Elina Valtonen
Valtonen in 2023
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Assumed office
20 June 2023
Prime MinisterPetteri Orpo
Preceded byPekka Haavisto
Member of the Finnish Parliament
for Helsinki
Assumed office
4 July 2014
Personal details
Born
Elina Maria Valtonen

(1981-10-23) 23 October 1981
Helsinki, Finland
Political partyNational Coalition Party
ResidenceEspoo
Alma mater
Websiteelinavaltonen.fi

Elina Maria Valtonen (formerly Lepomäki; born 23 October 1981)[1] is a Finnish politician who has served as Minister for Foreign Affairs under Prime Minister Petteri Orpo since 2023. A member of the National Coalition Party (NCP), she has represented the constituency of Uusimaa in the Parliament of Finland since 2014.[2] In the 2021 muicipal election she collected the second-highest number of votes in Helsinki and was elected a member of its city council.[3]

Early life

As a child, Valtonen lived with her family in Bonn, West Germany; she completed A-levels (Reifeprüfung diploma) at the German School in Helsinki.

Education

Valtonen holds a master's degree in both technology and financial economics from Helsinki University of Technology and Helsinki School of Economics.[2] She is an owner in several technology start-ups;[4] she chaired the board of the free-market think tank Libera from 2015 to 2021.[5]

Career

Prior to entering politics in 2014, Valtonen spent 10 years in investment banking, as a director at Royal Bank of Scotland and as a senior analyst at Nordea.[6] She has developed a model for transforming the welfare state into a digital sharing economy, called the Life Account.[7] In 2018, she participated in a Bilderberg Conference in Turin.

In April 2016, Valtonen announced her candidacy for the leadership of the National Coalition Party. In the first round of the leadership election on 11 June 2016 she received 15% of the vote and thus failed to be elected.[8] In September 2020 Valtonen was elected as a new vice chair of the Coalition Party.[9]

In the parliamentary elections of 2023, Valtonen raised the largest election campaign budget 179 000 euros.[10] Her biggest funders were Chaim Poju Zabludowicz and Björn Wahlroos[11][12]- In June 2023, she was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Orpo Cabinet.[13]

Writing

Valtonen has co-authored several reports on economics and the society such as "The Future of the Euro - The alternatives for Finland" (2014) and "The Life Account - A Social Security Reform" (2013).[7] In 2018, she published her book Vapauden Voitto (Victory of Freedom, Otava), on how to reform the Nordic welfare model and the European Union.

Other activities

Personal life

In September 2020, Valtonen filed for divorce from Jukka Lepomäki; in April 2021 she announced that she changed her surname back to her maiden name.[15] Valtonen and Lepomäki have two children together.

References

  1. ↑ Minister for Foreign Affairs, valtioneuvosto.fi.
  2. 1 2 "Elina Lepomäki". Parliament of Finland.
  3. ↑ "Municipal election 2021 Result service". Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  4. ↑ Elina Valtonen, www.nordicbankingforum.com.
  5. ↑ "Mikä Libera?". Libera.
  6. ↑ "NCP MP had €100k offshore in 2014, denies wrongdoing", Yle. 5 October 2021.
  7. 1 2 "The Finnish model of welfare for the digital age". Financial Times. 17 March 2016.
  8. ↑ "Stubb and Orpo fight in the second round - Orpo only needs 11 votes to win". Yle News. 11 June 2016.
  9. ↑ "Häkkänen, Lepomäki and Ikonen become vice-chairs of the Coalition Party". Yle. 6 September 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  10. ↑ "Ulkoministeri Elina Valtosen vaalirahoitus ilmoitettu yli 40 000 euroa liian pieneksi, HS kertoo – onkin eduskuntavaalien suurin". Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  11. ↑ "Miljonäärit tukivat ehdokkaita avokätisesti kevään vaaleissa – Nämä kansanedustajat saivat "Nallelta" täydet 6 000 euroa". www.iltalehti.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  12. ↑ Waris, Olli (2023-06-06). "Kokoomuksen Valtosella yli 136 000 euron kampanja – sai Wahlroosilta ja Zabludowiczilta 6 000 euroa". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  13. ↑ "Prime Minister Orpo's Government appointed". Valtioneuvosto. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  14. ↑ Members European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).
  15. ↑ "Elina Lepomäki vaihtoi sukunimeään". Ilta-Sanomat. 25 April 2021.
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