Finland wants Greece out of euro zone, at least temporarily

Finnish media said on Saturday that Finland wants Greece to leave the euro zone at least temporarily. The three party coalition was on the brink of disintegrating on Saturday, but in the end the populist True Finns Party got its will accepted, media reported.

Finnish national broadcaster Yle said Finland is likely to block the authorization of a further loan to Greece. Yle reported that the relevant parliamentary committee on Saturday gave Finance Minister Alexander Stubb a strong instruction against a further loan before Stubb traveled to Brussels for the meeting of euro zone finance ministers.

Yle said Finland has the strongest stand among the euro zone countries against a further loan and Finland may be alone with such a strict view in the meeting. As unanimity is required, decision making would then be likely to shift to the meeting of prime ministers on Sunday.

Yle quoted political sources in Helsinki as saying that the three-party cabinet under Prime Minister Juha Sipila almost fell on Saturday as the Finns Party was unconditionally against giving a large new loan to Greece.

Leading Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat also reported that Finland wants Greece to leave the euro zone. The newspaper said its source was reliable.

The options would be either an official stepping out or a temporary exit. Helsingin Sanomat said the political stand of Finland is that Greece leaves the euro zone at least temporarily.

Earlier the Finnish government line had been that Greece could be supported further if the responsibilities of Finland would not be increased. But now the Finnish line has been toughened, HS reported on Saturday.

The parliamentary committee had reportedly voted several times on the issue. The members of the committee had been told not to leak out the decision.