Helsinki, February 26, 2026 – The Europe Today: Finland’s four-party coalition government has secured a vote of confidence in Parliament after facing an interpellation filed by two opposition groups over its handling of the country’s employment situation.
The right-wing cabinet led by Prime Minister Petteri Orpo survived the challenge by a vote of 96–76, with 27 Members of Parliament absent. The motion was brought forward by the Centre Party and the one-member Movement Now parliamentary group, both of which sharply criticised the government over Finland’s unemployment figures, currently described by the opposition as the worst in the European Union.
The coalition government has just over a year remaining in its legislative term. The same opposition parties had previously submitted a similar interpellation on joblessness last October.
Notably, the only opposition MP to vote in favour of the government was Timo Vornanen, who was expelled from the Finns Party in 2024 following an incident in which he fired a gun during an altercation outside a Helsinki bar.
Sharp Criticism in Parliament
During the parliamentary debate, Centre Party deputy chair Tuomas Kettunen strongly criticised the government’s labour market policies. He pointed out that the Orpo administration had pledged to create 100,000 new jobs but had instead presided over what he described as Europe’s highest unemployment rate.
Kettunen accused both the government and Employment Minister Matias Marttinen of failing to acknowledge the seriousness of the situation. He argued that current policies were making life harder for those already struggling.
“There has been no encouragement, no opportunities — just misery, just a stick. We’re tightening the conditions for people who have nothing left to tighten. We are taking away security from people whose lives are already in pieces,” Kettunen said during the debate.
In a pointed remark, he added that a more accurate title for the Employment Minister would be “Minister of Unemployment.”
Government’s Response
Minister Marttinen rejected the opposition’s claims, stating that Finland’s employment rate is at the European Union average and even slightly above it.
However, official data indicates that the unemployment rate has risen steadily throughout much of Orpo’s term, which began in mid-2023. On Tuesday, Statistics Finland reported that unemployment edged down to 10.3 percent in January from 10.7 percent in December. Despite the slight monthly improvement, the figure remains significantly higher than it was a year earlier.
The vote of confidence allows the government to continue its legislative agenda, but the heated debate highlights mounting political pressure over Finland’s economic and labour market challenges.
