Finland is the unlikely stage for the latest turn in Greece's interminable debt drama this weekend. 

With events having decamped temporarily to Washington DC, Athens will be keeping half an eye on developments in Helsinki, where the Nordic state of just 5.4m people heads for the polls on Sunday. 

In the five years since Greece's financial woes were revealed to the world, it has been sleepy Finland which has emerged as the most trenchant critic of EU largesse to the indebted Mediterranean. 

The outcome of the country's general election could now determine Greece's future in the monetary union

In a leaked memo seen last month, it was revealed that the Finns had already drawn up contingency plans for a Greek exit from the euro.

Although ostensibly a sensible measure for any finance ministry to contemplate, the document confirmed the Finns' position as the most uncompromising of the EU's creditor nations. 

The reputation is well-deserved.