29 Facts About Pekka Haavisto

Pekka Haavisto has been a member of the Helsinki City Council.

Pekka Haavisto finished second in the Finnish presidential elections in 2012,2018 and 2024; twice to Sauli Niinisto and finally to Alexander Stubb.

Pekka Haavisto became the first openly gay candidate to run for the presidency of Finland.

Pekka Haavisto was a member of the Parliament of Finland from 1987 to 1995.

Pekka Haavisto was the chairperson of the Green League from 1993 to 1995.

Pekka Haavisto served as the Minister of the Environment in Paavo Lipponen's first cabinet between 1995 and 1999.

Pekka Haavisto was the first European cabinet minister representing a Green party.

From 1999 to 2005, Pekka Haavisto worked for the United Nations in various tasks.

Pekka Haavisto led the United Nations Environment Programme research groups in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Liberia, Palestine and Sudan.

Pekka Haavisto coordinated the UN investigation in the effects of depleted uranium in Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Pekka Haavisto represented the UNEP in the investigations in the Baia Mare mining accident in Romania.

In 2007 and 2011 Pekka Haavisto was re-elected to Parliament by the electoral district of Helsinki.

In 2011, Pekka Haavisto was nominated as the Green League candidate for the Finnish presidential election of 2012.

Pekka Haavisto was the first openly gay candidate and the first male candidate to have served in civil service instead of the military service to make it to the second round of a presidential election in Finland.

In February 2017, Pekka Haavisto announced that he would reprise his candidacy in the 2018 presidential election.

The decision came after Pekka Haavisto had been approached multiple times by the Green League.

In June 2019, Pekka Haavisto stepped down as the chairman of the party.

In 2019, Pekka Haavisto called for the EU to intensify efforts on improving relations with Russia in the face of international conflict, transatlantic tensions and Brexit.

In December 2020, the Parliament's Constitutional Law Committee found that Pekka Haavisto, who had pushed for Finnish children from the al-Hawl refugee camp in northern Syria to be brought to Finland quickly in late 2019, had broken Finnish law by trying to replace a foreign ministry official who refused to act after a difference of opinion over the exact repatriation proceedings.

Pekka Haavisto quickly reverted his decision to demote the official and offered him the same position as earlier.

The Committee declared it had not found reason to bring criminal charges against the foreign minister, due to the minister's higher than usual prosecution threshold required by the constitution, but specified that Pekka Haavisto had operated in contravention to the Administration Law and the Foreign Relations Act.

In February and March 2021, Pekka Haavisto was under criminal investigation for an alleged Highway Code violation in December 2020.

The complaint originated from a video recorded by a reporter for the gossip magazine Seiska, which included commentary that Pekka Haavisto had not stopped for two pedestrian crossings.

Pekka Haavisto was appointed EU's special envoy to Ethiopia during the Tigray War.

In February 2021, Pekka Haavisto stated that violence and suffering in Ethiopia was "out of control" and could cause a large refugee crisis.

On 17 May 2022, Pekka Haavisto signed Finland's application to join NATO.

In June 2023, Pekka Haavisto announced that he would reprise his candidacy in the 2024 Finnish presidential election as an independent candidate.

Pekka Haavisto finished second in the first round of voting held on 18 January 2024 and later lost to Alexander Stubb in the runoff on 11 February 2024.

Pekka Haavisto dropped the studies after a year and did not complete the degree.