Antti Samuli Kaikkonen (born 14 February 1974 in

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

, Finland) is a Finnish politician who has served as chair of the Centre Party since June 2024. He has been a member of the Finnish Parliament from

Uusimaa Uusimaa (; , ; both lit. 'new land') is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme), and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, Helsinki, alo ...

since 2003. He served as Minister of Defence from 2019 to 2023. Kaikkonen was the president of

Finnish Centre Youth Finnish Centre Youth is the biggest political youth organisation in Finland with 17 000 members. It is the youth wing of the Centre Party (Finland), Centre Party. It is formed by 19 regional organisations and approximately 400 local associations. ...

from 1997 to 2001. He has also been a member of Finnish Delegation to the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

since 2004. In 2013, Kaikkonen was convicted of corruption charges stemming from a campaign financing scandal. On 21 June 2016, Kaikkonen was chosen as the chairman of the Centre Party's parliamentary group. By 2019, Kaikkonen was parliamentary head of the coalition-leading Centre Party. Amidst the Oulu child sexual exploitation scandal, he called for all party heads in Parliament to meet, and declared "everyone who comes to Finland has to follow the local laws".

Campaign finance scandal

In the autumn of 2009, Kaikkonen received his share of the campaign finance. At that time, it was brought to public, that the Youth Foundation, of which Kaikkonen had been the chairman of the board since 2003, had distributed election support money to Kaikkonen, in municipal-, parliamentary-, and European Parliament -elections. In addition, it had also financed

Matti Vanhanen Matti Taneli Vanhanen (; born 4 November 1955) is a Finnish politician who served as Prime Minister of Finland from 2003 to 2010. He was also Chairman of the Centre Party (Finland), Centre Party in 2006. In his earlier career, he was a journali ...

's presidential election campaign, among other things. Kaikkonen resigned from the chairman's place, and then stayed as a member of the board. The prosecutor demanded Kaikkonen's imprisonment in the Youth Foundation bribery trial, that began on 16 January 2012. In January 2013, the Helsinki District Court sentenced Kaikkonen to five months in conditional discharge for abuse of trust. He did not appeal his verdict.

Personal life

Kaikkonen has two children; Kaikkonen announced that he would take

parental leave Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and "paternity leave ...

in early 2023.

Honours

FIN Order of the Cross of Liberty 1Class peace civil BAR

Order of the Cross of Liberty The Order of the Cross of Liberty (; ) is one of three official state Order (decoration), orders in Finland, along with the Order of the White Rose of Finland and the Order of the Lion of Finland. The awards of the Order of the Cross of Liberty ...

(Finland, 2022) * FIN Order of the White Rose Knight 1st Class BAR

Order of the White Rose of Finland The Order of the White Rose of Finland (; ) is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty, and the Order of the Lion of Finland. The President of Finland is the Grand Master of all three orders. The ...

(Finland, 2022) * FIN Disabled War Veterans Cross BAR

Cross of Merit of the War Invalides (Finland, 2021) * FIN Military Merit Medal BAR

Military merit medal (Finland, 2020) *

Royal Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star ( Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden''), sometimes translated as the Royal Order of the North Star, is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order o ...

(Sweden, 2022)

References

, - 1974 births Living people Politicians from Turku Centre Party (Finland) politicians Ministers of defence of Finland Members of the Parliament of Finland (2003–2007) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2007–2011) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2011–2015) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2015–2019) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2019–2023) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2023–2027) {{CentrePartyFinland-politician-stub