clashes with Brussels.

Right-wing parties have also ruled out an increase in powers Finland. payments to the EU budget, despite the fact that the European Commission requires more money because of the war in Ukraine.

“Finland wants the EU to play big on big issues and small on small ones,” — according to their coalition agreement. contracts.

The conservative coalition has vowed to fight any additional bailout programs or bailout funds at European level, such as the €750 billion Covid recovery fund that pooled the total debt of member states.

He insisted that EU governments were solely responsible for their national duty in an agreement that completes the expulsion of Sanna Marin, the centre-left and pro-EU prime minister, after elections in April.

The center-right coalition party won the election with 48 seats, followed by the Finns Party, an anti-immigration far-right party that called for Finland to leave the EU, with 46 seats.

Ms Marin's Social Democratic Party won third with 43 seats, but was excluded from a possible coalition because she opposed conservative calls for massive public spending cuts to reset Finland's stagnant economy. .jpg» />The conservative coalition in Finland includes the far-right anti-immigration party. Photo: Kimmo Penttinen/AFP via Getty Images

The Coalition Party and the Finns Party will enter government with the minority-linguistic Swedish People's Party and the Christian Democrats.

“The EU budget must be kept at a reasonable level, avoiding an increase in Finland's net contribution,” their coalition agreement says. “Finland will not take measures that would turn the European Union into an asymmetric income transfer union. The recovery tool was an exceptional one-time solution that should not set a precedent.»

The new government has committed to maintaining close ties with the UK and repairing relations damaged by Brexit.

< p>«The government will maintain and deepen close Finland's multisectoral ties with the United Kingdom. This will contribute to a strong partnership between the UK and the EU,” the agreement says.

The Finns Party was able to secure a crackdown on immigration and asylum in coalition talks that dragged on for 11 weeks before being finalized on Friday.

The refugee status will be temporary as decided by the new government, which is also considering jailing people illegally staying in Finland.

The coalition agreement states that «the government will make international protection temporary in nature» and the term will be reduced to an EU minimum of three years. Any refugee who has committed a serious crime will be deprived of protection and banned from entering Finland.

“The government will consider imposing imprisonment as a punishment for illegal stay in the country, taking into account the impact on public finances ”, the agreement says.

“Rejected asylum seekers will or will be returned to their countries of origin as soon as possible,” it added, promising faster processing at Finland’s borders. It states that «the government will ensure that the asylum process does not become a channel for job seeking and labor immigration.»

Rejected asylum seekers will be deported even if they obtained employment during the asylum process . as planned.

The right-wing government of nearby neighboring Sweden has also tightened its immigration rules, following the example of Denmark, which has long had one of the toughest regimes among the Scandinavian countries.

However, the coalition government has promised a much warmer welcome for refugees from Ukraine in an agreement that continues Kiev's strong support for Helsinki in the face of a Russian invasion.

“I'm proud of a good program. and the outcome of the negotiations,” said Petteri Orpo, leader of the National Coalition Party, who will become prime minister. «We had disagreements on some things and I'm sure we have disagreements, but what we have in common is that we want to get Finland in order.»