The Green League (VIHR, fi, Vihreä liitto , sv, Gröna förbundet), shortened to the Greens ( fi, Vihreät, sv, De Gröna), is a

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

political party in Finland. Ideologically, the Green League is positioned on the

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The c ...

of the political spectrum. It is a reformist party and it is supportive of

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...

and

green liberal Green liberalism, or liberal environmentalism, is liberalism that includes green politics in its ideology. Green liberals are usually Social liberalism, liberal on social issues and "green" on economic issues. The term "green liberalism" was coin ...

ideas. Originally split on whether Finland should join the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, the Green League is

pro-European Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Polit ...

and was the first Finnish party in favor of the federalisation of the European Union. The Green League is among the large political parties in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. The Greens hold twenty of the 200 seats in the

Finnish Parliament 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 ...

and three of Finland's 14 European Parliament seats. The party is a member of the Global Greens and the European Green Party; its

MEPs A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

sit in the Greens/EFA group in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

. Founded in 1987, the party absorbed a number of

organizations and their members, electing its first MPs in 1987. The party won ten seats in the 1991 election. Despite small losses in the in 1995 election, Pekka Haavisto joined

Paavo Lipponen Paavo Tapio Lipponen (; born 23 April 1941) is a Finnish politician and former reporter. He was Prime Minister of Finland from 1995 to 2003, and Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Finland from 1993 to 2005. He also served as Speaker of the ...

's first cabinet, which was composed of a rainbow coalition. This made the Green League the first

green party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

to form part of a national cabinet. The party remained in government until 2002 when it resigned in opposition to

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

. The party slowly rose in popularity between 1995 and

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, when winning a total of 15 seats, and joined the center-right-led government. In the 2011 election, the party suffered significant losses, falling to ten seats, but remained in government. In

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, the party recovered its losses from 2011, returning to 15 seats. In the 2019 election, the party achieved by far its best-ever result, winning 20 seats and 11.5% of the vote. They became the fifth-largest party and became the third-largest member of the Social Democratic-led government. In 2017 municipal elections the Green League was the fourth biggest party with 534 seats. They gained 211 more seats from

2012 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2012. International * 2012 United Nations Security Council election Africa Egypt * 2012 Egyptian presidential election Mali * 2012 Malian presidential election * 2012 Malian parliamentary electio ...

. Since June 2019, the party’s leader and chairman has been

Maria Ohisalo Maria Karoliina Ohisalo (born 8 March 1985) is a Finnish politician and researcher who served as Minister of the Interior between 2019 and 2021. The leader of the Green League, she has been a Member of Parliament since 2019. Ohisalo served as t ...

. From 2015 to 2019, the party was in opposition, and provided harsh criticism regarding the actions of the conservative Sipilä Cabinet such as financial support for economically well-off companies, Fortum's purchase of

Uniper Uniper SE �juːnipɚis an energy company based in Düsseldorf, Germany. The name of the company is a portmanteau of "unique" and "performance" given by long-term employee Gregor Recke. Uniper was formed by the separation of E.ON's fossil fuel ...

, and the expedited process of

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

-changing surveillance laws.

History

Founding

The Green League was founded on 28 February 1987 and was registered as a political party the next year. Political activity had begun already in the early 1980s, when

environmental activists The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement), also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists advo ...

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

s, disillusioned young politicians from the marginalized Liberal People's Party and other active groups began to campaign on green issues in Finland. In 1995, it was the first

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an green party to be part of a state-level

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

. The party was founded as a popular movement, which explains its name's descriptor ''liitto'', "league". Initially, there was much resistance within the movement against the founding of a political party, motivated by Robert Michels' iron law of oligarchy, which claims that movements inevitably degenerate into

oligarchies Oligarchy (; ) is a conceptual form of power structure in which power rests with a small number of people. These people may or may not be distinguished by one or several characteristics, such as nobility, fame, wealth, education, or corporate, r ...

when they create a formal organization.Rauli Mickelsson. Suomen puolueet - Historia, muutos ja nykypäivä. Vastapaino 2007, 429 pages. The party still especially stresses openness and democratic decision-making. Even though ''liitto'' has been dropped from the party's website and advertisements, the word still remains in the official name.

Early activities (1983–1994)

The first two parliamentary representatives were elected even before the registration, in the 1983 parliamentary election. These were the first independent representatives in the Finnish Parliament. In

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

the number of seats rose to four, and in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

to ten. About half of the party’s members were against Finland joining the

in 1994. Later, polls showed that most Greens were anti-

Eurozone The euro area, commonly called eurozone (EZ), is a currency union of 19 member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro (€) as their primary currency and sole legal tender, and have thus fully implemented EMU policies ...

. The party heads declined to fight against euro adoption.

As part of the Lipponen Cabinets (1995–2003)

In the 1995 election, the Green League received a total of nine seats out of 200. The party joined the coalition cabinet led by the Social Democrats, and Pekka Haavisto became the Minister of the Environment, thus becoming the first green minister in Europe. The Green League received 7.3% of the vote, and gained two additional seats in the 1999 election, raising the total to 11. The Greens continued in the next coalition cabinet, but resigned in protest on 26 May 2002, after the cabinet's decision to allow the construction of a new nuclear plant was accepted by Parliament.

Growth to mainstream appeal (2003–present)

In 2003, the Green League received 8.0% of the vote, receiving a total of 14 seats. They increased their seats to 15 in the 2007 election while receiving 8.5% of the vote. In the 2011 election, the party lost five seats. In the 2009 European Parliament elections, the Greens gained two of the thirteen Finnish seats in the

, which were occupied by Satu Hassi and

Heidi Hautala Heidi Anneli Hautala (born 14 November 1955) is a Finnish politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Finland. She is a member of the Green League, part of the European Green Party. She is currently a Member of the European Parl ...

. At the municipal level, the Greens are an important force in the politics of the main cities of Finland. In the municipal election of 2008 the Greens received 8.9% of the vote; the vote share was considerably higher in

Helsinki 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 ...

, where the Greens became the second-largest party with 23.2% of the vote. In several other cities, the Greens achieved the position of the third-largest party. The Greens are weaker in rural area and especially in municipalities that experience high levels of outward migration. By the 2017 Green League party congress, Niinistö had served three full two-year terms as the chairman and stepped down according to the rules of the party. In the following leadership election, there were six candidates running for party chair, of whom MP Touko Aalto won the election. Soon after Aalto's election, the popularity of the Green League surged in the polls and raised briefly as the second most popular party in the country. However, in September 2017 the poll numbers turned into a downward slope, which continued until autumn 2018. After taking a month of sick leave due to exhaustion in September 2018, Aalto soon announced that he was resigning from his post, citing depression and fatigue. In November 2018, the Green League decided to choose a temporary chairman to lead the party into the 2019 parliamentary elections and until the next party convention. In the leadership election, former chairman Pekka Haavisto was once again elected as chairman. In June 2019, Haavisto stepped down as the chairman of the party.

was the only candidate in the leadership election and was thus elected as chairman. In 2021, at the initiative of Coel Thomas, the vice-chairman of the Green League, the Greens became the first political party in Finland to include the

decriminalization of cannabis The legality of cannabis for medical and recreational use varies by country, in terms of its possession, distribution, and cultivation, and (in regards to medical) how it can be consumed and what medical conditions it can be used for. These ...

in its party program.

Ideology and policies

The Green League is no longer a

protest party A protest vote (also called a blank, null, spoilt vote, spoiled, or "none of the above" vote) is a vote cast in an election to demonstrate dissatisfaction with the choice of candidates or the current politics, political system. Protest voting take ...

, nor an

alternative movement In sociology, an alternative movement or alterative movement refers to a social movement that seeks limited societal change. They target a small group of people and a specific behavior, and attempt to change the behavior of individual people in ...

. Some Green candidates reject classifying the party as either left-wing or right-wing. Economic opinions of the members range between left and right. However, members of the party on average place their party left of the Social Democrats and right of the Left Alliance. In the chamber of the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

and assembly rooms of local councils, Green representatives sit between the

Finns Finns or Finnish people ( fi, suomalaiset, ) are a Baltic Finnic ethnic group native to Finland. Finns are traditionally divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these ...

and the Social Democrats. The party is one of the strongest proponents for

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

. The party is also distinct in its opposition against universal male conscription and wants to opt for a gender-neutral, selective version. The eventual goal of the Greens is voluntary military service. In 2015, the party included

universal basic income Universal basic income (UBI) is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive an unconditional transfer payment, that is, without a means test or need to work. It would be received independently of a ...

(UBI) as a proposal in their platform. In February 2019, the party announced that it wanted to introduce a

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

300 universal basic income in the 2019 to 2023 parliamentary term, before transitioning to a

600 tax-free UBI during the following 2023 to 2027 parliamentary term. In the spring of 2018, the party proposed lowering the voting age to 15. The party stated in December 2018 that it supports investing €10 billion in Finland's railway infrastructure and improving rail connections in the country, including building high-speed rail connections. In September 2021, the party voted to pass an internal motion supporting the legalisation and regulation of cannabis in Finland. It thus became the first party in Finland's Parliament to publicly state support for cannabis being legalised in the country.

Election results

Parliamentary elections

ImageSize = width:400 height:240 PlotArea = width:300 height:160 left:30 bottom:30 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:15 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:0 Colors= id:SB value:rgb(0.380,0.749,0.102) legend:Sea_Battles PlotData= bar:% color:SB width:22 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:S bar:1983 from:start till:1.47 text:1.5 bar:1987 from:start till:4.03 text:4.0 bar:1991 from:start till:6.82 text:6.8 bar:1995 from:start till:6.52 text:6.5 bar:1999 from:start till:7.27 text:7.3 bar:2003 from:start till:8.01 text:8.0 bar:2007 from:start till:8.46 text:8.5 bar:2011 from:start till:7.25 text:7.3 bar:2015 from:start till:8.53 text:8.5 bar:2019 from:start till:11.5 text:11.5

Municipal elections

ImageSize = width:400 height:240 PlotArea = width:300 height:160 left:50 bottom:60 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:15 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:0 PlotData= bar:% color:green width:22 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:S bar:1984 from:start till:2.8 text:2.8 bar:1988 from:start till:2.3 text:2.3 bar:1992 from:start till:6.9 text:6.9 bar:1996 from:start till:6.3 text:6.3 bar:2000 from:start till:7.7 text:7.7 bar:2004 from:start till:7.4 text:7.4 bar:2008 from:start till:8.9 text:8.9 bar:2012 from:start till:8.5 text:8.5 bar:2017 from:start till:12.5 text:12.5 bar:2021 from:start till:10.6 text:10.6

European Parliament elections

ImageSize = width:400 height:240 PlotArea = width:300 height:160 left:50 bottom:60 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:20 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:0 PlotData= bar:% color:green width:22 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:S bar:1996 from:start till:7.6 text:7.6 bar:1999 from:start till:13.4 text:13.4 bar:2004 from:start till:10.4 text:10.4 bar:2009 from:start till:12.4 text:12.4 bar:2014 from:start till:9.3 text:9.3 bar:2019 from:start till:16.0 text:16.0

Presidential elections

Parliamentarian and then-former MEP

was a candidate in the presidential elections in 2000 and 2006, taking approximately a 3.5% share of votes in the first round in each. Pekka Haavisto was the first Green candidate in the

2012 election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: ...

to enter the second round. Haavisto got an 18.8% share of votes in the first round, and lost to centre-right

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 ...

in the second round held on 5 February.

Politicians

List of party chairs

File:Kalle Könkkölä.jpg, Kalle Könkkölä
(1987) File:Heidi_Hautala_A4.jpg,

(1987–1991) File:Pekka_Sauri.jpg,

Pekka Sauri Pekka Markus Sauri (born 31 May 1954 in Helsinki) is a Finnish psychologist and a Green League politician. He is formerly the deputy mayor of Finland's capital city, Helsinki and chair of thProcura+ Campaignfor sustainable procurement. Sauri becam ...

(1991–1993) File:Pekka_Haavisto_2x3.jpg, Pekka Haavisto
(1993–1995, 2018–2019) File:Tuijabrax.jpg,

Tuija Brax Tuija Kaarina Brax (née ''Karvonen''; born 6 January 1965 in Helsinki) is a Finnish politician and former Minister of Justice. She is a Member of Finnish Parliament, representing the Green League. She was first elected to the Parliament in 1995. ...

(1995–1997) File:Satu_Hassi,_Finland-MIP-Europaparlament-by-Leila-Paul-1.jpg, Satu Hassi
(1997–2001) File:Osmo_Soininvaara.jpg, Osmo Soininvaara
(2001–2005) File:Tarja_Cronberg_Finnish_MEP_2014.jpg,

Tarja Cronberg Tarja Cronberg (née Mattila; born 29 June 1943 in Helsinki) is a Finnish Green League politician who served as a member of the European Parliament from 2011 until 2014. Cronberg was Member of the Finnish Parliament 2003–2007. She chaired ...

(2005–2009) File:Anni Sinnemäki Kolmen Sepän Aukiolla.JPG, Anni Sinnemäki
(2009–2011) File:Ville Niinistö 2009.jpg,

Ville Niinistö Ville Matti Niinistö (born 30 July 1976) is a Finnish politician who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2019. He is a former member of parliament, former chairperson of the Green League and served as Minister of the En ...

(2011–2017) File:Touko Aalto.jpg, Touko Aalto
(2017–2018) File:Maria Ohisalo 2019 cropped.jpg,

(2019–)

Current members of Parliament

The following 20 Greens politicians were elected to the

in the 2019 parliamentary election. 16 out of 20 members are first-timers. 17 of the members are women. File:Pekka_Haavisto_2x3.jpg, Pekka Haavisto
( Minister for Foreign Affairs) File:Maria Ohisalo 2019 cropped.jpg,

(

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

)
(New) File:Krista Mikkonen.jpg, Krista Mikkonen
( Minister of the Environment and Climate Change) File:Mari_Holopainen.jpg,

Mari Holopainen Mari Holopainen (born 31 January 1981 in Espoo) is a Finnish politician currently serving in the Parliament of Finland for the Green League at the Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, ...

(New) File:Emma_Kari.jpg,

Emma Kari Emma Karoliina Kari (born 15 May 1983 in Espoo) is a Finnish politician representing the Green League. She was elected to the Parliament of Finland in the 2015 parliamentary election with a vote total of 4,647. Kari has been in the City Council of ...

File:Pirkka-Pekka_Petelius.jpg, Pirkka-Pekka Petelius
(New) File:Inka_Hopsu.jpg,

Inka Hopsu Inka Inari Hopsu (born 25 September 1976 in Espoo) is a Finnish politician currently serving in the Parliament of Finland for the Green League at the Uusimaa (constituency), Uusimaa constituency. References External links ''Inka HOPSU, Memb ...

(New) File:Alanko-kahiluoto.jpg,

Outi Alanko-Kahiluoto Outi Alanko-Kahiluoto (born 14 June 1966) is a Finnish politician representing the Green League. She was elected to the Finnish Parliament in the parliamentary election of March 2007 and reelected in 2011. In the 2015 parliamentary elections, Al ...

File:Iiris Suomela 2020.jpg,

Iiris Suomela Iiris Suomela (born 1 May 1994) is a Finnish politician currently serving in the Parliament of Finland for the Green League at the Pirkanmaa constituency. She is also a member of the Board of the student union of the University of Tampere. Wh ...

(New) File:Satu Hassi, Finland-MIP-Europaparlament-by-Leila-Paul-1.jpg, Satu Hassi File:No image available.svg, Atte Harjanne
(New) File:No image available.svg, Noora Koponen
(New) File:Saara Hyrkkö 2019.jpg, Saara Hyrkkö
(New) File:Bella Forsgren Feb 2020 (cropped).jpg,

Bella Forsgrén Bella Asha Maria Belaynesh Forsgrén (born 10 February 1992 in Addis Ababa) is a Finnish politician of the Green League who has been serving as a member of the Parliament of Finland since 2019, representing the Central Finland Central Finlan ...

(New) File:Sofia Virta 2.jpg,

Sofia Virta Sofia Marjanna Virta (born 21 June 1990 in Kaarina) is a Finnish politician currently serving in the Parliament of Finland for the Green League The Green League (VIHR, fi, Vihreä liitto , sv, Gröna förbundet), shortened to the Greens ( ...

(New) File:Tiina_Elo.jpg,

Tiina Elo Tiina Susanna Elo (born 21 January 1971 in Helsinki) is a Finnish politician currently serving in the Parliament of Finland for the Green League at the Uusimaa Uusimaa (; sv, Nyland, ; both lit. 'new land') is a region of Finland. It bord ...

(New) File:No image available.svg, Jenni Pitko
(New) File:Heli Järvinen.jpg,

Heli Järvinen Heli Järvinen (born 31 May 1963) is a Finnish politician for the Green League, representing the Southern Savonia constituency from 2007 to 2011 and the Southeastern Finland constituency since 2015. She was elected to the Finnish Parliament in ...

File:No image available.svg, Hanna Holopainen
(New) File:Mirka Soinikoski 2019.jpg,

Mirka Soinikoski Mirka Johanna Soinikoski (born 16 December 1975 in Helsinki) is a Finnish politician currently serving in the Parliament of Finland for the Green League at the Tavastia constituency. Soinikoski is a medical specialist by education, graduating ...

(New)

Current members of the European Parliament

Since 2020, the Green League has been represented by three MEPs in the

. File:Heidi_Hautala_A4.jpg,

File:Ville_Niinistö_2009.jpg,

File:Alviina Alametsä helmikuu 2019.jpg,

Alviina Alametsä Alviina Alametsä (born 29 September 1992) is a Finnish politician of the Green League who has been serving Member of the European Parliament since 2020. Before entering European politics, Alametsä has been a city councillor of Helsinki and cha ...

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Green League 1987 establishments in Finland