There is the potential that Finland's coalition government could collapse due to internal disagreements about recognising Palestine's statehood, according to Johanna Vuorelma, a researcher of international politics at the University of Helsinki.
She noted that two out of the four governing parties are currently against recognising Palestine's statehood.
"The Finns Party and the Christian Democrats are committed to a two-state model being something that occurs sometime in the future, and now the future has arrived faster than expected, so the government forming a unified stance on the issue will be very difficult," Vuorlma explained.
She also suggested that the Finns Party's recent dwindling support — in both polls and last April's local elections — may contribute to the party further digging its heels about the issue of Palestine.
"After their election defeat and in following months, there's been a clear willingness among the Finns Party to break away from the government's line," Vuorelma said.
Pressure on the coalition about the issue was increased after Finnish President Alexander Stubb announced he was prepared to recognise Palestine's statehood, if he received such a proposal from the government.
On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen (NCP) announced that Finland had joined a French-led call to recognise Palestine.
That sparked a declaration by the Finns Party's chair, Finance Minister Riikka Purra, that her party opposed Palestine's recognition, saying the Finns Party was not informed about the plans before the announcement.
The government's other two parties have voiced support for recognising Palestine: Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's National Coalition Party and the Swedish People's Party.
On Friday, the other coalition party against Palestine's recognition, the Christian Democrats' MP Päivi Räsänen told Yle that she was surprised by President Stubb's announcement about the Palestine issue.
Räsänen and Finns Party Jani Mäkelä spoke about the matter on Yle TV1's breakfast show on Friday.
Mäkelä also said he was surprised by the president's position, adding that there has been a tradition in Finland that foreign policy positions are unified and not turned into domestic political controversies.
"I wonder who [the president's] statement was meant for," Mäkelä said.
Räsänen said that she does not share the president's view that some new situation had arisen that would bring peace to — and improve conditions in — Gaza if Finland recognised Palestine's statehood.
Instead, Räsänen said that the situation could be improved by Israel and Palestine to actively negotiate and seek solutions, adding that such prospects are not at all likely right now.
Despite the inter-governmental disagreement, Räsänen and Mäkelä declined to discuss the potential of a brewing government crisis.
Among Nordic countries, only Finland and Denmark have not recognised the state of Palestine.
Meanwhile, the UK, France and Canada have pledged they will soon do so, under certain criteria. One of those demands includes the disarmament of the terrorist group Hamas.