The politics of Finland take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy. Finland is a republic whose head of state is President Alexander Stubb, who leads the nation's foreign policy and is the supreme commander of the Finnish Defence Forces. Finland's head of government is Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, who leads the nation's executive branch, called the Finnish Government. Legislative power is vested in the Parliament of Finland, and the Government has limited rights to amend or extend legislation. The Constitution of Finland vests power to both the President and Government: the President has veto power over parliamentary decisions, although this power can be overruled by a majority vote in the Parliament.
Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior ministers. In the United Kingdom and several other Commonwealth countries, "minister of state" is a junior rank subordinate to ministers of higher rank. In Brazil and Japan, all ministers of cabinet rank hold the title, while in Australia "minister of state" is the designation applied to all government ministers regardless of rank.
The Finns Party, formerly known as the True Finns, is a right-wing populist political party in Finland. It was founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party.
Otto Wilhelm "Wille" Kuusinen was a Finnish-born Soviet communist and, later, Soviet politician, literary historian, and poet who, after the defeat of the Reds in the Finnish Civil War, fled to the Soviet Union, where he worked until his death. He briefly led the so-called Finnish Democratic Republic before serving as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Karelo-Finnish SSR.
The University of Turku is a multidisciplinary public university with eight faculties located in the city of Turku in southwestern Finland. The university also has campuses in Rauma and Pori and research stations in Kevo and Själö.
A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the 'prime minister', 'premier', 'chief minister', 'chancellor' or other title.
The Finnish Government is the executive branch and cabinet of Finland, which directs the politics of Finland and is the main source of legislation proposed to the Parliament. The Government has collective ministerial responsibility and represents Finland in the Council of the European Union. In the incumbent Orpo Cabinet, the Government comprises 19 ministers leading 12 ministries.
The Minister of Finance is one of the Finnish Government's ministers. The Minister of Finance is responsible for maintaining Finland's fiscal policies and oversees the Ministry of Finance. The Orpo Cabinet's incumbent Minister of Finance is Riikka Purra.
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs (MFA) is a ministry in the Finnish Government and is responsible for preparing and implementing the government's foreign policy.
The Deputy Prime Minister of Finland, officially titled the Minister deputising for the Prime Minister, is a member of the Finnish Government who becomes the acting Prime Minister if the Prime Minister becomes unable to discharge their duties. The Deputy Prime Minister is appointed by the Government and traditionally comes from the second largest party of a coalition government. They have often been the Minister of Finance as well. The current Deputy Prime Minister of Finland is Riikka Purra.
Hanna-Riikka Sallinen is a Finnish retired ice hockey, bandy, rinkball, and pesäpallo player. She is one of the most highly decorated players to have ever competed in international ice hockey.
The Ministry of Finance is one of the 12 ministries which comprise the Finnish Government. The FM prepares the Government's economic and financial policy as well as the state budget, and acts as a tax policy expert. The ministry indirectly employs about 12,000 people through its administrative branch. About 360 people are employed by the ministry itself.
The title secretary of state or state's secretary is commonly used for senior or mid-level posts in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple secretaries of state in the country's system of governing the country.
A 2011 poll showed that 66% of Finnish respondents considered Finland to be a racist country but only 14% admitted to being racist themselves. Minority groups facing the most negative attitudes were Finnish Kale, Somalis, and ethnic groups mostly consisting of Muslims. Many Finnish people believe that Finns played little or no role in colonialism, a view known as "Finnish exceptionalism". However, Finns did settle while not an independent people the Sámi land and in the north and were involved in European colonial projects in Africa and North America. Finns at the time were subjects of Sweden and later the Russian Empire, which has been used to excuse their participation in colonialism.
Antti Petteri Orpo is a Finnish politician currently serving as the prime minister of Finland since 2023 and as the leader of the National Coalition Party since 2016. He briefly served as speaker of the Parliament of Finland after the 2023 parliamentary election.
Sanna Mirella Marin is a Finnish former politician who served as prime minister of Finland from 2019 to 2023 and as the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP) from 2020 to 2023. She was a Member of Parliament from 2015 to 2023. She was re-elected as member of parliament in April 2023 but resigned to become a strategic adviser on political leaders' reform programmes in the Tony Blair Institute in September 2023.
Sakari Rainer Puisto is a Finnish politician. He was a candidate of the Finns Party in European Parliament elections in 2014 and in parliamentary elections in 2015 and 2019. In spring 2015, he participated in the government negotiations. He worked as a Senior Adviser to former Minister of Employment Jari Lindström in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland. During this time, he especially focused on the asylum seeker crisis as well as education and innovation policy, in addition to economic affairs and employment policy. In 2019, he was a candidate of the Finns Party in Pirkanmaa constituency and was elected to the Parliament.
Riikka Katriina Purra is a Finnish politician, serving as the Deputy Prime Minister of Finland, and Finance Minister, since 2023. She is also a member of the Parliament of Finland for the Finns Party for the Uusimaa constituency. In August 2021 she was elected the new leader of the party, after Jussi Halla-aho.
The Riikka Nieminen Award is an ice hockey trophy, seasonally awarded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association to the Naisten Liiga Player of the Year. It is named after Riikka Sallinen, now retired, who is widely considered the best European women’s ice hockey player to ever compete internationally.
The Orpo Cabinet is the 77th government of Finland. It was formed following the 2023 Finnish parliamentary election and succeeds the Marin Cabinet led by the Social Democrats and was formally appointed by President Sauli Niinistö on 20 June 2023. The cabinet is headed by Petteri Orpo and is a coalition between the National Coalition Party, Finns Party, the Swedish People's Party, and the Christian Democrats.
