Finland's Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen says in a newspaper interview that the European financial crisis is in an "extremely dangerous" situation but that there is no alternative to preserving the common currency among the 17 eurozone members. The newspaper "Helsingin Sanomat" on Wednesday cited Jyrki Katainen as saying that mounting pressure on European decision makers is causing bickering among them despite the fact that "all eurozone members want to preserve the euro," with disagreements hinging mainly on what measures should be adopted. Katainen reiterated that the triple-A credit rated Nordic country was not working for a break-up of the euro but "to preserve it and Finland's eurozone membership, every day." Last week, Finnish Finance Minister Jutta Urpilainen said Finland's export-driven economy had benefitted from adopting the euro.
