Stefan Erik Wallin (born 1 June 1967 in

Vaasa Vaasa (; sv, Vasa, , Sweden ), in the years 1855–1917 as Nikolainkaupunki ( sv, Nikolajstad; literally meaning "city of Nicholas),

) is a Swedish-speaking

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

politician. He was Finland's Minister of Culture and Sport in

Matti Vanhanen Matti Taneli Vanhanen (; born 4 November 1955) is a Finnish politician who served as Prime Minister of Finland from 2003 to 2010. He was also Chairman of the Centre Party and President of the European Council in 2006. In his earlier career, h ...

's cabinet 2007–2011, Minister of Defence in

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 ...

's cabinet 2011–2012 and a Member of Parliament 2007–2019. Wallin was born in

Vaasa Vaasa (; sv, Vasa, , Sweden ), in the years 1855–1917 as Nikolainkaupunki ( sv, Nikolajstad; literally meaning "city of Nicholas),

and studied at

Åbo Akademi University Åbo Akademi University ( sv, Åbo Akademi , ) is the only exclusively Swedish language multi-faculty university in Finland (or anywhere outside Sweden). It is located mainly in Turku (Åbo is the Swedish name of the city) but has also activiti ...

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

, where he 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.

Social Sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soci ...

. He worked as a reporter for the newspaper ''

Vasabladet ''Vasabladet'' (abbr. ''VBL'') is a Swedish language regional daily newspaper in Ostrobothnia, Finland. In terms of circulation, it is the second largest Swedish newspaper in Finland, behind '' Hufvudstadsbladet''. History and profile ''Vasabl ...

'' from 1989 to 1993 before acting as a research assistant for the

Swedish People's Party The Swedish People's Party of Finland ( sv, Svenska folkpartiet i Finland (SFP); fi, Suomen ruotsalainen kansanpuolue (RKP)) is a political party in Finland aiming to represent the interests of the minority Swedish-speaking population of Finlan ...

. He served as a Special Adviser successively to the Ministers of Transport, European Affairs and Foreign Trade, Interior, and Defence from 1994 to 2000. He was Deputy Editor-in-Chief and a leader writer for the newspaper ''

Åbo Underrättelser ''Åbo Underrättelser'' is a Swedish language newspaper published in Turku ( sv, Åbo), Finland. History and profile ''Åbo Underrättelser'' is the oldest newspaper still in print in Finland, founded by Christian Ludvig Hjelt in 1823. The fir ...

'' from 2000 to 2005. He then served as State Secretary to the Minister of the Environment from 2005 to 2007. Wallin was appointed Minister of the Environment and Minister at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs responsible for Nordic Cooperation by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Tarja Halonen Tarja Kaarina Halonen (; born 24 December 1943) is a Finnish politician who served as the 11th president of Finland, and the first woman to hold the position, from 2000 to 2012. She first rose to prominence as a lawyer with the Central Organisati ...

on 29 December 2006. He succeeded Jan-Erik Enestam, who was also Wallin's predecessor as chairman of the

. On 22 June 2011 he was appointed the

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from coun ...

. He gave up the position in 2012, when he was succeeded by

Carl Haglund Carl Christoffer ”Calle” Haglund (born 29 March 1979 in Espoo) is the CEO of Veritas, a Finnish Pension insurance company, and a former Finnish politician, former chairman of the Swedish People's Party and the former Minister of Defence. He w ...

as Defence Minister as well as the chairman of the party. On 14 June 2016, Wallin was chosen as the chairman of the Swedish Parliamentary Group, after the previous chair

Anna-Maja Henriksson Anna-Maja Kristina Henriksson (née Forss; born 7 January 1964) is a Swedish-speaking Finnish politician. She has served as Finland's Minister of Justice, in Jyrki Katainen's cabinet and Alexander Stubb's cabinet from 2011 to 2015, Antti Rinn ...

had been elected as the leader of the party. In February 2018, Wallin announced that he wouldn't take part in the 2019 parliamentary election. In April 2019, soon after the parliamentary election, Wallin was announced as the new CEO of Miltton Networks.

References

See also