Sauli Väinämö Niinistö (born 24 August 1948) is a Finnish politician who served as the president of Finland from 2012 to 2024.
A lawyer by education, Niinistö was Chairman of the National Coalition Party (NCP) from 1994 to 2001, Minister of Justice from 1995 to 1996, Minister of Finance from 1996 to 2003, Deputy Prime Minister from 1995 to 2001 and the NCP candidate in the 2006 presidential election. He served as the Speaker of the Parliament of Finland from 2007 to 2011 and has been the honorary president of the European People's Party (EPP) since 2002.
Niinistö was the NCP candidate in the 2012 presidential election, defeating Pekka Haavisto of the Green League with 62.6% of the vote in the decisive second round. Niinistö assumed office on 1 March 2012; he is the first NCP president since Juho Kusti Paasikivi, who left office in 1956. In May 2017, Niinistö announced that he would seek reelection in the 2018 presidential election, running as an independent candidate. The NCP and Christian Democrats (KD) supported his candidacy. He won reelection in the first round on 28 January 2018 with 62.7% of the vote and his second term began on 1 February 2018.
In a 2023 poll conducted by MTV Uutiset, Niinistö was ranked as Finland's greatest president of all time.
Early life and education Niinistö was born in Salo in 1948. His parents were the circulation manager of Salon Seudun Sanomat Väinö Niinistö (1911–1991) and nurse Hilkka Niinistö, née Heimo (1916–2014).Sauli Niinistö Niinistö's godfather was , founder of Salora.
Niinistö graduated from the Salon normaalilyseo high school in 1967, after which he went to study at the University of Turku. From there he graduated with a Master of Laws degree in 1974. He completed court training in 1977.
Career
Niinistö ran his own law firm in Salo between 1978 and 1988 before entering national politics.
Niinistö served on the municipal council of Salo from 1977 to 1992 and was elected a Member of the Parliament of Finland from the district of Finland Proper in 1987. In 1994 he was chosen to lead the NCP as party chairman and subsequently became Justice Minister in Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen's first cabinet in 1995.
Switching portfolios, Niinistö became Finance Minister in 1996, continuing in Lipponen's second cabinet from 1999 to 2003. In both administrations, Niinistö was deputy prime minister under social democrat Lipponen. As Finance Minister, Niinistö was known for his strict fiscal policy. He was the first Finn to make a purchase with euros on 1 January 2002. Niinistö was urged by his party to stand as a candidate in the 2000 presidential election, but he refused the candidacy for completely related to his private life reasons. He announced his gradual retirement from politics in 2001, and he was succeeded that year by Ville Itälä as party leader. After the end of his term as a cabinet minister in 2003, Niinistö became vice president at the European Investment Bank.
In March 2005, Niinistö announced his candidacy for the 2006 presidential election. He represented the NCP, challenging the incumbent President Tarja Halonen. He qualified for the second round runoff (as one of the top two candidates in the first round), held on 29 January 2006, but lost to Halonen. The costs of Niinistö's campaign were circa 2,225,000 euros, including 492,864 euros and 717,191 euros contributions from NCP. His financial declaration in 2006 was made more detailed in 2009 because of controversies.Sauli Niinistö Vuoden 2006 presidentinvaalin vaalirahoitusilmoitus 30 March 2006, addition 18 September 2009Helsingin Sanomat 17 September 2009 A4
In 2006, Niinistö announced that he was standing again for the 2007 parliamentary election. He said, however, that he had no plans to take any high-ranking political job such as the prime ministership in the future. He received 60,563 votes in the 2007 elections,Candidates elected Whole country. 192.49.229.35. Retrieved on 2 March 2012. a record in a Finnish parliamentary election; it was about 21% more than the 1948 record of Hertta Kuusinen."?People of a special mould"? – Pirkko Kotila. Kansanarkisto.fi. Retrieved on 2 March 2012. After the 2007 election, Niinistö decided to accept the position of the Speaker of the Parliament. Niinistö negotiated the merger of the European Democrat Union (EDU) into the EPP in 2002 and became its Honorary President.
Niinistö was elected as the president of the Football Association of Finland on 8 November 2009, replacing Pekka Hämäläinen, but the three-year term was interrupted when Niinistö was elected president of the republic.
Presidency (2012–2024)
Niinistö was the NCP candidate for a second time in the 2012 presidential election. With 37.0% of the vote, he won the election's first round and faced off against Haavisto of the Green League in the decisive second round. He carried the second round with around 62.6% against Haavisto's 37.4%. Niinistö's margin of victory was larger than that of any previous directly elected president. He won a majority in 14 of 15 electoral districts. Niinistö's election budget was circa 1.2 million euros.Niinistö keräsi toisella kierroksella yli 170 000 euroa – Sauli Niinistö – Politiikka. HS.fi. Retrieved on 2 March 2012.
After becoming the President, Niinistö pledged to establish a special task force aiming at preventing alienation among the country's youth and expressed concern about the problems of sparsely populated rural areas. Niinistö stressed the significance of mutual understanding with the cabinet and Parliament. His acceptance speech thanked those who backed him in the campaign and those who disagreed with him. Niinistö said that the differing views expressed should be taken into consideration.
In May 2017, Niinistö announced that he would seek re-election in the 2018 presidential election, running as an independent candidate. His candidacy was soon supported by the National Coalition Party and Christian Democrats. In the election, Niinistö received 62.7% of the votes, becoming the first president in Finland to win the first round of an election by popular vote.
By 2022, Niinistö was estimated to have an approval rating of 92 percent, but rejected efforts by a grassroots movement to allow him to run for a third term.
Foreign policy
As President, Niinistö visited Russia and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in February 2013 to promote bilateral trade (e.g. Shell, Cargotec, YIT). He discussed ice hockey and business, but not human rights issues or the selling of Russian military equipment to Syria and its transport through Finland.Niinistö och Putin talade Business HBL 13 February 2013 (in Swedish) Niinistö's contacts with the Russian leader have led him to be dubbed as the "Putin whisperer" by some commentators.
At the same time as the sanctions against Russia, mainly caused by the Russian invasion in Crimea and eastern Ukraine, Niinistö said that the focus should be on easing tensions and increasing understanding between Europe and Russia. He stated that Finland should serve as a broker between Russia and Europe. He also stated that "Russia understands that the conflict in Ukraine has generated debate in Finland over this country's own security policy. It's important that President Putin understands Finland's position on NATO membership in this debate. Finland accepts that Russia is working to find a solution to the acute conflict in Ukraine, but it needs to do more."
The foreign minister of Russia, Sergey Lavrov, used a statement of Niinistö in his arguments about future choices for the next Prime Minister of Finland, saying, "'Does Northern Europe need this? How will Russia react?' President Niinistö asked these questions with the subtext. He knows that the answer is negative: nobody needs this"; Lavrov added "President Niinistö realizes that what happened in Ukraine is impossible in Finland."
In his 2015 New Year's Speech, Niinistö stated: "We condemned Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea as soon as it happened and then condemned Russia's actions in eastern Ukraine. We have done this in the EU context but have also made this clear in our direct contacts with Russia. We condemn any illegal occupations, illegal use of force or attempts to limit the sovereignty of independent nations. Such actions never achieve anything but danger and increased tension. While power may have once grown out of the barrel of a gun, these days it leads to nothing but chaos." In October 2015, Niinistö expressed its support for Turkey's accession negotiations with the European Union and urged Turkey to make swift progress on the rule of law, human rights, and reforms.
Niinistö met with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on 26 October 2016 in Tehran, Iran. He also met Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. They discussed closer economic cooperation, human rights in Iran, the situation in the Middle East and the threat of terrorism. Niinistö said: "Iran was one of the first countries to recognise Finland's independence, and now our countries will further deepen their cooperation."
In April 2017, Niinistö openly supported the One-China policy.
In 2018, Niinistö said during his re-election campaign that he would block arms sales to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, due to their involvement in the Saudi Arabian–led intervention in Yemen.
On 16 July 2018, Niinistö officially hosted U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Putin for the US-Russia Summit in Helsinki. Niinistö was involved 73rd United Nations General Assembly in New York on 25 September 2018. President Niinistö spoke about Russia and Baltic nations affairs at the UNGA 2018.
Niinistö visited China on 13–14 January 2019 and met with General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping, they went through common issues between Finland-China to raise friendship and partnership. Xi Jinping and Niinistö jointly launched the 2019 China-Finland Year of Winter Sports.
In October 2019, Niinistö condemned Turkey's military campaign in Kurdish–controlled areas of northern Syria. He said that two NATO member states are "quite involved" in Syria.
Russian invasion of Ukraine and accession of Finland to NATO
In an interview with The Washington Post in January 2022, Niinistö stated that he could not speak to Putin's intentions regarding the frozen relations between Russia and the West, but cited what he described as Finnish "wisdom" on experiences in dealing with Moscow. "Finns certainly learned the wisdom that a Cossack, that means a Russian soldier, takes all that is loose. You have to be very, very, clear, where the fixed line is." When he was asked to shed light on his thoughts about Putin after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Niinistö replied: "The masks have now been taken off, showing only the face of war."Finland condemns Russia's attack, EU details new sanctions Helsinki Times. 25 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
On 4 March 2022, Niinistö visited Washington, D.C., to meet President Joe Biden and number of other US politicians and security personnel. The meetings were initiated by Niinistö's office earlier the same week. In a press conference with Finnish media, Niinistö said that in the meeting the presidents discussed the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its impact on European and Finnish security. Furthermore, they agreed on deepening Finnish-US security co-operation and bilateral relations.