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After some three and a half years under Social Democratic Prime Minister Sanna Marin (37), Finland has a new government. President Sauli Niinistö (74) appointed the conservative Petteri Orpo (53) as the new head of government on Tuesday and dismissed Marin and her cabinet from office.
Earlier, as expected, a majority in the Finnish Riksdag in Helsinki voted for the former finance minister as prime minister. His four-party coalition, negotiated for weeks, is now starting its work. It is significantly further to the right than Marin’s previous centre-left administration.
The top priority is to put the Finnish economy in order, both in terms of growth and stabilization of government spending, Orpo said after the vote in parliament. The second concerns the establishment of Finland as a new member of NATO. Third, he wanted Finland to become an active member of the EU and made suggestions to make the Union stronger. “We need a stronger European Union,” he said.
Government program is 259 pages long
Later, when the government changed, Niinistö made it clear that the new cabinet was going to 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 government make difficult decisions together.
Orpo’s National Coalition Party was ahead of Marin’s right-wing populists and social democrats in the Finnish parliamentary elections in early April. The popular head of government then conceded defeat and later announced that she too would step down as party leader of the Social Democrats in late summer.
Orpo has been negotiating intensively since the beginning of May with the Finns Party, the Swedish People’s Party and the Christian Democrats about the formation of a centre-right alliance. At the end of last week, the parties finally agreed on a 259-page government program.
Finland has been a NATO member since April
A total of 19 ministers, including Orpo himself, form the new cabinet. Orpo’s conservative party takes the leading role in foreign and defense policy, as well as in climate and environmental policy. New Finnish foreign minister is Orpo’s party member Elina Valtonen (41), new defense minister Antti Häkkänen (38).
With the posts of Minister of the Interior and Minister of Justice, the right has a say in immigration policy. The two new ministers, Mari Rantanen (47) and Leena Meri (55), 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 Ministry of Finance also falls under the Finnish party – led by Purra himself, who was also appointed as deputy head of government.
Marin has been Prime Minister of Finland since the end of 2019. In a farewell speech to Niinistö, she pointed to the achievements of her rule, but noted that this period has been overshadowed by several crises, including the corona pandemic and Russia’s offensive war against Ukraine. Influenced by the war, Finland decided to apply for NATO membership in May 2022 – two days after parliamentary elections in April, the Nordic country was subsequently accepted as the 31st member of the defense alliance. (SDA)
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
