The Finns Party is no longer actively seeking a Finnish exit from the European Union, according to the party's programme for the upcoming EU elections. The programme states that it isn't realistic to expect Finland to unilaterally leave the union in the near future.
"A potential departure from the EU would probably happen at the same time as other Nordic countries, so that we could also deepen Nordic co-operation," reads the party programme.
The programme does not mention any moves by the party to actively seek such a departure from the EU, but it does note that the government should have a plan in place in case the union breaks up.
This represents a policy shift since the 2019 EU elections, when the party's long-term strategic goal was a managed exit from the European Union.
"The European Union is not, in any case, “forever”," read the party's 2019 programme. "Even before any final disintegration of the European Union, the Finns Party sees the longer-term strategic goal of Finland’s withdrawal - either alone or as part of a wider group of EU-critical nations. It is delusional to think that peace among European nations and the functioning of an internal, common market requires the formation of a political union!"
Party leader Riikka Purra launched the latest version of the programme on Wednesday with a speech in which she criticised the joint debt instruments and fiscal transfers within the EU.
She said the party's line was that Finland should make use of the positive sides of the EU and oppose the expansion of parts it dislikes.
She also defended VAT hikes announced last week, saying that they were necessary to stop the rise in state debt.
Party officials said on Wednesday that the party is sceptical about admitting countries from the western Balkans to the union, but positive about Ukraine's EU application.
The party also wants to outsource asylum processes to a country outside the union's borders, and that this should be part of the next EU Commission's programme.
The party currently has two MEPs in Brussels: Teuvo Hakkarainen and Pirkko Ruohonen-Lerner. Hakkarainen has been denied permission to run on the party's list this year, after controversy over his ineffective stint in the parliament during which he has attended three meetings in five years, but Ruohonen-Lerner will seek re-election on the Finns Party ticket.
The party's list will also include Villhelm Junnila, a Turku MP who served 17 days as the Minister for Economic Affairs in 2023 but resigned after several scandals over his far-right links.
Party vice-chairs Sebastian Tynkkynen, a former reality TV star with convictions for ethnic agitation, and Mauri Peltokangas, an Ostrobothnian MP who was acquitted of incitement to hatred against a group of people in 2022, are also candidates in the EU election.
The EU elections are scheduled for 9 June, with advance voting in Finland happening from 29 May until 4 June.
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