Sauli Niinisto President of Finland Date of Birth: 24.08.1948 Country: Finland

Biography of Sauli Niinistö

Sauli Niinistö became the President of Finland on March 1, 2012. Prior to his career in national politics, Niinistö, a lawyer by profession, led his own law firm in his hometown. He served in the municipal council of Salo from 1977 to 1992 and was elected as a member of the Finnish Parliament in 1987.

In 1994, Niinistö became the leader of the National Coalition Party and a year later, he was appointed as the Minister of Justice in Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen's cabinet. He also held the position of Minister of Finance from 1996 to 2003. In 2007, Niinistö became the Speaker of the Parliament and was elected as the honorary president of the European People's Party.

In his personal life, Niinistö faced a tragedy in the mid-1990s when his first wife, Marja-Leena Niinistö, died in a car accident. He later remarried in 2009 to Jenni Haukio, who is 29 years younger than him. There were rumors of a romantic relationship between Niinistö and Tanja Karpela, the former Miss Finland and Minister of Culture, but their engagement was called off in 2004.

Niinistö first ran for the presidency in 2006 but narrowly lost to Tarja Halonen. In the 2012 presidential elections, he secured a decisive victory with 62.6% of the votes in the second round. One of his opponents, Pekka Haavisto, made headlines as the first openly gay candidate for the Finnish presidency.

As the 12th President of Finland, Niinistö prioritized developing relations with Russia for the benefit of both countries. He expressed satisfaction with the current state of relations and aimed to further enhance them. Niinistö also survived the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake while vacationing in Thailand, safely climbing a tree with his son, Matias.

With his inauguration on March 1, 2012, Niinistö became the wealthiest candidate in the presidential race, owning shares worth approximately 1.5 million euros.