Helsinki
New Finnish government in office – Farewell to Sanna Marin
Former finance minister Petteri Orpo is Finland’s new prime minister. photo
© Jussi Nukari/Lehtikuva/dpa
Since the end of 2019, Finland has been led by the social democrat Sanna Marin, now the conservative Petteri Orpo takes over. With its government, the northernmost EU country is clearly moving to the right.
After around three and a half years under Social Democratic Prime Minister Sanna Marin, Finland has a new government. President Sauli Niinistö appointed conservative Petteri Orpo as the Nordic country’s new prime minister and dismissed Marin and her cabinet.
Previously, as expected, a majority in the Finnish Riksdag in Helsinki voted for the former finance minister as prime minister. His four-party coalition, which has been negotiated for weeks, is now starting its work. It is significantly further to the right than Marin’s previous centre-left government.
goals of the new government
The top priority is to put the Finnish economy in order both in terms of growth and in terms of stabilizing public spending, Orpo said after the parliamentary vote. Secondly, it is about establishing Finland as a new member of NATO. Third, he wanted Finland to be an active member of the EU, making suggestions on how to make the Union stronger. “We need a stronger European Union,” said the 53-year-old.
From Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) congratulated Orpo on taking office. “I look forward to further promoting and deepening the very good relations between Germany and Finland, also together in the European Union and in the North Atlantic Alliance, together with you,” it said in a statement.
Later, when the government changed, Niinistö made it clear that the new cabinet started work in difficult times. He wished strength, wisdom and success in the work for Finland and the Finnish people – and emphasized that the President and the government make difficult decisions together.
Orpo’s National Coalition Party came out ahead of the right-wing populists and Marin’s Social Democrats in the Finnish parliamentary elections in early April. The popular head of government then admitted her defeat and later announced that she would also step down as party leader of the Social Democrats in late summer.
Intense negotiations
Orpo has been negotiating intensively with the Finns Party, the Swedish People’s Party and the Christian Democrats since the beginning of May about the formation of a centre-right alliance. At the end of last week, the parties finally agreed on a 259-page government program.
A total of 19 ministers including Orpo himself belong to the new cabinet. Orpo’s conservative party takes on the leadership role in foreign and defense policy and in climate and environmental policy. The new Finnish foreign minister is Orpo’s party colleague Elina Valtonen, and the new defense minister is Antti Häkkänen.
With the posts of Minister of the Interior and Minister of Justice, the right will have authority over immigration policy. The two new ministers, Mari Rantanen and Leena Meri, are known in the country for their harsh rhetoric against immigrants. Your party leader Riikka Purra has already announced a “paradigm shift” in migration. The important finance ministry also falls to the Finns – led by Purra herself, who was also appointed deputy head of government.
Farewell speech by Sanna Marin
Marin has been Prime Minister of Finland since late 2019. In a farewell speech to Niinistö, the 37-year-old pointed to the achievements of her reign, but noted that this period was overshadowed by several crises, including the corona pandemic and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
Under the impact of the war, Finland decided in May 2022 to apply for NATO membership – two days after the parliamentary elections in April, the Nordic country was then accepted as the 31st member of the defense alliance.