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We must prepare for the possibility of the eurozone breaking up. That call has come from the foreign ministers of Finland and Austria.

Finland's Erkki Tuomioja said in an interview with Britain's Daily Telegraph that his country already has an "operational plan" for all eventualities.

Austria's Michael Spindelegger said other economically strong countries like Germany, Luxembourg, Finland and the Netherlands would support a mechanism for kicking countries out of the euro and he has already started discussions with some of his European counterparts.

The debate is taking place against the background of Finland's strong economic position.

As weak southern European economies pull down the region's growth, Finnish GDP has been expanding at a much faster rate though recently showed signs of slowing.

Helsinki's debt as a percentage of GDP is 48.7 percent , close to half the eurozone average of 88.2 percent.

Opinion polls show there is also resentment among Finns that they are having to contribute to bailing out troubled eurozone nations, hurting their finances at a time when their Nordic neighbours - who don't use the euro - are enjoying stronger growth, and as some Scandinavian countries' currencies have hit 12-year highs against the euro.

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