Elina Valtonen Explained

Elina Valtonen
Office1:Member of the Finnish Parliament
for Helsinki
Party:National Coalition Party
Office:Minister for Foreign Affairs
Term Start:20 June 2023
Predecessor:Pekka Haavisto
Primeminister:Petteri Orpo
Birth Name:Elina Maria Valtonen
Birth Place:Helsinki, Finland
Birth Date:23 October 1981
Term Start1:4 July 2014
Residence:Espoo
Caption:Valtonen in 2023

(formerly ; born 23 October 1981)[1] is a Finnish politician who has served as Minister for Foreign Affairs under Prime Minister Petteri Orpo since 2023. A member of the National Coalition Party (NCP), she has represented the constituency of Uusimaa in the Parliament of Finland since 2014.[2] In the 2021 municipal election she collected the second-highest number of votes in Helsinki and was elected a member of its city council.[3]

Early life

As a child, Valtonen lived with her family in Bonn, West Germany; she completed A-levels (Reifeprüfung diploma) at the Deutsche Schule Helsinki.

Education

Valtonen holds a master's degree in both technology and financial economics from the Helsinki University of Technology and Helsinki School of Economics.[2] She is an shareholder in several technology start-ups;[4] she chaired the board of the pro free-market think tank, Libera, from 2015 to 2021.[5]

Career

Prior to entering politics in 2014, Valtonen spent 10 years in investment banking, as a director at Royal Bank of Scotland and as a senior analyst at Nordea.[6] She has developed a model for transforming the welfare state into a digital sharing economy, called the Life Account.[7] In 2018, she participated in a Bilderberg Meeting in Turin.

In April 2016, Valtonen announced her candidacy for the leadership of the National Coalition Party. In the first round of the leadership election on 11 June 2016 she received 15% of the vote and thus failed to be elected.[8] In September 2020, Valtonen was elected as a new deputy chair of the National Coalition Party.[9]

In the parliamentary elections of 2023, Valtonen raised the largest election campaign budget, 179,000 euros.[10] Her biggest funders were Chaim Poju Zabludowicz and Björn Wahlroos.[11] [12] In June 2023, she was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Orpo Cabinet.[13] In January 2024, 79 Finnish diplomats signed a letter to Valtonen, criticising the official response to the Israeli attacks on Gaza.[14]

Writing

Valtonen has co-authored several reports on economics and the society such as "The Future of the Euro – The alternatives for Finland" (2014) and "The Life Account – A Social Security Reform" (2013). In 2018, she published her book (Victory of Freedom, Otava), on how to reform the Nordic welfare model and the European Union.

Other activities

Personal life

In September 2020, Valtonen filed for divorce from Jukka Lepomäki; in April 2021 she announced that she had changed her surname back to her maiden name.[16] Valtonen and Lepomäki had two children together.

Honours

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/ministers/-/min/orpo/minister-for-foreign-affairs Minister for Foreign Affairs
  2. Web site: Elina Lepomäki. Parliament of Finland.
  3. Web site: Municipal election 2021 Result service. live. 9 January 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20210613224733/https://vaalit.yle.fi/kv2021/en/regions/1/municipalities/91 . 13 June 2021 .
  4. https://www.nordicbankingforum.com/speakers/elina-valtonen Elina Valtonen
  5. Web site: Mikä Libera?. Libera.
  6. https://yle.fi/a/3-12129151 "NCP MP had €100k offshore in 2014, denies wrongdoing"
  7. Web site: The Finnish model of welfare for the digital age. 17 March 2016. subscription. Financial Times.
  8. Web site: Stubb and Orpo fight in the second round - Orpo only needs 11 votes to win. Yle News. 11 June 2016.
  9. News: Häkkänen, Lepomäki and Ikonen become vice-chairs of the Coalition Party. Yle. 9 January 2022. 6 September 2020.
  10. Web site: 2023-08-20 . Ulkoministeri Elina Valtosen vaalirahoitus ilmoitettu yli 40 000 euroa liian pieneksi, HS kertoo – onkin eduskuntavaalien suurin . 2023-12-19 . Yle Uutiset . fi.
  11. Web site: Miljonäärit tukivat ehdokkaita avokätisesti kevään vaaleissa – Nämä kansanedustajat saivat "Nallelta" täydet 6 000 euroa . 2023-12-19 . www.iltalehti.fi . fi.
  12. Web site: Waris . Olli . 2023-06-06 . Kokoomuksen Valtosella yli 136 000 euron kampanja – sai Wahlroosilta ja Zabludowiczilta 6 000 euroa . 2023-12-19 . Ilta-Sanomat . fi.
  13. Web site: Prime Minister Orpo's Government appointed . 20 June 2023 . Valtioneuvosto.
  14. News: Finnish diplomats urge foreign minister to reconsider Finland’s stance on Gaza conflict . Helsinki Times . 13 January 2024.
  15. https://ecfr.eu/council/ Members
  16. Web site: 25 April 2021 . Elina Lepomäki vaihtoi sukunimeään . Ilta-Sanomat.
  17. Web site: Ruotsalainen tyyliasiantuntija HS:lle: "Suzanne Innes-Stubbin puku korkeaa Hollywood-tasoa" . . 2024-04-23 . fi . 2024-04-27.