The 2011 general election was a watershed in Finnish politics. The vote was largely concerned with Finland's European responsibilities, being held just as the EU constructed its stability policy with the Portugese loan package and the details of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) on the table. Although the agenda was technical and narrow, revolving around bail-out packages and Finnish liabilities, this was the first time that EU issues had dominated the national electoral agenda. This also led to the emergence of the populist True Finns as a significant electoral force, upsetting the consensual atmosphere of Finnish politics and introducing a strong Eurosceptic voice into a more polarised national debate. Since then the True Finns have continued to enjoy electoral success at a local level. However it now seems that the 2011 elections were above all a warning to the other main parties that the turmoil in the Eurozone was now able to interrupt the European consensus in Finnish politics under specific conditions, and turn a model pupil into a temporary troublemaker. The roots of Finland's European policy lie in its situation before accession in 1995. For decades it had performed a difficult balancing act between the two Cold War blocs, and saw the EU as the provider of a new security paradigm as well as the route to economic advance. A firm consensus emerged over a constructive European policy that involved participation in the core groups on issues like the single currency and a possible deepening of the common security