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Alexander Stubb

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Atte
43rd Prime Minister of Finland
Assumed office
24 June 2014
PresidentSauli Niinistö
Preceded byJyrki Katainen
Leader of the National Coalition Party
Assumed office
14 June 2014
Preceded byJyrki Katainen
Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade
In office
22 June 2011 – 24 June 2014
Prime MinisterJyrki Katainen
Preceded byAstrid Thors (European Affairs)
Paavo Väyrynen (Foreign Trade)
Succeeded byLenita Toivakka
Minister for Foreign Affairs
In office
4 April 2008 – 22 June 2011
Prime MinisterMatti Vanhanen
Mari Kiviniemi
Preceded byIlkka Kanerva
Succeeded byErkki Tuomioja
Member of the Finnish Parliament for Uusimaa
Assumed office
20 April 2011
Member of the European Parliament
for Finland
In office
20 July 2004 – 3 April 2008
Succeeded bySirpa Pietikäinen
Personal details
Born (1968-04-01) 1 April 1968 (age 56)
Helsinki, Finland
Political partyNational Coalition Party
SpouseSuzanne Innes
ChildrenOliver
Emilie
Alma materFurman University
College of Europe
London School of Economics
WebsiteOfficial website

Cai-Göran Alexander Stubb (born 1 April 1968) is the Prime Minister of Finland, and Leader of the National Coalition Party.

From 2004 to 2008, Stubb was a Member of the European Parliament. He was Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2008 to 2011 and Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade from 2011 to 2014. He was elected as the Leader of the National Coalition Party and Finnish Prime Minister in June 2014.

Background

Stubb was born in Helsinki to a bilingual family, where the father was a native Swedish speaker and the mother a native Finnish speaker.[1] His father Göran Stubb worked in the world of professional ice hockey and was the CEO of the Finnish Ice Hockey Association from 1976 to 1983.[2] In 1986, Stubb graduated from Mainland High School in Daytona Beach, Florida, and graduated two years later from the Gymnasiet Lärkan in Helsinki. After completing his military service, he won a golf scholarship to Furman University in South Carolina, where he intended to study for a business degree. He later switched to political science, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1993. The following year he gained a Diploma in French Language and Civilisation from the Sorbonne in Paris. In addition to his native languages Swedish and Finnish (as a bilingual Swedish-speaking Finn), Stubb speaks English, French and German.

In 1995 he gained a Master of Arts in European Affairs from the College of Europe, Belgium. He went on to pursue a PhD in Philosophy and International Politics at the London School of Economics and Political Science, attaining it in 1999. Between 1995 and 1997 he was a researcher at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and then at the Finnish Academy from 1997 to 1999. In 1997 he also started his work as a columnist, which he continues today.[3]

Alexander Stubb in 2004

Between 1999 and 2001 he was a special researcher at Finland's representation to the European Union in Brussels, as well as a member of the Finnish government's delegation to the intergovernmental negotiations for the Treaty of Nice. In 2000, he became a professor at the College of Europe. Following the IGC's conclusion in 2001 he became an adviser to the President of the European Commission (then Romano Prodi) and a member of the Commission Task Force on the European Convention. In 2003 he returned to Finland's representation to the EU as a special expert and to the intergovernmental negotiations, this time for the European Constitution. When that ended in 2004, he stood for the National Coalition Party in the elections to the European Parliament.[4][5]

Stubb lived in Genval, Belgium, with his wife, Suzanne Innes-Stubb[6] who is a British-born lawyer, until they moved to Tapiola, Espoo.[7] She works for the media group Sanoma.[8] They have two children, a daughter named Emilie and a son called Oliver Johan.[6] A "confessed sports nut",[9] Stubb regularly competes in marathons, triathlons and has finished an Ironman Triathlon.

European Parliament (2004–2008)

Stubb served as an MEP for Finland from 2004 to 2008. He was elected in 2004 with 115,225 votes (the second highest number of votes in Finland for that election) as a member of the National Coalition Party. As that party was a member of the EPP, he sat in the European People's Party-European Democrats group.[4] During this time he became one of the most well-known members of the Parliament.[10]

Stubb was a member of the Committee on Budgetary Control and a vice-president of the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection. He was a substitute member of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs and the Delegation to the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee (as of August 2007).[4]

In 2006 he wrote a report for the Parliament on the EU's interpretation costs, which was adopted by the Parliament. He called for greater awareness of the costs of translation, which he calculated as 511 million euros in 2005 for the Parliament, Commission and Council together. Despite the costs and the need for some changes, he underlined that multilingualism is one of the EU's main assets.[11]

Minister for Foreign Affairs (2008–2011)

On 1 April 2008, Stubb's 40th birthday, the Finnish government announced that Stubb would be appointed as its new Minister for Foreign Affairs following a scandal surrounding his predecessor, Ilkka Kanerva. Stubb was sworn in on 4 April.[12] The decision to appoint him was unanimous[13] and his seat in the European Parliament was taken up by Sirpa Pietikäinen, a former environment minister.[7]

Stubb is seen as a competent politician[7] and has been a supporter of Finland's accession to NATO, stating he does not understand Finland's non-alignment policy. In 2011 when Stubb was Foreign Minister, leaked diplomatic cables from the US embassy in Helsinki released by Wikileaks stated that Stubb’s then advisor Jori Arvonen had promised the United States that if the National Coalition Party were to win the elections Finland would join NATO. At the time Stubb refused to comment on any Wikileaks documents. [14]

He also does not believe the President of Finland needs to attend meetings of the European Council in addition to the Prime Minister.[13] Jyrki Katainen, the Finnish Finance Minister and chairman of National Coalition Party, supported Stubb stating he was surprising, courageous and that he "puts a smile on one's face".[7]

As the Foreign Minister of Finland, Stubb was the Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe from 5 April 2008 to 31 December 2008.[15] The Russian-Georgian war occurred during this period, and OSCE brokered an agreement to send military observers to the area.

Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade (2011–2014)

In 2011 Stubb stood for election to the Finnish Parliament for the first time and was elected MP. He was the second-most-popular candidate in the election, in which the National Coalition Party became the largest party. In the government negotiations the Foreign Affairs ministerial portfolio went to another party. Stubb became Minister for Europe and Foreign Trade in Jyrki Katainen's cabinet.

During the crises in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine Stubb expressed reluctance to adopt sanctions against Russia,[16] arguing that a three percent drop in the Russian economy would result in a half percent drop in the Finnish economy. He went on to argue that money should be used as a force for good in geo-political relations, stating: "As I have said before, money is the best peace mediator“ [17] and “Money should be given the Nobel Peace Prize”[18] (As Prime Minister he would later change his stance after further escalation in Eastern Ukraine, describing EU's sanctions against Russia necessary.)[19]

Prime Minister (2014–)

When Jyrki Katainen announced that he was stepping down after three years as Prime Minister and ten years as National Coalition Party chairman, Stubb announced his intention to run for party leadership. In June 2014 the party congress chose him to be party chairman over his two rivals, Paula Risikko and Jan Vapaavuori. He formed a five party government coalition, and was officially appointed Prime Minister by President Niinistö on 24 June.

Other work

Stubb has stated that he has "always been of the opinion that matters must be discussed openly and honestly", hence he is an active columnist. He has also authored a number of academic articles and nine books about the European Union.[20] Stubb has a blog, which he maintained post-election despite some other Finnish political figures largely abandoning theirs.[21] He is also known as an active tweeter.[22]

His book Alaston totuus ja muita kirjoituksia suomalaisista ja eurooppalaisista – The Naked Truth and other stories about Finns and Europeans (ISBN 9789510351758), a collection of his columns for the Finnair in-flight magazine Blue Wings, was published in a bilingual Finnish–English edition by WSOY in 2009.[23]

References

  1. ^ Alexander Stubb: Mokaamalla pärjää hyvin | Tamperelainen
  2. ^ Suomen jääkiekkomuseo: Jääkiekkoleijonat - Göran Stubb
  3. ^ CV « Alex Stubb
  4. ^ a b c "Alexander STUBB". European Parliament. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
  5. ^ "Alex's abridged CV". Alexander Stubb. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-19. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ a b "Personal details". Alexander Stubb. Archived from the original on 30 July 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-19. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ a b c d "MEP Alexander Stubb to replace Ilkka Kanerva as Foreign Minister". Helsingin Sanomat. 2008-04-01. Archived from the original on 6 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-01. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ Tällainen on nainen tulevan pääministerin takana - "Hän kesytti naistenmiehen" - Kotimaan uutiset - Ilta-Sanomat
  9. ^ http://www.lts.fi/filearc/807_Motion208_20-22.pdf?LTS_reg=71v1acdb0gu62g0hvoir631087
  10. ^ "Riley Institute's EU Conference Continues Today; Stubb to Present Closing Address". Furman University. Retrieved 2007-08-28.
  11. ^ "More awareness of translation costs. Alexander Stubb MEP". EPP-ED group. 2007-07-10. Archived from the original on 25 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-19. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "Finnish FM loses job over texts". BBC News. 2008-04-01. Archived from the original on 3 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-01. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ a b "Finnish Conservatives name Stubb foreign minister". new Room Finland. 2008-04-01. Retrieved 2008-04-01.
  14. ^ Helsingin Sanomat - International Edition - Foreign
  15. ^ "New Finnish Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairman to address Permanent Council on Thursday" (Press release). Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. 7 April 2008.
  16. ^ Finland reluctant to adopt additional sanctions against Russia
  17. ^ Stubb: Russia’s economic dip could pose risk for Finland | Yle Uutiset | yle.fi
  18. ^ Stubb varoittaa talouspakotteiden kierteestä – "Raha on maailman paras rauhanvälittäjä" - Suomen ja Venäjän suhteet - Politiikka - Helsingin Sanomat
  19. ^ Helsingin Sanomat: Stubb pitää Venäjä-pakotteita välttämättöminä 29 July 2014, accessed 30 July 2014.
  20. ^ "Alex the columnist". Alexander Stubb. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-19. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  21. ^ "Post-election lull in blog writing by political leaders". Helsingin Sanomat. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
  22. ^ Stubb on Euroopan aktiivisimpia Twitter-poliitikkoja Pohjoisranta Burson-Marsteller, accessed 11 July 2014
  23. ^ WSOY press release (2009-04-02): Ulkoministeri Stubbin kolumnit koottiin kirjaksi; WSOY online shop: Alaston totuus ja muita kirjoituksia suomalaisista ja eurooppalaisista
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alexander Stubb.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Alexander Stubb.
Political offices
Preceded by Minister for Foreign Affairs
2008–2011 		Succeeded by
Preceded byas Minister for European Affairs Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade
2011–2014 		Succeeded by
Preceded byas Minister for Foreign Trade
Preceded by Prime Minister of Finland
2014–present 		Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by Leader of the National Coalition Party
2014–present 		Incumbent

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