Reino Paasilinna (5 December 1939 – 21 July 2022) was a Finnish politician who served as a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(MEP). He was a member of the

Social Democratic Party of Finland The Social Democratic Party of Finland ( , SDP, nicknamed: ''demarit'' in Finnish; , SD) is a social democratic political party in Finland. It is the third-largest party in the Parliament of Finland with a total of 43 seats. Founded in 1899 as ...

, which is part of the Party of European Socialdemocrats. He was in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

from 1996 to 2009, and sat on the Parliament's

Committee on Industry, Research and Energy A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

. He was also a substitute for the

Committee on Culture and Education The Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) is a committee of the European Parliament. Responsibilities of the committee This committee has focused on the well-being of all members of the human race and the increased opportunities for educat ...

, vice-chair of the delegation to the EU–

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, and a substitute for the delegation for relations with the countries of

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Early life and education

Reino Paasilinna was born on ''Aunus'', a ship on the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceanic divisions. It spans an area of approximately and is the coldest of the world's oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...

, on the coast of Norway, where the Paasilinna family fled during the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

. His family is from Petsamo but they moved to

Kittilä Kittilä (, , ) is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland and a popular holiday resort. It is located in northern Finland north of the Arctic Circle within the Lapland (Finland), Lapland Regions of Finland, region. The municipality ...

because the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

invaded Petsamo during the Winter War. The writers Erno,

Mauri Mauri (from which derives the English term "Moors") was the Latin designation for the Berber population of Mauretania, located in the west side of North Africa on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, Mauretania Tingitana and Mauretania Caesarien ...

and Arto Paasilinna were his brothers. He earned a Master's degree in social sciences (1974), a postgraduate degree in social sciences (1989) and a doctorate in social sciences (1995).

Career

* TV journalist, director and editor (1961–1974) * Chairman, Union of Radio and Television Journalists (1967–1969) * Press secretary and adviser at Finnish embassies in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

and

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

(1974–1983) * Member, Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) (1983–1989) * Member of Parliament (1983–1989 and 1995–1996) * Member of the board and Vice-chairman of Elisa Communications (1988–2002) * Director-General (last) and Chairman of

Yleisradio 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 comp ...

(1990–1994) * Vice-chairman, International Radio and Television Organisation and Vice-chairman,

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...

(1992–1994) * Chairman, Board of Governors of Euronews (1992–1994) * Vice-chairman, Committee on the Future (1995–1996) * Member of Finland's 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 ...

(1995–1996) * Member of the European Parliament (1996-2009) * Member, Helsinki City Council (1998–1999) * Chairman, PSE Group Working Party on the Information Society (1998-)

Awards

* Commander of the

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 ...

(1995)

References

External links

European Parliament biography
* 1939 births 2022 deaths People born at sea Social Democratic Party of Finland MEPs MEPs for Finland 1996–1999 MEPs for Finland 1999–2004 MEPs for Finland 2004–2009 Commanders of the Order of the Lion of Finland Finnish television journalists People from Kittilä {{Finland-MEP-stub