Paavo Väyrynen

Paavo Väyrynen (2017)

Paavo Matti Väyrynen (born September 2, 1946 in Kemi ) is a Finnish politician of the Center Party . In 1988, 1994 and 2012 he was the Center’s candidate for the office of President. In the presidential election in 2018 , he ran as an independent candidate. Before that, he held several ministerial posts, including that of Foreign Minister and Foreign Trade and Development Minister in Matti Vanhanen 's second cabinet. He was a member of the European Parliament for three terms .

Origin and education

Paavo Väyrynen was born in 1946 in Kemi in Lapland , the son of the farmer Juho Eemeli Väyrynen and his wife Anna-Liisa Kaijankoski . After high school he moved to Helsinki to attend the local university political science to study. In 1970 he took his bachelor's degree. Later, in addition to his political career, he obtained his licentiate in 1987 and a year later he did his doctorate in political science at the Swedish-speaking Åbo Akademi in Turku. His doctoral thesis is entitled Finlands utrikespolitik - den nationella doktrinen och framtidenshabensklighetspektiven (German: Finland's foreign policy - the national doctrine and future policy in favor of humanity ). Since 1996 he has been Associate Professor of International Relations at the University of Lapland .

Political career

Political advancement at a young age

Väyrynen became politically active during his studies. In 1970 he was a candidate for the Finnish Center Party in the elections to the Finnish Parliament . He ran for election in the Lapland constituency and represented it in parliament until 1991, and from 1991 to 1995 he was a member of the Uusimaa constituency . The elections took place in a climate of political radicalization, which resulted in the fact that numerous unusually young politicians were elected to parliament, including 23-year-old Väyrynen. In the following decade, Väyrynen experienced a rapid political rise. This was closely linked to the struggles for direction and power in the final phase of President Urho Kekkonen's reign .

Political starting point

Urho Kekkonen had held the office of President of the Republic since 1956 and ran it in what is often referred to as authoritarian. This particularly concerned the area of ​​foreign and security policy. The dominant theme of Kekkonen's foreign policy was the geopolitical position of Finland as the immediate neighbor of the Soviet Union . It was essential for Kekkonen to take into account the strategic interests of the big neighbor. He cultivated an intensive friendship policy with the Soviet Union, the basis of which was the 1948 Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance.

The friendship treaty, as well as the rapprochement between Kekkonen and Moscow's wishes, brought with it a repeated possibility of Soviet interference in Finnish politics. In the western countries this dependency was discussed under the catchphrase Finlandization . In relation to the West, Kekkonen tried to counteract the impression of being classified in the Soviet block of interests by presenting a policy of neutrality . The Soviet side reacted accordingly sensitively to its use, and in practice it was primarily reserved for the president, respected in Moscow, to present this facet of Finnish politics publicly.

Kekkonen's line received support from the Finnish population, but was not without controversy. In the parliamentary election of 1970, which also brought Väyrynen a seat in parliament, Kekkonen's opponents, who were mainly organized in the populist rural party , but also in the conservative rallying party, won a clear victory. Kekkonen, who as president could decisively influence the formation of the respective government, could not get these parties involved in the government without endangering the credibility of his foreign policy course. Therefore, in the years that followed, the country received a succession of unstable governments, mostly based on the Center Party and the Social Democrats .

The Center Party, whose representative Väyrynen had stood, had traditionally been the house power of Kekkonen, which had itself emerged from it. In the 1970s, under the chairman Johannes Virolainen , who has been in office since 1964, the party tended to take more critical positions, which, among other things, led to Kekkonen relying more on the Social Democrats. In the Center Party, the direction unreservedly behind Kekkonen's policies was called the "K-Line". It has been headed since the 1960s by Ahti Karjalainen , who has long been considered a favorite of Kekkonen and his designated successor. In the 1970s, however, Karjalainen's relations with Kekkonen deteriorated noticeably, while at the same time he engaged in a long open power struggle with Virolainen.

Foreign policy profiling of Väyrynen

Paavo Väyrynen was unreservedly behind the politics of the president from the start and was thus included in the inner-party K-line. As early as 1970, its central protagonist Ahti Karjalainen, who held the office of Prime Minister from July 1970 to October 1971, appointed him his political secretary for this time. A year later, Väyrynen rose to become vice chairman of his party. Väyrynen soon broke out of the slipstream of the established representatives of the K line. As early as 1973 he sought contact with Kekkonen and declared that he wanted to take up the fight against Virolainen and the right wing of the Center Party.

On November 30, 1975, Väyrynen was first transferred to a government office, as Minister of Education in Martti Miettunens second cabinet. On September 29, 1976, he moved to the ministerial department. After Miettunen's resignation, Kekkonen finally entrusted Väyrynen with the post of foreign minister, which he took up on May 15, 1977. He held this office during the third cabinet of Prime Minister Kalevi Sorsa and the first cabinet of Mauno Koivisto initially until February 19, 1982. To the Soviet Ambassador Vladimir Stepanov , who had campaigned for Karjalainen, the President described Väyrynen as “young, but good and hard-working man ”.

As the new foreign minister, Väyrynen made corrections to the language regime in Finnish foreign policy. This primarily concerned the concept of Finnish neutrality , which President Kekkonen had used over the years as a visible counterweight to Soviet influence, especially in relation to the West. Väyrynen sought a new, more general definition of the Finnish policy of neutrality, the use of which would not provoke any backlash in the Soviet Union. He declared neutrality as an effort to stay out of the conflicting interests of the great powers and to maintain good relations with all countries. Kekkonen, who was generally reluctant to allow his ministers to advance his own initiative, let his foreign minister have it.

Election of party chairman

In the meantime, Kekkonen's relationship with Center Party leader Johannes Virolainen deteriorated dramatically, as he increasingly went public with statements that Kekkonen viewed as harmful to foreign policy. The highlight was an interview by Virolainen, published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on June 20, 1979 , in which he stated that the collection party could not be accepted into the government due to conflicting "general reasons", and at the same time indicated that these reasons included the neighborhood of the Soviet Union. Kekkonen, who saw his efforts to end the Finlandization debate thwarted, reacted angrily. He initially considered taking steps to oust Vrolainen from the post of President of Parliament. On the advice of his head of the firm, Juhani Perttunen , he then decided to concentrate on replacing Virolainen in the center party chairmanship with Paavo Väyrynen.

How intensely Kekkonen actually influenced the election of the party chairman is not clear. What is certain is that several supporters of Väyrynen publicly indicated that Väyrynen enjoyed the support of the president without the latter opposing him. Kekkonen also defended Väyrynen against the diplomatic representatives of the Soviet Union, who had reservations about the candidate because of his young age, his poor personal relationships with the experienced representatives of the "K-Line" and his inadequate contact with the Soviet representatives.

On June 15, 1980, Väyrynen entered the party congress in Turku in a vote against Virolainen as a candidate for the party leadership, which was described by the K-Line as unreliable in foreign policy. President Kekkonen also openly expressed his support for the young challenger. Väyrynen finally won with 1737 against 1611 votes. Väyrynen's career had thus reached its peak for the time being.

Party chairman 1980–1990

Weakening of the center party

Paavo Väyrynen's political ascent was closely linked to President Urho Kekkonen and his politics. Immediately after Väyrynen was elected party chairman, the framework conditions changed significantly. Kekkonen had to resign in 1981 because of his dramatically deteriorated health. The Social Democratic Prime Minister Mauno Koivisto initially took over his official business . In the early 1982 elections Koivisto was confirmed as the new president.

Väyrynen, who had also been said to have ambitions of his own to succeed to the presidency, ultimately supported Ahti Karjalainen. In order to increase its chances, the "K-Line" of the Center Party had tried to overthrow Koivisto's government, which had been in office since 1979, although its own party was involved, with Väyrynen as foreign minister. These attempts were unsuccessful because the Center Party, and in particular its parliamentary faction, did not stand uniformly behind the project and Koivisto could therefore continue to rely on the confidence of Parliament. As a result of these events, Väyrynen's policy as party leader was strained by an undercooled relationship with the new president.

At the same time, as a result of the long-standing internal power struggle between Karjalainen and the previous chairman Virolainen, the party was deeply divided. Against the wishes of the new chairman Väyrynen, the party congress did not nominate Karjalainen, but Virolainen as the presidential candidate. This then received only 16.9% of the votes. The Center Party had finally lost its position as the determining force in Finnish politics to the Social Democrats, who not only provided the new president, but also the head of government in Kalevi Sorsa until the 1987 parliamentary elections.

Government with the Social Democratic Party

In the fourth cabinet of Kalevi Sorsa, which was in office from 1983 to 1987, Paavo Väyrynen was again represented as foreign minister and, as chairman of the smaller coalition partner, was also deputy prime minister.

As Foreign Minister, Väyrynen insisted on maintaining good relations with the Soviet Union. He now had excellent relations with the Soviet diplomats in Helsinki and with party representatives in Moscow. When in the early 1980s communist circles suggested an early extension of the friendship treaty with the Soviet Union, which was still valid until 1990, Väyrynen supported the project. In 1983 Väyrynen signed the protocol to extend the contract for 20 years.

The relationship between Väyrynen and Prime Minister Sorsa was marked by constant conflict. Right from the start, Väyrynen's Center Party sought ways to contest the Social Democrats' claim to leadership and to take on the role of at least equally strong partner. Typical points of contention included the occupation of political offices, where Väyrynen accused the Social Democrats of greed. With a view to the parliamentary elections in 1987, both partners looked for alternatives and each sought contact with the largest opposition party, the conservative rallying party.

Väyrynen signed a secret declaration of intent with the chairman of the collection party, Ilkka Suominen , and the Swedish People's Party , Christoffer Taxell , which later became known as the "vault contract" ( kassakaappisopimus ), according to which the parties involved should form a joint bourgeois government under Väyrynen's leadership after the election, as far as the election result allows. However, the Social Democrats, too, had come into close contact with circles of the gathering party who were ready to form a government with them. After the election, President Koivisto was not ready to appoint a purely bourgeois government and instead appointed a coalition of Social Democrats and the Gathering Party under the leadership of the Gathering Party's former chairman, Harri Holkeri . Väyrynen and the Center Party found themselves in the opposition.

First presidential candidacy

For the presidential elections in 1988, the party selected Paavo Väyrynen as its candidate as early as 1986. Väyrynen entered the elections with its well-known foreign policy program. He accused incumbent Koivisto of not being able to continue the foreign policy line. Difficulties caused him, however, that the security situation began to change radically after Mikhail Gorbachev had tackled the transformation of the Soviet Union and this appeared to be clearly weakened. It turned out that the foreign policy card was no longer a political trump card, but rather a burden. Väyrynen also met with widespread rejection as a personality in polls.

The 1988 elections were held in two phases. First of all, the people had a direct opportunity to vote for a candidate. In the event that none of the candidates would receive an absolute majority, an election to a 300-member electoral committee was held at the same time, which would then elect the president.

In the direct election, incumbent Koivisto received 47.9% of the vote. Väyrynen came next with 20.1%. The Electoral Committee met on February 15, 1988. This confirmed Koivisto in office in the second ballot after Väyrynen could not win electors from other candidates as supporters.

Promotion and withdrawal from party leadership

After the Center Party left the government, Väyrynen devoted himself to basic foreign policy work in addition to the presidential election campaign. His dissertation on Finland's foreign policy doctrine was recognized in 1988. In this he documented the traditional principles of Finnish security policy with their basic elements, on the one hand the friendship treaty with the Soviet Union and on the other hand the striving for neutrality in the conflict between the great powers. Despite the changing political situation in Europe, Väyrynen continued to see the need for the Finnish policy of neutrality, as he assumed that the political division of Europe would continue.

The experience of the presidential campaign led Väyrynen to believe that it is difficult for a party leader as a candidate to win support from beyond party lines. With a view to the next elections in 1994, Väyrynen decided in early 1990 to give up the chairmanship of the Center Party. Esko Aho took over the chairmanship in the summer of 1990 .

During the reign of Esko Aho he was foreign minister again from April 26, 1991 to May 5, 1993. In 1995 Väyrynen was elected to the European Parliament, where he belonged to the group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe and was its deputy chairman from 1997 to 2004. Previously, in 1997 he was chairman of the delegation to the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the European Economic Area. In 2007 he was brought back to Finland by Vanhanen, where he took over the post of Minister of Foreign Trade and Development on April 19. Samuli Pohjamo took his place in the European Parliament . In the constituency of Lapland , he achieved the best result of all candidates. In 2011 he ran again in the Uusimaa constituency , but only reached third place among the candidates of the Center Party, which was not enough for a mandate.

2012 presidential election

In 2012 Väyrynen ran again for the Finnish presidency. The polls had predicted that he had a good chance of winning the runoff election against the election favorite Sauli Niinistö from the National Assembly Party. In the election itself, Väyrynen fell behind with 17.5% of the vote, behind both Niinistö (37.0%) and the candidate of the Green League , Pekka Haavisto (18.8%), which meant he missed the second round of voting. Väyrynen received the most votes in the elections in the northern constituencies of Lapland and Oulu.

After he was re-elected to the European Parliament in 2014, he ran again in the 2015 parliamentary elections in Lapland and achieved the third-best result of all candidates, which was enough to enter parliament. But after he did not receive a ministerial office, contrary to expectations, he decided to forego the national parliamentary seat and to remain in the European Parliament.

2018 presidential election

Väyrynen announced that he would like to run as an independent candidate in the 2018 presidential election. By November 26, 2017, he had collected around 15,000 signatures. On December 5, 2017, Väyrynen announced that it had collected the required 20,000 signatures. It is his fourth presidential candidacy.

He left the EU Parliament on June 11, 2018, and was replaced by Mirja Vehkaperä .

Others

He then sat on the Helsinki City Council for some time.

Väyrynen has been married since 1968 and has three grown children. He lives in Keminmaa , where he has also been a member of the city council since 1989. His rank in the military is that of a reserve captain.

Works

• Köyhän asialla. Kirjayhtymä-Verlag, Helsinki 1971
• On muutoksen aika. W. Söderström, Porvoo 1974, ISBN 978-951-0-06259-3
• Kansallisia kysymyksiä. WSOY, Porvoo 1981, ISBN 978-951-0-10940-3
• Kansakunta - Ihmiskunta. Gummerus, Jyväskylä 1987, ISBN 978-951-20-3073-6
• Finlands utrikespolitik. Doctoral thesis, Söderströms, Helsinki 1988, ISBN 978-951-52-1232-0
• Suomen ulkopolitiikka. Söderström, Porvoo 1989, ISBN 978-951-0-15718-3
• Yhteinen tehtävämme. W. Söderström, Porvoo 1989, ISBN 978-951-0-15931-6
• Igenom brytningstid. Suomen Puolesta, Helsinki 1993, ISBN 978-952-90-5032-1
• On muutoksen aika 2. osa - Tosiasioita ja haavekuvia tulevaisuuden Suomesta. 1993
• On totuuden aika 1. osa - Tosiasioita ja muistikuvia Urho Kekkosen Suomesta. W. Söderström, Porvoo 1993, ISBN 978-951-0-18839-2
• On totuuden aika 2. osa - Tosiasioita ja muistikuvia Mauno Koiviston Suomesta. W. Söderström, Porvoo 1993, ISBN 978-951-0-18840-8
• On muutoksen aika 1. osa. 1994
• Ansa. Translation of The Trap by James Goldsmith , Otava-Verlag, Helsinki 1995, ISBN 978-951-113833-4
• Suomen puolueettomuus uudessa Euroopassa. Otava, Helsinki 1996, ISBN 978-951-114459-5
• Paneurooppa yes uusidealismi. Otava, Helsinki 1997, ISBN 978-951-115410-5
• Itsenäisen Suomen puolesta. Athena-Verlag, Jyväskylä 1999, ISBN 978-951-796-160-8
• Samanks boxes are not Eurooppa. Translation, Suomen puolesta, Jyväskylä 2000, ISBN 978-952-91-2287-5
• Etiäisiä vai kaukoviisautta? Eppe-Verlag, Rovaniemi 2004, ISBN 978-952-91-7309-9
• Pohjanranta. Suomen puolesta, Keminmaa 2005, ISBN 978-952-91-8744-7

Web links

Commons : Paavo Väyrynen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website (Finnish)
• Profile on the website of the Finnish government
• Profile at eduskunta.fi (Finnish)
• Literature by and about Paavo Väyrynen in the catalog of the German National Library
• Paavo Väyrynen at the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Entry on Paavo Väyrynen in the Members' database of the European Parliament

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Juhani Suomi, Liennytyksen akanvirrassa. Urho Kekkonen 1972-1976, Helsinki 1998, ISBN 951-1-14799-4 , p. 371
2. ↑ Suomi 2000, p. 168
3. ↑ Suomi 2000, p. 396
4. ↑ Suomi 2000, pp. 488-509
5. ↑ Suomi 2000, pp. 624-634
6. ↑ Seppinen, p. 767
7. ↑ Juhani Suomi: Kohti sinipunaa, Mauno Koiviston aika 1986 to 1987 . Otava, Helsinki 2008, p. 98; Erkki Aho, Kamppailu vaalien jälkeisestä hallituksesta , http://suomenhistoriaa.blogspot.com/2011/05/kamppailu-vaalien-jalkeisesta.html (accessed December 26, 2011)
8. ↑ Erkki Aho, ”Kassakaappisopimus” , http://suomenhistoriaa.blogspot.com/2011/05/kassakaappisopimus.html (accessed December 26, 2011) with reference to Paavo Väyrynen: On totuuden aika, ISBN 951-0-188409
9. ↑ Content reproduction based on Blomberg p. 123
10. ↑ Seppinen, p. 767 f.
11. ↑ Väyrynen tilittää: Asetuin ehdolle vain päästäkseni ulkoministeriksi - "Tappio Suomen ulkopolitiikalle" (Finnish: Väyrynen: I was only nominated as foreign minister - "Loss for Finnish foreign policy" ) in Helsingin Sanomat , 29 May 2015, accessed December 17, 2017
12. ↑ Paavo Väyrynen neljättä kertaa presidenttiehdokkaana - jos löytyy riittävästi kannatusta In: yle.fi , accessed on October 11, 2017.
13. ↑ https://www.is.fi/presidentinvaalit2018/art-2000005465173.html?ref=rss
14. ↑ https://www.hs.fi/politiikka/art-2000005477082.html