Ilkka Armas Mikael Kanerva (28 January 1948 – 14 April 2022) was a Finnish politician and a member of the

Parliament of Finland The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The ...

. He was born in Lokalahti, now a part of

Uusikaupunki Uusikaupunki (; sv, Nystad, ) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southwest Finland region, northwest of Turku and south of Pori. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is inland wate ...

Southwest Finland Southwest Finland, calqued as Finland Proper ( fi, Varsinais-Suomi ; sv, Egentliga Finland), is a region in the southwest of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, Pirkanmaa, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Uusimaa, and Åland. The regi ...

. He was the

Minister for Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between coun ...

from 2007 to 2008. Kanerva was a member of the

National Coalition Party sv, Samlingspartiet , leader1_title = Chairman , leader1_name = Petteri Orpo , leader2_title = Deputy chairs , leader2_name = Antti Häkkänen Elina ValtonenAnna-Kaisa Ikonen , merger = Finnish Party, Young Finnis ...

. With nearly 47 years in office, Kanerva was the longest-serving Member of Parliament in Finnish political history.

Early life

Kanerva graduated with a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from the

University of Turku sv, Åbo universitet , latin_name = Universitas Aboensis , image_name = University of Turku.svg , motto = ''Vapaan kansan lahja vapaalle tieteelle'' , established = 1920 , type ...

in 1980. Kanerva was leader of the political youth organisation Kokoomuksen Nuorten Liitto ry. from 1972 to 1976 and was first elected to the Finnish Parliament in 1975.

Political career

During his public career, he served as Minister for Foreign Affairs (2007–2008), Deputy Prime Minister (1991),

Minister of Labour Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

(1991–1995) and Minister of Transport (1990–1991). During the Finnish OSCE Chairmanship in 2008, Kanerva was the Chairman-in-Office of the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

for 2008. In 2014 he was elected president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE. Kanerva served as Emeritus President and Special Representative on Mediation of Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE. The National Coalition Party announced the resignation of Ilkka Kanerva from the post of the Foreign Minister on 1 April 2008 due to a scandal involving hundreds of sexually suggestive text messages he sent to the erotic dancer, Johanna Tukiainen, from his work mobile phone. Kanerva left for a sick leave on 1 April, and his term officially ended on 4 April 2008. Kanerva had a long career in athletics and, at an early age, he was actively practising track and field himself. From 1981 to 1982 and from 1989 to 1990 he held the chair in the Finnish Athletics' National Assembly. Kanerva served as Vice-President of Finnish Athletics, a post he held for 15 consecutive years until the 2005 IAAF World Championships in Helsinki, where he was also the President of Local Organizing Committee. Kanerva served as Honorary Chair of the Finnish Athletics Federation. Kanerva also served as Vice-President of the Finnish Olympic Committee from 1993 to 2008. Additionally, Kanerva was a council member of the International Association of the Athletics Federations (IAAF) 2003–2011. He was a Member of the EAA Council from 1999 to 2003.

Campaign finance

Kanerva was among the National Coalition Party members receiving support from construction industry in the election in 2007 in Finland without giving the public information of it in time. Others included:

Sauli Niinistö Sauli Väinämö Niinistö (; born 24 August 1948) is a Finnish politician who has served as president of Finland since March 2012, the 12th person to hold that office. A lawyer by education, Niinistö was Chairman of the National Coalition Part ...

Jyrki Katainen Jyrki Tapani Katainen (born 14 October 1971) is a Finnish politician who served as the European Commission's Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness from 2014 until 2019. Katainen was previously Prime Minister of Finland fr ...

Jyri Häkämies Jyri Jukka Häkämies (born 30 August 1961) is a Finnish politician and the CEO of Confederation of Finnish Industries The Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK, fi, Elinkeinoelämän Keskusliitto, sv, Finlands Näringsliv) is the largest emp ...

, Marja Tiura, ''Sampsa Kataja'',

Jari Koskinen Jari Antero Koskinen (born 11 June 1960) is a Finnish politician who was Minister for Agriculture and Forestry of Finland from 2011 to 2014, as well as a former representative of the National Coalition Party in the Parliament of Finland. He also ...

and ''Juha Hakola (politician)''.

Texting scandal

In March 2008 it was revealed that Kanerva had sent 200

SMS Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...

messages within a month to Johanna Tukiainen, a 29-year-old erotic dancer. Kanerva had previously sent SMS messages to nude model Marika Fingerroos in 2005. According to Kanerva, Tukiainen had wanted to perform with her dance group at his birthday party, and he responded to this request by text message. On 30 March, Kanerva unexpectedly cancelled his plan to participate in Lennart Meri Conference in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

, Estonia, and returned to Finland. The

Hymy ''Hymy'' (Finnish: "Smile") is a monthly celebrity magazine published in Helsinki, Finland. It has been in circulation since 1959. History and profile ''Hymy'' was launched in 1959 by publisher Urpo Lahtinen and named after his wife Hymy Lahtine ...

magazine published on 1 April 2008 printed several of the messages, and on the same morning party leader

stated that Kanerva can not continue in his position. Kanerva was granted sick leave, and later that day it was released that his term as Foreign Minister would end on 4 April 2008 due to loss of confidence. He was replaced by

Alexander Stubb Cai-Göran Alexander Stubb (born 1 April 1968) is a Finnish politician who served as Prime Minister of Finland from 2014 to 2015. He rose to politics as a researcher specialized in the affairs of the European Union and was elected to the European ...

Corruption trial

Kanerva was accused of and investigated in a bribery case in 2010–2013. The Helsinki Court of Appeals found him not guilty in 2013. On 9 June 2011, in the

Helsinki District Court Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Ilkka Kanerva was accused of accepting bribes. The prosecutor demanded a two-year prison sentence and €56,000 in damages for the received advantage. Police had charged Kanerva in May 2010. The accepted bribes were connected to the building of a shopping center. Ilkka Kanerva was suspected of receiving bribes and interviewed by police in the end of March 2010. Kanerva was accused of receiving 17,000 € from ''Nova Group (Finland)'' (construction business, a key actor in the Finance scandal 2007) during his 60-years anniversary in 2008 and over 50,000 € in favor of the aimed new large shopping centers. The prosecutor demanded two years of imprisonment for bribery. The claims were kept secret until the trial in April 2012. The media had applied publicity prior to the trial based on the political importance but failed to receive it. In 2012 Ilkka Kanerva was convicted and sentenced to 15 months for corruption and abuse of office by District Court. Ilkka Kanerva, Arto Merisalo, Tapani Yli-Saunamäki and Toivo Sukari were seeking to overturn their bribery convictions in March 2013. The prosecutor wanted a longer sentence against Kanerva. The Helsinki Court of Appeal overturned MP Ilkka Kanerva's sentence for acceptance of bribes in June 2013. In 2012, the District Court had found Kanerva guilty of accepting tens of thousands of euros worth of gifts from the executives, who were seen to thereby gain influence over Kanerva's actions as chair of the Regional Council of Southwest Finland. Among other things, the council has decision-making power over the zoning of new shopping centres. The Court of Appeal also overturned the sentences for aggravated bribery of three businessmen, Arto Merisalo, Tapani Yli-Saunamäki and Toivo Sukari. The District Court had sentenced Merisalo and Yli-Saunamäki to long prison terms.

Death

Kanerva died after an illness in 2022.

References

External links