Sauli Niinistö is the incumbent President of Finland, a Nuclear Supplier Group member nation. Formerly, he was Speaker of the Parliament (2007 – 2011), Minister of Finance (1996 – 2003), Deputy Prime Minister of Finland (1995 – 2001) and Minister of Justice (1995 – 1996).
Early Life and Education
Sauli Niinistö was born on 24 August 1948 in Salo, Finland. Completing high school education, he did his studies in law at the University of Turku and graduated in 1984.
Personal Life
Sauli Niinistö has married two times in his lifetime. The first wife, Marja-Leena Niinistö, died in a car accident in 1995 i.e. after 19 years of marriage. The couple never had two children: Matias and Nuutti Niinistö.
A widower now, Niinistö was becoming increasingly powerful in the Finnish politics, but he was gradually falling for Member of Parliament and beauty queen, Tanja Karpela. The couple dated for a while, engaged in 2003, but decided to break up in 2004. This opened Niinistö’s pavement towards meeting Jenni Haukio. Niinistö and Jenni married in 2009. The couple hasn’t had a baby yet.
Pikkupakkasessa maistui kahvi.
Posted by Sauli Niinistö on Tuesday, February 7, 2017
Career
Prior to entering the Finnish politics, Sauli Niinistö was just a commoner, making his living by a law firm. However, he joined the National Coalition Party and became actively engaged in national politics. Primarily, he worked for the Municipal Council of Salo for 15 years. Having gained enough prominence by 1987, Niinistö became elected to the Finnish Parliament. Moreover, by 1994-95, he was already chairing the National Coalition Party and leading the Ministry of Justice. A year later, Niinistö joined the Ministry of Finance.
As Minister of Finance, Niinistö employed strict fiscal policies to bring a change in national income. Holding the office for almost 7 years, Niinistö rose significantly in the Finnish politics – he was even urged to bid for 2000 presidential election. However, modest Sauli left the office to join European Investment Bank as vice chairman in 2003. Two years later, he submitted his presidential candidacy for the 2006 presidential election. Unfortunately, Niinistö saw a heavy loss against the opposition leader, Halonen.
Following a loss in 2006, Niinistö decided to run for the parliamentary elections and had a record-setting win with more than 60,000 votes. In the same time, he was also appointed as Speaker of the Parliament and Honorary President of European Democrat Union. In 2009, he ascended the post of President of the Finnish Football Association. Subsequently, Niinistö decided to bid for a second presidential run in 2012 election.
Campaigning for the 2012 election, Niinistö vowed to act as a bridge between the urban and rural population; to prevent youth alienation and to strengthen understanding between the cabinet members. Consequently, NCP candidate won the final elections with 62.6% votes against 37.4% votes in favor of opposition leader. As President-elect, he thanked everyone for backing him and vowed to be considerate about any differing views.
So far, President Sauli Niinistö has been significantly involved in developing foreign relations. In February 2013, he met Vladimir Putin to negotiate bilateral trade, sports collaboration, and investment. Hence, he has been quoted several times as being a broker between Russia and Europe. To talk about the Finnish economy, it is presently decelerating. The unemployment rates are as high as 9.2% and the inflation rate is at 0.8%. To boost the economy, the Monetary policy has been changed to yield an interest of 0%.
"Uhattuna on paitsi Euroopan turvallisuus myös sen koko tulevaisuus. Olet kutsunut paitsi valtioiden johtajat myös…
Posted by Sauli Niinistö on Sunday, February 19, 2017
Honours
- Finland: Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose of Finland with collar
- Finland: Grand Cross of the Order of the Lion of Finland
- Finland: Grand Cross of the Order of the Cross of Liberty
- Austria: Grand Star of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria
- Estonia: Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana
- Denmark: Knight of the Order of the Elephant,
- Iceland: Grand Cross of the Order of the Falcon
- Italy: Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
- Lithuania: Grand Cross of the Order of Vytautas the Great with Golden Chain
- Luxembourg: Grand Cross of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau
- Poland: Knight of the Order of White Eagle
- Netherlands: Order of Orange-Nassau
- Norway: Royal Norwegian Order of Merit
- Norway: Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav
- Sweden: Knight of the Royal Order of the Seraphim
Trump and Niinistö
On 8 December 2016, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö talked with US President Donald Trump on the phone and reportedly discussed US-Finland-Russia ties, Arctic Council and Finnish independence jubilee year. In addition, it was revealed that President Trump said ‘Finns are great people’.
