Valtioneuvos (

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 ...

for “counsellor of state”, sv, statsråd) is a Finnish

title of honor A title of honor or honorary title is a title bestowed upon individuals or organizations as an award in recognition of their merits. Sometimes the title bears the same or nearly the same name as a title of authority, but the person bestowed d ...

awarded by the President of Finland to elder statesmen. It is one of two titles (the other being

vuorineuvos Vuorineuvos ("mining counselor", literally Finnish for "mountain counselor"; sv, bergsråd) is a Finnish honorary title granted by the President of Finland to leading figures in industry and commerce. The title is honorary and has no responsibili ...

) in the highest class of State of Finland honors. A tax on the titles of 48,400 euros or 12,100 euros must be paid by whoever proposes the title to a holder. Some former Social Democratic prime ministers such as Rafael Paasio, Kalevi Sorsa and

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 t ...

all declined the honor when it was offered to them. Lipponen commented that no one outside Finland knows what valtioneuvos is, and that he is satisfied with "former Prime Minister".

Title holders

References

{{reflist Honorary titles Finnish culture