HELSINKI, Finland, April 17 (UPI) -- The results of a Finnish election could disrupt efforts to approve a rescue package for Portugal and other eurozone countries, officials said.

The Financial Times said a strong showing by the True Finns party in Sunday's election could hamper efforts to approve a rescue package for Portugal. Results were expected soon after the polls close.


Finland's role in tackling the eurozone debt crisis is unique, the report said, because unlike in most other eurozone countries, its parliament has the right to vote on its contribution to European Union bailouts.

That gives it a de facto veto vote because the use of EU bailout funds requires unanimous EU approval.

Several fiscally prudent northern European countries, including Germany and the Netherlands, harbor anti-bailout sentiment, but it is particularly intense in Finland, the Financial Times said.

"We had our own crisis in the early 1990s and got ourselves out of the mess without any outside help so people are asking why they have to pay now that these southern European countries are in trouble," said Jan Sundberg, a political scientist at the University of Helsinki.