Aid is a key issue as Finnish government negotiations enter fourth week

May 23, 2023

The Swedish People’s Party has emerged as the kingmaker in negotiations on forming a new government in Finland. But can a party with just nine seats and one representative from Åland fend off deep cuts in Finnish aid?

Anna-Maja Henriksson.jpg — Anna-Maja Henriksson, leader of the Swedish People’s Party, has called for an increase in Finnish aid level to 0.7% of GNI within the next four years. (Photo: Swedish People’s Party)

The conservative National Coalition Party won the Finnish parliamentary election April 2 by a small margin, and, by tradition, its leader Petteri Orpo will be the next prime minister. He says significant cuts in the aid budget are unavoidable. Orpo’s main negotiation partner is the right-wing Finns Party, which is calling for even more drastic aid cuts.

To create a majority government, however, the two winning parties are reliant on the Swedish People’s Party which has demanded that Finnish aid be increased to 0.7 per cent of GNI during this government’s term in office.

Read this opinion article about the state of Finnish politics by Marikki Karhu, Secretary General of the Finnish Development Policy Committee and the committee’s chair, Inka Hopsu of the Finnish Green Party.