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☆ Geert Wilders abandons Dutch PM bid despite election victory
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Populist firebrand Geert Wilders has conceded that he will not become the next prime minister of the Netherlands because his potential coalition backers have refused to back him. “I can only become Prime Minister if ALL parties in the coalition support it. Similarly, Swedish Prime Minister Ulif Kristersson relies on the votes of the increasingly Euroskeptic, anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats. Despite admitting defeat this time, Wilders pledged to continue his push to become prime minister in the future. “Don’t forget: I will still become Prime Minister of the Netherlands.

Persons: Geert Wilders, Wilders ’, “, Wilders, ” Wilders, ”, Mark Rutte, Pieter Omtzigt, sanitaire, Jean, Marie Le Pen, Marine, Lionel Jospin, Jacques Chirac, Petteri Orpo, Sanna Marin, Ulif Kristersson, Robert Fico, “ Don’t Organizations: CNN, Democracy Party, Social Contract Party, European Union, National, Socialist, Socialists, Finns Party, Swedish, Sweden Democrats, Georgia Meloni Locations: Netherlands, Europe, Ukraine, Finland, Sweden, Georgia, Italy, Slovakia

☆ Finland's Ex-PM Marin to Join Blair Think Tank, Leave Parliament
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Sept. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland's former Prime Minister Sanna Marin, who narrowly lost an election in April and stepped down from the leadership of her party last week, plans to leave parliament and join the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, she said on Thursday. Based on her new position, Marin is formally asking permission to resign from parliament, her centre-left Social Democrats party said. The London-based policy think tank is led by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. "I feel that this assignment is such that it will benefit the whole of Finland as well," Marin told reporters. Marin was the world's youngest prime minister when she took office in 2019 aged 34, attracting attention around the globe and helping lift Finland's profile at a turbulent time.

Persons: Sanna Marin, Tony Blair, Marin, Anne Kauranen, Terje Solsvik, Frances Kerry Organizations: Tony, Tony Blair Institute for Global, Social, British, NATO Locations: HELSINKI, London, Finland, COVID, Ukraine

☆ Finland's ex-PM Marin to join Blair think tank, leave parliament
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FILE PHOTO-Finland's Social Democrats Party Chair, former Prime Minister of Finland Sanna Marin waves from the stage before her resignation speech at the Party Congress of the Socialdemocrats of Finland in Jyvaskyla, Finland, September 1, 2023. Based on her new position, Marin is formally asking permission to resign from parliament, her centre-left Social Democrats party said. The London-based policy think tank is led by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. "I feel that this assignment is such that it will benefit the whole of Finland as well," Marin told reporters. Marin was the world's youngest prime minister when she took office in 2019 aged 34, attracting attention around the globe and helping lift Finland's profile at a turbulent time.

Persons: Marin, Ulander, Sanna Marin, Tony Blair, Anne Kauranen, Terje Solsvik, Frances Kerry Organizations: Finland's Social, Chair, Party Congress, REUTERS, Rights, Tony, Tony Blair Institute for Global, Social, British, NATO, Thomson Locations: Finland, Jyvaskyla, London, COVID, Ukraine

☆ Macau's government orders temporary closure of casinos
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Europe category · September 1, 2023Finland's former Prime Minister Sanna Marin, who narrowly lost an election in April, stepped down on Friday as chair of the centre-left Social Democrats, hoping to take the focus off her personal life after an often turbulent four years at the helm.

Persons: Sanna Marin Organizations: Social Democrats Locations: Europe

☆ Finland's Marin, once the world's youngest premier, steps down as party leader
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Essi Lehto | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Finland's Social Democrats Party Chair, former Prime Minister of Finland Sanna Marin waves from the stage before her resignation speech at the Party Congress of the Socialdemocrats of Finland in Jyvaskyla, Finland, September 1, 2023. Marin, who had announced her intention to quit soon after the election loss, was the world's youngest prime minister when she took the post in 2019 aged 34, attracting attention around the globe and helping lift Finland's profile. After her election loss, Marin said she looked forward to a quieter life and later also announced a divorce from her husband. Entering the stage on Friday to the beat of Aretha Franklin's "Respect", Marin thanked her party for its support. She was due to formally hand over the reins later on Friday after the Social Democrats elect a new leader.

Persons: Marin, Ulander, Sanna Marin, succesfully, Aretha Franklin's, Essi, Terje Solsvik, Frances Kerry Organizations: Finland's Social, Chair, Party Congress, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Social Democrats, NATO, Vogue, Time, National Coalition, Finns, Thomson Locations: Finland, Jyvaskyla, COVID, Ukraine, Russia, U.S

Joe Biden, 80, is the oldest U.S. president to ever serve in the White House, and nearly two decades older than the median age of the world's national leaders, 62, Pew Research found. Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, 89, Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, 89, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, 81, are older than McConnell. Many congressional lawmakers are in their 70s, and the median age of the Senate is 65.3, FiveThirtyEight calculated, the oldest ever, versus a median age of 38.8 years in the United States as a whole. Reuters GraphicsBiden's advanced age has raised questions about whether he should stand for a second term. Biden doesn't make the top 10 of the world's oldest currently serving leaders, according to Pew, which in addition to Biya is led by Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, at age 87.

Persons: Mitch McConnell's, Joe Biden, Biden, Paul Biya of, Gabriel Boric, Sanna Marin, McConnell, McConnell's, Chuck Grassley, Dianne Feinstein, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, Biden doesn't, Biya, Mahmoud Abbas, Steve Holland, Heather Timmons, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: Republican, Pew Research, U.S . Congress, Capitol, Democratic, U.S . Senate, Interparlimentary, Reuters Graphics, Pew, Palestinian Authority, Thomson Locations: U.S, Paul Biya of Cameroon, Chilean, Iowa, California, Vermont, United States, Japan, Italy, Greece

Persons: Mitch McConnell's, Joe Biden, Biden, Paul Biya of, Gabriel Boric, Sanna Marin, McConnell, Chuck Grassley, Dianne Feinstein, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, Biden doesn't, Biya, Mahmoud Abbas, Steve Holland, Heather Timmons, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: Republican, Pew Research, U.S . Congress, Capitol, Democratic, U.S . Senate, Interparlimentary, Reuters Graphics, Pew, Palestinian Authority, Thomson Locations: U.S, Paul Biya of Cameroon, Chilean, Iowa, California, Vermont, United States, Japan, Italy, Greece

☆ Why are far-right parties on the march across Europe?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

Far-right parties are propping up coalitions in Finland and Sweden. Afraid of losing voters to UKIP (and other far-right parties), the governing Conservatives ended up adopting many of its positions. Chesnot/Getty Images Europe/Getty ImagesConversely, far-right parties have attempted to sanitize some of their rhetoric, hoping to appear a more credible electoral prospect. Leon Neal/Getty ImagesA different type of populismAnd so the recent successes of far-right parties cannot be explained by dramatic shifts in public opinion. A lot depends on the ability of mainstream parties – particularly on the left – to build tents big enough to accommodate their differences, rather than compromising with far-right parties to prop up their coalitions.

Persons: Donald Trump, –, Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel’s, Mario Draghi, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Viktor Orban, Andrej Babis, Czech Michael Bloomberg, Czech Donald Trump, Meloni, Mussolini, Nigel Farage, Jack Taylor, Farage, Jean, Marie Le Pen, Marine, Lionel Jospin, Jacques Chirac, Petteri Orpo, Sanna Marin, Vilhelm Junnila, Ulif Kristersson, Mark Rutte’s, Pen, Chesnot, Philippe Marlier, ” Le, Matteo Salvini, Vladimir Putin, Tino Chrupalla, Alice Weidel, Thomas Lohnes, Omer Messinger, Larry Bartels, Boris Johnson, Leon Neal, Giorgia Meloni, Odd Andersen, Orban, Kaczynski, Rutte’s, Pedro Sanchez Organizations: CNN, White, Channel, European Central Bank, Italy’s, Vox, UK Independence Party, UKIP, European Union, EU, Conservatives, National, Socialist, Socialists, Finns Party, Swedish, Sweden Democrats, Rassemblement National, University College London, Lega, Ukraine, Russia, Former British, Italy's, NATO, Getty, Spain’s Locations: United Kingdom, United States, Europe, Brussels, Spain, Poland, Hungary, Germany, Czech, France, Finland, Sweden, Austria, European, Netherlands, Russian, Oxfordshire, Vilnius

☆ Finland's parliament backs Petteri Orpo as PM, replacing Sanna Marin
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] National Coalition Party chair PM-designate Petteri Orpo speaks to the media, on the day of a press conference, where the four-party cabinet released the details of the governing agenda, in Helsinki, Finland, June 16, 2023. Lehtikuva/Kimmo Penttinen via REUTERSHELSINKI, June 20 (Reuters) - Finland's newly elected parliament on Tuesday voted in favour of National Coalition Party leader Petteri Orpo to become prime minister, as widely expected, ushering in a right-wing government and ending Social Democrat Sanna Marin's rule. The new finance minister will be Riikka Purra, head of the eurosceptic Finns Party, while the NCP's deputy leader Elina Valtonen will become foreign minister when the government takes office later on Tuesday. "I warmly thank you for the confidence you've shown me," Orpo told parliament shortly after the vote. A self-styled fiscal conservative, Orpo campaigned on a promise to reduce the government's budget deficit by cutting spending while also reducing taxes and seeking to boost private sector job creation.

Persons: Petteri Orpo, Penttinen, Sanna, Elina Valtonen, Orpo, Essi Lehto, Terje Solsvik Organizations: National Coalition Party, REUTERS, NCP, Finns, Swedish People's Party, Christian Democrats, eurosceptic Finns Party, Finns Party, Thomson Locations: Helsinki, Finland, REUTERS HELSINKI

☆ Conservatives Poised to Lead Finland in Coalition with Hard Right
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Emma Bubola | Johanna Lemola | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Finland’s main conservative party announced a new coalition government on Friday after weeks of negotiations, in a deal that moves the country firmly to the right and follows a pattern of similar political shifts elsewhere in Europe. Petteri Orpo, leader of the center-right National Coalition Party, would become prime minister under the coalition, which includes the right-wing nationalist Finns Party. “Finland needs change,” Mr. Orpo said at a news conference on Friday. “Our prosperity is hanging in the balance.”Assuming the coalition is approved when lawmakers vote on the prime minister in Parliament, probably next week, it will leave in opposition the more liberal Social Democratic Party led by the former prime minister Sanna Marin, who became a political rock star during her tenure. The new government is expected to introduce an era of financial belt-tightening and stricter immigration policies.

Persons: Petteri Orpo, Mr, Orpo, Sanna Marin Organizations: National Coalition Party, Finns Party, Social Democratic Party Locations: Europe, Finland

☆ Finland prime minister divorces husband
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

HELSINKI, May 10 (Reuters) - Finland's outgoing Prime Minister Sanna Marin has filed for divorce jointly with her husband of three years Markus Raikkonen, they said on Instagram on Wednesday. Marin and Raikkonen, who until recently worked at a venture capital firm, share a 5-year-old daughter. They married in 2020 while Marin was in office dealing with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Marin and her Social Democratic Party lost Finland's election for parliament last month, trailing the right-wing National Coalition Party as well as the nationalist Finns Party. Marin, 37, the world's youngest prime minister when she took office in 2019, is considered by fans around the globe as a millennial role model for progressive new leaders, even as voters at home opted for a new government.

☆ Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin and husband file for divorce
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Jack Guy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin and her husband, Markus Räikkönen, are to divorce after 19 years together, Marin announced on Instagram on Wednesday. Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin and Markus Räikkönen in an official wedding photo Minttu Saarni/Lehtikuva/Reuters“We are still best friends, cool to each other and loving parents. Marin and Räikkönen, a businessman and former professional footballer, were married in 2020, according to Finland’s public broadcaster, YLE. She is currently serving as caretaker prime minister until a new coalition government can be formed. She then became the world’s youngest prime minister when she took office in 2019 at the age 34.

☆ Finland's Marin steps down as party leader
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/6] Social Democratic Party SDP Chair and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin meets media at the Parliament in Helsinki, Finland on April 5, 2023. Lehtikuva/Heikki Saukkomaa via REUTERSHELSINKI, April 5 (Reuters) - Finland's outgoing Prime Minister Sanna Marin is stepping down as leader of the Social Democratic party, she said on Wednesday, adding she will serve as a regular lawmaker in the newly elected parliament from next week. "I will start my work as member of parliament next week and I hope I can also lead a calmer life," Marin told a news conference, adding she would not run for president. Marin sought another term as Finland's leader in last Sunday's election but her party came third behind the right-wing National Coalition and the Finns parties. Reporting by Essi Lehto, editing by Louise Rasmussen and John StonestreetOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Finnish centre-right eyes coalition talks as defeated Marin considers future
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Anne Kauranen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Finland's Prime Minister and Social Democrats leader Sanna Marin speaks during a news conference at the parliament on the day of the parliamentary elections, in Helsinki, Finland April 2, 2023. REUTERS/Essi LehtoHELSINKI, April 3 (Reuters) - Outgoing Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin was left to consider her future after she conceded defeat in a tight parliamentary election on Sunday that handed her centre-right rival Petteri Orpo the right to try and form a coalition. Despite gaining three seats, Marin's left wing Social Democratic Party (SDP) came third with 43 of parliament's 200 seats behind Orpo's centre-right National Coalition Party with 48 seats and the nationalist Finns on 46. In turn, Marin's Social Democrats rallied voters to support them in their defence of the Nordic welfare model of cradle-to-grave services from free education and affordable healthcare to decent pensions, against Orpo's spending cuts. During Marin's time as prime minister, Finland faced coronavirus lockdowns, the energy crisis and soaring consumer price inflation, and the country is expected to undergo a mild recession this year.

☆ Finland's Sanna Marin, a global progressive icon, loses out on second term after right-wing surge
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Marin entered office as the world's youngest serving prime minister in 2019 at the age of 34. Marin entered office as the world's youngest serving prime minister in 2019 at the age of 34. However, after just one term as prime minister, Marin was pushed into third place by her right-wing political rivals. "Congratulations also to the other winners of the elections, congratulations to the Coalition Party and congratulations to the Finns Party. However, Finland's main conservative National Coalition Party, led by Petteri Orpo, came out on top with 20.8% of the vote, while the right-wing Finns Party received a record 20.1% share of the vote.

☆ Sanna Marin Faces Tight Election as Finland Prepares to Join NATO
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Sune Engel Rasmussen | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Finns are voting in an election Sunday that could determine whether Prime Minister Sanna Marin will lead the country as it enters NATO in a few days’ time, after a campaign dominated by the economic and security aftershocks of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Though the outcome won’t affect Finland’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which marks a new course for the country after decades of nonalignment, polls indicate a tight race that could unseat Ms. Marin, who has gained international fame for her feminist politics. Given that no party is large enough to command a majority without governing partners, Finland may be headed into lengthy negotiations to form a ruling coalition.

☆ Finland’s Sanna Marin Defeated in Election Ahead of NATO Ascension
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Sune Engel Rasmussen | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin suffered defeat in Sunday’s general election, days before the country was set to enter NATO, after a campaign dominated by the economic and security aftershocks of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Petteri Orpo , the leader of the center-right National Coalition Party, claimed election victory and was projected to gain about 20.8% with nearly all the votes counted. Ms. Marin’s Social Democratic Party came third with 19.9% of the vote, narrowly behind the right-wing populist Finns Party gaining 20%, in its best result to date.

☆ Factbox: Petteri Orpo, Finland's likely next prime minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

HELSINKI, April 2 (Reuters) - Here is a profile of Finland's conservative National Coalition Party leader Petteri Orpo, who said he would have the first chance of forming a coalition government after his party looked set to win the most seats in parliament in Sunday's election. FISCAL CONSERVATIVEBorn in 1969 in rural south-west Finland, the 53-year-old Orpo has a university degree in political science. He has been a member of parliament since 2007 and became head of the National Coalition in 2016 after challenging his predecessor Alexander Stubb, a former prime minister, for the party leadership. Considered a moderate and a smooth negotiator, Orpo has held several government posts, including as minister of agriculture and forestry from 2014 to 2015, interior minister from 2015 to 2016 and finance minister from 2016 to 2019. Married and with two children, he is also a reserve officer in Finland's national defence force.

☆ Factbox: Finland's outgoing Prime Minister Sanna Marin
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Finland's Prime Minister and Social Democrats leader Sanna Marin speaks at the party's parliamentary election event in Helsinki, Finland April 2, 2023. Lehtikuva/Emmi Korhonen via REUTERSHELSINKI, April 2 (Reuters) - Here is a profile of Finland's outgoing Prime Minister Sanna Marin, whose left-wing Social Democrats lost a parliamentary election on Sunday, although they might still join the next coalition with election winner the National Coalition Party. Born in 1985 in Helsinki, she grew up near Finland's south-western industrial hub of Tampere with her mother and her mother's girlfriend. Only six months in, then-party chair Antti Rinne was forced to resign over his handling of labour strikes, and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) chose Marin to replace him as prime minister. Marin soon found herself managing Finland's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and then Europe's energy crunch caused by neighbouring Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

With no party seen as holding a decisive lead the election is likely to be followed lengthy coalition talks, although whichever party wins on Sunday will have the first attempt at forming a government. Opinion polls show her Social Democrats, the biggest party in the outgoing coalition government, in a dead heat with the rightist National Coalition Party and the nationalist Finns Party, with all three seen winning some 18.7-19.8% of ballots. It has promised to curb spending and stop the rise of public debt, which has reached just over 70% of GDP since Marin took office in 2019. "It's been going on for 30 years - more debt, debt, debt - and good services, fine, but on borrowed money." The Finns Party, too, calls for austerity but its main goal is to reduce what its leader Riikka Purra has called "harmful" immigration from developing countries outside the European Union.

☆ Finland's Marin in battle over state spending to stay in power
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Anne Kauranen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Marin says spending on education and health services is key to securing economic growth. Her rivals, Petteri Orpo of the right-wing National Coalition Party and Riikka Purra of the nationalist Finns Party, are calling for fiscal austerity to restore government finances. Marin's Social Democrats believe economic growth will help Finland stop accruing more debt and, if need be, prefer raising taxes over spending cuts. Marin has rejected forming a government with the Finns Party, calling it "openly racist" during a debate in January - an accusation Purra sternly rejected. Her party would also push back Finland's carbon neutrality target which Marin's ruling coalition set for 2035.

☆ Turkish parliament ratifies Finland's NATO accession as Sweden kept waiting
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Turkish parliament was the last among the 30 members of the alliance to ratify Finland's membership after Hungary's legislature approved a similar bill earlier this week. Finland and Sweden asked to join NATO last year in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "NATO membership will strengthen Finland's security and improve stability and security in the Baltic Sea region and Northern Europe," the Finnish government said in a statement following the Turkish parliament vote. Twe Turkish parliament's ratification of Finland's NATO membership is set to be approved by President Tayyip Erdogan and then published in the country's Official Gazette. When Finland's instrument of accession document reaches the U.S. State Department, the Nordic country will formally become a NATO member.

☆ President Zelenskyy among large crowds mourning 'Da Vinci,' a celebrated 27-year-old battalion commander killed near Bakhmut
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy attended the funeral of a celebrated soldier who was killed earlier this week. Dmytro Kotsiubailo's call sign was "Da Vinci," and he was 27 years old when he died. Kotsiubailo's call sign was "Da Vinci" — as the soldier gave up on his dream of becoming an artist to fight for Ukraine, according to NPR. He led a battalion called the "Da Vinci Wolves." "I handed over to Oksana Kotsiubailo, Da Vinci's mother, the Cross of Military Merit, which her son was posthumously awarded.

☆ Russia's war in Ukraine backfired by uniting NATO, even as cracks emerged over nearly a year of fighting
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Jake Epstein | John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

When Putin invaded Ukraine, he miscalculated the response from Western countries. NATO has been largely united in its response to Russia's war, consistently providing Kyiv with military aid. Russian President Vladimir Putin has effectively succeeded in remaking the Western bloc, Araud said, adding that "the Western alliance is back." After the Soviet Union collapsed, both Finland and Sweden became NATO partner countries but stopped short of pursuing full membership. Even under the intense pressure of war, the alliance is "holding the way that they have in the past," he said.

☆ New Zealand's Ardern leaves legacy of kindness, disappointments
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Praveen Menon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"Be strong, be kind," New Zealand's youngest prime minister in more than a century repeated through her eventful tenure, but her empathetic leadership and crisis management skills often masked her government's shortcomings. Ardern made global headlines in 2020, presiding over New Zealand's most diverse parliament, with more than half the members women and the highest number of indigenous Maori lawmakers. Ardern said it was "totally unacceptable in 2017 to say that women should have to answer that question in the workplace". Less than three months later, Ardern brought the baby, Neve Te Aroha, to the U.N. General Assembly in New York. “I wonder whether or not anyone ever asked Barack Obama and John Key if they met because they were of similar age,” Ardern said, in reference to the former U.S. president and New Zealand prime minister.

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