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Finland, with only 5.4 million citizens, has accumulated outsize influence in discussions about tackling the eurozone debt crisis because of its strong finances and its hard-line stance on bailouts. Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen has been an advocate within Finland of maintaining unity in the currency bloc, even as Finland's views on issues such as more rigid requirements for use of the European Stability Mechanism have frayed relations with some eurozone counterparts that favour looser restrictions.
Unlike Norway, Sweden and Denmark, Finland is a member of the eurozone and that has led to heated debate over Finnish support of and financial exposure to bailouts in the 17-country currency bloc. The Finns Party has made a name for itself with its eurosceptic stance, and its advocacy of a Finnish exit from the eurozone has been a key factor in its recent political rise. The party also has called for tighter immigration policies.
The two largest parties in the country, the National Coalition Party and Social Democratic Party, which together make up the governing coalition, have sought to slow the Finns Party's momentum by steering the discourse away from eurozone matters and towards more local issues, such as municipal funding, a programme for municipal mergers and services such as health and elder care.