Minister of Foreign Affairs
What position did Timo Soini take in May 2017?
Timo Soini Timo Juhani Soini ( born 30 May 1962 ) is a Finnish politician who is the co-founder and former leader of the Finns Party . He served as Deputy Prime Minister of Finland from 2015 to 2017 and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2015 to 2019 . He was elected as a member of the Espoo city council in 2000 and the Parliament of Finland in 2003 . In the 2009 European Parliament election he won a seat in the European Parliament with Finlands highest personal vote share ( nearly 10% of all votes ) , becoming the first member of the Finns Party in the European Parliament . He was a member of the European Parliament from 2009 until 2011 , when he returned to the Finnish Parliament . In the 2011 parliamentary election , his party won 19.1% of the votes , which was described as shocking and exceptional by the Finnish media . Soini himself won the most votes of all candidates , leaving behind the Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb and the Minister of Finance Jyrki Katainen in their Uusimaa electoral district . Helsingin Sanomat concluded that Timo Soini rewrote the electoral history books . Soini has become one of the internationally best-known critics of European Union bailouts and safety mechanisms . Following the 2015 parliamentary election , his party joined a coalition government and Soini became Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in May 2015 . In March 2017 Soini announced that he would step down as Chair of the Finns Party in June 2017 , causing a hotly contested leadership election . After the selection of Jussi Halla-aho as new party chairman – prompting a break between Prime Minister Juha Sipilä and the Finns Party – Soini declared his intention to form a new parliamentary group and remain in the government , causing a split in the party . Soini was subsequently expelled from the party along with the other defector MPs . Soini did not take part in the 2019 parliamentary election and announced soon after the election that he was leaving politics behind . Family and personal background . Timo Soini worked for the food company Linkosuo Oy for two summers in 1981 and 1982 and was Secretary-General and Chairman of the Kehittyvän Suomen Nuorten Liitto ( Youth league of developing Finland ) from 1983 to 1992 . He graduated with a Master of Political Science from the University of Helsinki in 1988 , majoring in political theory . His military rank is Corporal . He is a devout Roman Catholic , which he became as a result of his experiences on his many trips to Ireland ( in Finland the Catholic Church is a small minority church having merely 11 000 members ) . He was also influenced by the popes anti-communism and anti-atheism . Soini has also publicly announced that he is a cordial friend of the state of Israel . According to the BBC , Soini is a die-hard supporter of English football club Millwall FC . Soini currently lives in the Kaitaa district of Espoo , in the Greater Helsinki area , and he has resided in the same apartment block since 1968 . He is married and has two children . Political career . Soini was a member of the Finnish Rural Party , and was its Secretary-General from 1992 . After the Rural Party dissolved following the March 1995 elections , Soini and two others filed paperwork , in mid-May 1995 , to create a new political party , initially to be called the Pure Finnish Association . It was , instead , founded as the True Finns Party ( later the Finns Party ) and two years later Soini succeeded Raimo Vistbacka as Chairman , a position he has held ever since . He ran for a seat in parliament in the spring 1999 elections but lost . He was first elected to the parliament in 2003 . Soini was his partys candidate in the 2006 Presidential election , finishing fifth out of the eight candidates in the first round , with a vote share of 3.4% . In March 2008 , Soini wrote an autobiographical book called Maisterisjätkä , published by Tammi . In 2011 he visited the party conference of UKIP , the British political party with which he has had a long friendship . He was also invited to speak at the UK Conservative Party Conference in 2011 and again spoke at the UKIP National Conference 2013 in London on 20 September . 2011 parliamentary election . The Finns Party obtained 39 seats in the 2011 election , making them the third-largest party . Soini received 43 437 personal votes ( 1.5% of all votes ) , the highest amount of all of the candidates . Soini managed to raise the popularity of the party from 4.1% to 19.1% in four years . Helsingin Sanomat opined in an editorial that Soini rewrote the electoral history books . According to the BBC , behind Soinis success was brain , wit and charisma . A university professor and a political analyst , Mr . Jan Sundberg , pointed to Soinis oratorical skills and ability to appeal to common people and make complicated things look easy . The election result was also referred to as shocking and exceptional . During the government negotiations following the election the Finns Party decided against participating in Katainens coalition cabinet , citing greatly differing stances on the EU , especially regarding bailouts for debt-ridden euro countries . 2015 parliamentary election . The Finns Party obtained 38 seats in the 2015 election , becoming second biggest party after Center Party . Coalition negotiations began on 8 May between Center Party , Finns Party and National Coalition Party . Soini joined the government as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs . Positions held . His curriculum vitae on the European Parliament webpage and the Finnish Parliament webpage list the following : - Pre-university school-leaving certificate ( 1981 ) - Master of Political Science ( 1988 ) - Youth League of Developing Finland , special correspondent of Suomen Uutiset ( 1983–89 ) - Vice-Chair , Finnish Rural Party ( 1989–92 ) - Party Secretary , Finnish Rural Party ( 1992–95 ) - Chair , The Finns Party ( 1997–present ) - Member of the Finnish Parliament ( 2003–2009 , 2011–2019 ) - Member of the European Parliament ( 2009–2011 ) - Member of Espoo City Council ( since 2001 ) - Member of Espoo City Board ( 2007–08 ) - Member , Legal Affairs Committee of the Finnish Parliament ( 2003–07 ) ; substitute member , Grand Committee of the Finnish Parliament ( 2003–07 ) ; member , Grand Committee of the Finnish Parliament ( 2007–09 ) ; substitute member , Legal Affairs Committee of the Finnish Parliament ( 2007–09 ) - Chair , Foreign Affairs Committee of the Finnish Parliament ( 2011–2015 ) ; substitute member , Grand Committee of the Finnish Parliament ( 2011–2015 ) - Deputy Prime Minister ( 2015–2017 ) - Minister for Foreign Affairs ( 2015–2019 ) Relationship with the United States . He has frequently visited the United States and received invitations to several establishment meetings , such as National Prayer Breakfast hosted by President Barack Obama . He has also commented on European affairs in the American conservative media , for example on Fox News.<ref Sanomat 11/2011>Helsingin Sanomat , 4 November 2011 , Soini esitteli Kreikka-kantojaan Fox Newsin haastattelussa</ref> In Finland Soini has also been seen hosting senior American politicians , such as the conservative former presidential candidate Michele Bachmann on April 2014 . Views . Climate change . In January 2011 Soini called for Finland to quit all international climate change agreements . According to him , emission trading is a major financial crime in Europe . The European Union Emission Trading Scheme was introduced in 2005 . Soini wanted to cancel all recent additions to the energy and environmental taxes . He used the expression : Green taxes are like shooting yourself in the foot . Soini was criticised for acting as a brake on climate change solutions by MP Oras Tynkkynen , a Green focusing on climate policy , and for calling Finland the North Korea of climate policy by MP Miapetra Kumpula-Natri , a Social Democrat . According to Timo Soini , he worked on the partys climate policy program for one and a half years . The published program was copied almost word by word from a year old document of the Metal Union written by Matti Putkonen , a former Metal Union employee now working for the Finns Party . Religion . Timo Soini is a practising Catholic . His views on religious and moral issues include opposition to abortion , homosexuality and the ordination of women as priests . Soini converted to Roman Catholicism from Lutheranism in 1988 . Abortion . In May 2018 , Soini , as a Catholic , criticized the Irish abortion referendum , despite the Sipilä Cabinet and the official position of the Finnish government to support abortion rights .