Finland’s new Prime Minister Petteri Orpo – who is he?

Orpo, 53, was born in 1969 in a rural area in southwestern Finland. He has a degree in political science and has been an MP since 2007. Orpo took over the leadership of the National Coalition Party in 2016 after challenging his predecessor Alexander Stubb, Finnish Prime Minister in 2014-2015.
Colleagues consider Orpo reserved, able to negotiate. He held several government positions. These include of Minister of Agriculture and Forestry from 2014 to 2015, Minister of Interior from 2015-2016 and Minister of Finance from 2016 to 2019. As Minister of Interior , he managed the migrant crisis in Europe in 2015, when the number of refugees arriving in the country increased tenfold. Reuters .On his party’s campaign platform, Orpo promised to cut spending on unemployment benefits and other social protection programs. The objective of the initiative is to reduce the budget deficit and reduce taxes.The program also outlines a course towards abandoning Russian fossil fuels. Finland will promote solar and wind energy. Moreover, Orpo insists on the construction of a barrier fence on the border between Finland and Russia (the two points are missing in the Russian version of the program presented on the official party site).Petteri Orpo has the heavy task of forming a government. A coalition with the Social Democrats led by Sanna Marin may not be possible given the parties’ radically divergent views on public finances and the need to cut public spending. The “True Finns” party may be the preferred option. However, she advocates a Finnish exit from the EU and a reduction in labor immigration, which could be a stumbling block for the new Prime Minister.