The Swedish People’s Party agreed to the migration policy proposed during government negotiations subject to minor adjustments, according to future Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, after heated debates and a walk-out threatened the stability of Finland’s new formation.
Saturday was a tumultuous day in Finnish government formation talks, which started almost one month ago. After Finns Party Chair Riikka Purra threatened to walk out from the talks if her party line on migration was not respected, the Swedish People’s Party said it would only stay in the talks if adjustments to the White Paper on migration are taken into consideration
“Certainly everyone is a bit annoyed. But, that’s the way it is when one is compelled to make compromises,” Orpo, also the Chair of the National Coalition Party, told the media after the truce was achieved Saturday afternoon, confirming that talks will continue Monday.
However, what was agreed on remained somewhat unclear.
It is rumoured that the required minimum monthly gross income for work-based immigrants from outside the EU would rise from €1,331 to €1,600 a month. There will also be some new limits to humanitarian immigration.
While agreement has been found on migration and climate – two major sticking points, finding common ground on funding the social and healthcare sector, for example, will take a great deal of back and forth.
”Nothing is ready before everything is ready. What lies ahead are many negotiations and the decision to join the government will be made only when the overall result is clear [..] When we ended our talks with other party leaders in the evening, I felt like fainting,” Anna-Maja Henriksson, Chair of the Swedish People’s Party, said on Facebook.
(Pekka Vänttinen | EURACTIV.com)
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