(Bloomberg) -- Finland’s election winner said talks on a government program could be finalized as early as next week even as parties still have many issues to find an agreement on.
“There’s strong will to have everything ready in the negotiations at the beginning of next week,” National Coalition leader Petteri Orpo told reporters on Thursday as the talks continue for a sixth consecutive week.
The negotiations in Finland are targeting a cabinet deal between election winner National Coalition and the anti-immigration Finns Party, alongside two junior partners — the Swedish People’s Party and the Christian Democrats. Last month, the parties overcame a major obstacle after they managed to patch up a row over immigration policy that threatened to throw the process in disarray.
Read Also: Finnish Cabinet Talks to Resume After Migration Row Resolved
Orpo, who is expected to become prime minister of the new government, has said the coalition partners will have to agree to balance the public finances with at least €6 billion of austerity measures during the next four years after evidence the Nordic nation’s books are in a worse state than suggested earlier.
Read More: Finland’s Orpo Laments Worsening State Finances in Cabinet Talks
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