While most fingers are pointing to Germany as taking a hardline against Greece in eurozone negotiations, numerous reports are now emerging that Finland refuses to budge and won’t support any plans to keep Greece in the eurozone.
Jarno Hartikainen, an EU correspondent for a Finnish business newspaper has Tweeted Finland’s opposition.
It is confirmed: Finnish gov't won't accept a new bailout package to #Greece. #Eurogroup
— Jarno Hartikainen (@JarnoHa) July 11, 2015
Numerous reports have surfaced about Finland’s position.
Finland’s Alexander Stubb is among Eurogroup finance ministers convening on Saturday and has reportedly taken a harsher line than his German colleague, Wolfgang Schauble.
Finnish public opinion is extremely hostile towards Greece’s future prospects in the eurozone.
According to one poll, some 73 percent of Finnish respondents blamed the Greek government and its predecessors for Greece’s problems. That was more than in Denmark (where 70 percent primarily blamed Greek governments), Sweden (65 percent), Germany (59 percent), Britain (38 percent) and France (33 percent).
Hartikainen referred to three Finnish news outlets reporting their government’s veto.
Okay, already 3 big Finnish news outlets (MTV3, HS, YLE) reporting same thing: Finland wants #Greece out of eurozone.
— Jarno Hartikainen (@JarnoHa) July 11, 2015
17 comments
Wow. Those Finnish people are racist.
Greece has had 5 years to make reforms but we get back only stonewalling and insults. Throwing more money at the problem at this point would be just stupid.
The Greeks would just keep on promising while delivering little. It is like a drug addict promising to clean up tomorrow or day after tomorrow but he never does.
Your understanding of the situation appears to be shallow and informed by the lies and manipulations of the mainstream media. Greece has made many reforms which have resulted in people starving, a rise in homelessness and unemployment etc.
73 percent of Finnish!!!!! I don’t know what you hear from your local news channels, but we don’t want to steal your money. We are not thieves. We are hard working people just like you. There thousand of suicides in these last 5 years from people just like you, because they lost their jobs and couldn’t pay their mortgage or they couldn’t feed their family anymore etc. We are not the lazy bastards as you want to imagine us that sitting around all day just because we have more sunny days. Of course there are rich people here like in every country, but the majority of us are trying to survive and can’t make any plans for the future. The only thing i want to tell you is that life is like standing on a wheel sometimes you are up sometimes you are down. what comes around goes around. And Finland in the future maybe will need our help. I am not wishing for it, but remember that. Because we as nation do not forget. So when you will ask for solidarity (as we do right now) we will be the ones that we will turn our backs ( just like you are doing now). In the end what ever you decide to do to us trust me on that, we will survive. As we done it in the past for thousand of years. 400 years under ottoman rule, two world wars directly affecting us and we are still here in this small part of earth.
Greece was one of the main obstacles in EU negotiations of Austria, Finland and Sweden back in 1995. So it is more like Greece never helped anybody else and played the part of pompous assholes.
“As of 2012, tax evasion was widespread, and according to Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, Greece, with a score of 36/100, ranked as the most corrupt country in the EU.[38][39] One of the conditions of the bailout was implementation of an anti-corruption strategy;[40] Greek government agreed to combat corruption, and the corruption perception level improved to a score of 43/100 in 2014, which was still the lowest in the EU, but now on par with Italy, Bulgaria and Romania”
Greece as making some progress but then you guys elected Syriza idiots and soon the economic depression will be twice as bad. If you want more money, it will come with tough rules.
” And Finland in the future maybe will need our help.” with what money would you possibly HELP us with.
You can not and will not help us economically as you are broke and will be broke for decades to come, you would never help us militarily IF (big if) Russia came knocking, you’re too far in Putin’s pockets, Greece has only caused problems in European Union and been a constant pain in the ass and even lied about its books to get in.
It’s more likely to be hit by asteroid than we needing help from the Greeks.
Finland is not racist against Greece. Finland is a country that has a high tax rate in everything. And its citizens pay those taxes to get its healthcare, education, defence forces, police and rescue professionals and hundreds of other things countries do achieve by taxation. That is democracy, that is solidarity. According to dozens of news and reports from international agencies, Greece is one of those countries that has a habit of finding reasons why its citizens should not pay its taxes to fund its government. Pay your taxes and save your economy. Now you are asking year after year other countries to fund your tax evasion, and that is not solidarity, that is not democracy.
“Greek” or “Finn” are not races. “Finn” is a nationality, “Greek” is a mental condition of compulsive lying.
Of course Finland is hostile towards the Greeks. They have a Turkic language. I bet they may harbor Turkic DNA as well
wow
Finnish isn’t a Turkic language; it’s in the Finno-Ugric language family. The only other national language that is related to it is Hungarian.
Amazing how misinformed the public are. The more nasty they are towards the Greeks the more ignorant they must be. ( And lied to by their media, stupid enough to believe it all. ) Anyone even half informed cannot deny that Greece is victim of a huge EU scam, headed up by Germany. . They haven’t changed much sine the days of the Nazis.
90% of the money given to Greece went straight back to Germany France Italy etc to prop up their banks during the credit crunch. Now the burden of that debt falls on to the greek tax payer. Please tell us why it should. Had the money gone to Greece we could understand our obligation to pay it back. But it mostly went to Germany, and somehow we owe them again.
Hundreds of thousands of families without electricity. Children fainting in schools because the haven’t eaten for days. 70,000 suicides and that’s just the beginning.
Of course this means nothing to Germans who not so long ago were happy to line up women and small children and execute them by the score in the streets.
Watch the documentary “Debtocracy” and see if you still think Greece should suffer more.
The whole thing is disgusting.
Disgusting Disgusting Disgusting.
I could not have said it any better…….COMPLETE IGNORANCE!!!!! Let us NOT forget how one man had an entire country believing in his GARBAGE, KILLING BILLIONS of people, and today…….their response…..” WE HAD NO IDEA!!”… IGNORANT then as well as now!!
We are a stubborn people us Greeks….We are not afraid to start again, and again and again!!!
In the end however, we will not forgive your ignorance as an excuse for your hatred!
NOT THIS TIME!!!!
“90% of the money given to Greece went straight back to Germany France Italy etc to prop up their banks during the credit crunch. Now the burden of that debt falls on to the greek tax payer. Please tell us why it should. Had the money gone to Greece we could understand our obligation to pay it back. But it mostly went to Germany, and somehow we owe them again. ”
Of course the money went to creditors, that is called refinancing! Private investors took 53 percent haircut so it is not like banks made any money out of this clusterfuck. Greece has had government budget deficit every single year since 1974, spending way too much every year.
All bull. Yes the newly elected finnish government wants to keep it’s face and promises that they made during elections.. that is the reason why they so strongly wany to say No to Greece’s demands.
But also.. they have only one vote to say no and when majority say YES then in the end it doesn’t matter what the finnish politicians try to oppose but they think that at least the finnish people who votes for them, will think they did their best.
It’s all political crap and actually thr MAJORITY of the Finns are on the Greeks side! But that is no news and doesn’t sell now does it.. ? 😉
There is some finnish news where finnish-greece family talks about the situation of Greece. Once they was proud about being Grecian but now they arent. Last sunday they voted yes.
S: “http://yle.fi/uutiset/suomalais-kreikkalainen_sukujuuristaan_nykyaan_hapean_sita/8136729”