PARIS (MNI) – Eurozone leaders should be able to find a way for
Finland to sign onto a bailout program for Portugal by mid-May despite
an exceptionally strong showing in recent national elections by the
nationalist anti-bailout party, True Finns, Eurogroup Chairman
Jean-Claude Juncker said Thursday.

“There are no real problems” in the negotiations for a Portuguese
package, Juncker told reporters following a working lunch here with
France’s Prime Minister Francois Fillon. But there is a “Finnish
problem,” he noted.

That problem is the strong third-place showing of True Finns, which
has catapulted them into the likely position of governing jointly in a
coalition that will be led by the pro-Europe National Coalition party.
The True Finns campaigned against Finland’s contributions to the
European Financial Stability Facility and against its participation in a
Portuguese aid package. Now those views will have a strong voice in the
new government.

Negotiations to form a post-election government are taking place in
Helsinki this week.

Juncker said he had been in discussions with European Central Bank
President Jean-Claude Trichet, European Council President Van Rompuy and
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to find a “solution”
to the Finnish issue.

“I continue to think that by mid-May we will find a way to permit
our Finnish friends to accompany the process in a constructive manner,”
he said.

Juncker said he also spoke with Fillon about the “difficulties” of
Greece’s huge debt load, which is expected to hit 150% of GDP even after
the country has finished its three-year austerity program.
“Restructuring [Greece's debt] is not an option; it would create
enormous problems,” Juncker said. “It’s not a working hypothesis.”

Asked about the possible alternative of rescheduling Greece’s debt,
he replied that it was “simply a nuance.”

On the selection of a replacement for Trichet, whose term at the
helm of the ECB ends October 31, Juncker said that as Eurogroup head he
should keep quiet. But he didn’t quite manage to do so, adding that, “I
don’t see notable differences between what [French President Nicolas
Sarkozy] said and what I think.”

Sarkozy, speaking in Rome on Tuesday at a joint press conference
with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, threw his support behind
the leading candidate, Bank of Italy Governor Mario Draghi.

Asked if he thought Germany would sign onto France’s endorsement of
Draghi as ECB head, Juncker replied that the Germans “speak another
language.” However, he suggested that the Eurozone’s two largest
countries would reach an agreement by the time the Eurogroup takes up
the matter in mid-June.

“We still have time,” Juncker said.

–Paris newsroom, +331-42-71-55-40; stephen@marketnews.com

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