HELSINKI (AP) – Finland’s conservative National Union party, winner of April’s general election, announced Sunday the selection of key ministerial positions in the next government, which observers say are members of the Nordic nation’s most recent It will be the most right-wing in the history of the United States.
After seven weeks of long talks, The NCP announced an agreement with three other parties on Friday. This is because of a coalition government that includes the far-right, eurosceptic Finland Party, which has a primarily nationalist and anti-immigration agenda.
The new cabinet will have a total of 19 ministerial positions, including the next prime minister and NCP leader, Mr. Peteli Orupo. A 53-year veteran politician, he has served as finance minister and interior minister, and has been the leader of Finland’s main conservative party, the NCP, since 2016.
The NCP will get a total of eight ministerial portfolios.
Party vice-chair Elina Valtonen, who is also vice-chair of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, will become foreign minister.
The 41-year-old will be Finland’s second top female diplomat, following Tarja Halonen, who served in the late 1990s before being elected Finland’s first female president in 2000.
The NCP will also acquire the important defense portfolio held by Antti Häkkanen, also NCP vice-chairman. His defense minister post carries great weight as Finland becomes NATO’s 31st member state in April and the country of 5.5 million is in the process of integrating its military system into the alliance.
Under the deal, the populist Finland Party, which came runner-up in the parliamentary elections, will gain seven ministerial posts, including the key finance minister post held by its leader Rikka Pula, as well as the posts of interior minister and justice minister. It is planned.
The two junior partners in the new government, the Christian Democrats and the Finnish-Swedish People’s Party, will share the remaining cabinet positions.
The four parties will comfortably hold a majority of 108 seats in Finland’s 200-member parliament, Eduskunta.
Political analysts have described the new cabinet as Finland’s most right-wing government since World War II. Under a government plan released on Friday, Olupo’s cabinet will implement major social policy and labor reforms and budget cuts over the next four years.
It aims to significantly reduce Finland’s government debt and has taken a hard stance on immigration, including stricter requirements for acquiring Finnish citizenship.
Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö is expected to appoint Olpo and his cabinet by Wednesday, following a vote of confidence in the nomination by parliamentarians.