Pertti Salolainen
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Pertti Edvard Salolainen
CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(born 19 October 1940
Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
) is a Finnish politician. He has served as MP from the
National Coalition Party The National Coalition Party (NCP; , Kok; , Saml) is a liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in Finland, political party in Finland. It is the current governing political party of Finland. Founded in 1918, the ...
(1970–1996, 2007–2019) and party chairman (1991–1994) and Minister (1987–1995).Pertti Salolainen
Parliament of Finland (in Finnish). Retrieved 29 December 2016.
Salolainen worked before the MP career in
Finnish Broadcasting Company Yleisradio Oy (; ), abbreviated as Yle () (formerly styled in all uppercase until 2012), translated into English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founded in 1926. It is a joint-stock compa ...
between 1962–1969 as a journalist and producer. Between 1996 and 2004, he was the Finnish Ambassador in London.


Career

Salolainen was born on 19 October 1940 in Helsinki during the
Interim Peace The Interim Peace (, ) was a short period in the history of Finland during the Second World War. The term is used for the time between the Winter War and the Continuation War, lasting a little over 15 months, from 13 March 1940 to 24 June 1941. ...
period to the family of sergeant Edvard Salolainen and the shopkeeper Ella Salolainen (née ''Lundqvist''). He graduated as Master of Science in Economics from the
Helsinki School of Economics The Aalto University School of Business (; ), is the largest business school in Finland. Founded in 1911, it is the second oldest business school in Finland and one of the oldest business schools in the Nordic countries. The school became part of ...
in 1969. Salolainen began his career as a
Finnish Broadcasting Company Yleisradio Oy (; ), abbreviated as Yle () (formerly styled in all uppercase until 2012), translated into English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founded in 1926. It is a joint-stock compa ...
's television newsreader and editor in 1962–1965. He was a producer of Finnish Broadcasting Company's financial programs from 1965 to 1966,
BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...
Finnish language Finnish (endonym: or ) is a Finnic languages, Finnic language of the Uralic languages, Uralic language family, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official langu ...
editorial editor in London in 1966 and Finnish Broadcasting Company's correspondent in London from 1966 to 1969.


Politics

Salolainen was elected to the
Parliament of Finland The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral and Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that ...
for the first time in the 1970 parliamentary elections. In Parliament, he served as Deputy Chairman of the Social Committee (1970–1975) and Chairman of the Finance Committee (1979–1987). Salolainen was also a member of the
Helsinki City Council The City Council of Helsinki ( , ) is the main decision-making organ in the local politics of Helsinki, Finland. The City Council deals with issues such as city planning, schools, health care, and public transport. The 85-seat Council's members ...
between 1972 and 1984. Salolainen served as Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Holkeri Government, and Minister of Trade and Industry (Foreign Trade Minister) in 1987–1991. He was a questioned publicity in 1989, being visiting China as the first Western official guest after the massacre of Tiananmein Square. The decision to travel to China was made by the government and had the approval from President
Mauno Koivisto Mauno Henrik Koivisto (, 25 November 1923 – 12 May 2017) was a Finnish politician who served as the ninth president of Finland from 1982 to 1994. He also served as the country's prime minister twice, from 1968 to 1970 and again from 1979 to 19 ...
. Salolainen continued as Foreign Trade Minister and
Deputy Prime Minister of Finland The Deputy Prime Minister of Finland (, , ''Finland's Prime Minister's Substitute''), officially titled the Minister deputising for the Prime Minister, is a member of the Finnish Government who becomes the acting Prime Minister of Finland, Prime ...
between 1991 and 1995 in the Aho Government In the early 1990s, he was responsible for the Finnish membership negotiations in the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
. Salolainen was Chairman of the
European Economic Area The European Economic Area (EEA) was established via the ''Agreement on the European Economic Area'', an international agreement which enables the extension of the European Union's single market to member states of the European Free Trade Asso ...
's negotiating delegation from 1990 to 1993 and chairman of the Finnish EU negotiating delegation and negotiating minister 1993–1995. Salolainen has later told that he and other ministers had gotten death treats at the time, when Finland negotiated the membership in the EU. He has told later that he was under the protection of
Finnish Security Intelligence Service The Finnish Security and Intelligence Service (, ; , ), formerly the Finnish Security Police and Finnish Security Intelligence Service, is the Security agency, security and intelligence agency of Finland in charge of national security, such as Co ...
because the death threats were considered serious. In 1991 Salolainen was elected as the Chairman of the National Coalition Party after
Ilkka Suominen Ilkka Olavi Suominen (8 April 1939 – 23 May 2022) was a Finnish politician from the National Coalition Party. He was President of the Nordic Council in 1992. He was a member of the parliament from 1970 to 1975 and from 1983 to 1994. Suominen w ...
. He was in charged until 1994 when he was succeeded by
Sauli Niinistö Sauli Väinämö Niinistö (, born 24 August 1948) is a Finnish politician who served as the 12th president of Finland from 2012 to 2024. A lawyer by education, Niinistö was Chairman of the National Coalition Party (NCP) from 1994 to 2001, Mini ...
. Salolainen left the Parliament in October 1996 after he was appointed as the Finland's Ambassador to London. He Ambassador under 2004. He was replaced in Parliament by Pirjo-Riitta Antvuori.


Return to politics in 2004

In the 2007 parliamentary elections, Salolainen became a candidate, by the wish from party's chairman
Jyrki Katainen Jyrki Tapani Katainen (born 14 October 1971) is a Finnish politician who served as the European Commission's Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness from 2014 until 2019. Katainen was previously prime minister of Finland f ...
, from Helsinki, even though he had already refused the candidacy He returned to the Parliament from Helsinki as National Coalition Party's candidate with the fourth highest number of votes (8,621 votes) In his previous election, Salolainen had been the highest vote getter. In the 2011 parliamentary elections, Salolainen was elected for a further term of 6, 205 votes


Confessions

Salolainen has long been involved in the WWF. He served as the Supervisory Board of the WWF's Finnish Fund and the Vice-Chairman of the Fund from 1972 to 1989. London City granted Salolainen the Honorary Freemen of the City of London status in 1998. In Finland, he was awarded the Minister honorary title in 2004. Salolainen has also been awarded
Order of the Lion of Finland Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...
and the
Finnish Association for Nature Conservation The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation (FANC) (in (SLL) is the largest non-governmental organization for environmental protection and nature conservation in Finland with over 34,000 members. It was established in 1938, but the oldest ...
's golden badge In the 2017 Special Honours, Queen Elizabeth II awarded Salolainen as
Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(CBE).


Allegation of anti-Semitism

In 2012, Salolainen said on a television program that the United States cannot take a neutral stance on the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict about Territory, land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation ...
due to the influence of the
American Jews American Jews (; ) or Jewish Americans are American citizens who are Jewish, whether by culture, ethnicity, or religion. According to a 2020 poll conducted by Pew Research, approximately two thirds of American Jews identify as Ashkenazi, 3% id ...
. The
Simon Wiesenthal Center The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) is a Jewish human rights organization established in 1977 by Rabbi Marvin Hier. The center is known for Holocaust research and remembrance, hunting Nazi war criminals, combating antisemitism, tolerance educati ...
demanded him to be removed from office because of this comment. According to the Center, Salolainen reiterated "an anti-Semitic story about Jewish secret societies". Salolainen denied that his comment was
anti-Semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
.Suomalaispoliitikon kommentti suututti juutalaiset
''
Iltalehti ''Iltalehti'' (literally "Evening newspaper") is a tabloid newspaper published in Helsinki, Finland. History and profile ''Iltalehti'' was established in 1980 as the afternoon edition of the newspaper '' Uusi Suomi''. The Helsinki-based Alma ...
'' on 1 December 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2016.


References


External links


Pertti Salolainen's website

Pertti Salolainen on the website of the Parliament (in English)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salolainen, Pertti 1940 births Living people Politicians from Helsinki National Coalition Party politicians Deputy prime ministers of Finland Government ministers of Finland Members of the Parliament of Finland (1970–1972) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1972–1975) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1975–1979) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1979–1983) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1983–1987) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1987–1991) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1991–1995) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1995–1999) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2007–2011) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2011–2015) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2015–2019) Ambassadors of Finland to the United Kingdom Finnish reporters and correspondents BBC newsreaders and journalists Honorary commanders of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 2nd Class