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 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...

political party in Finland This article is a list of political parties in Finland, which includes Finland's national-level political parties and excludes local and provincial parties (such as the parties of Åland). A party is defined as a political association whose exis ...

. 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 ...

of the political spectrum. It is a

reformist Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement. Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can ...

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 Animal consciousness, sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their Utilitarianism, utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding s ...

and green liberal 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 de ...

, the Green League is pro-European and was the first Finnish party in favor of the

federalisation of the European Union The United States of Europe (USE), the European State, the European Federation and Federal Europe, is the hypothetical scenario of the European integration leading to formation of a sovereign superstate (similar to the United States of America ...

. 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 The Global Greens (GG) is an international network of political parties and movements which work to implement the Global Greens Charter. It consists of various national Green political parties, partner networks, and other organizations associate ...

and the

European Green Party The European Green Party (EGP), also referred to as European Greens, is the European political party that represents national parties from across Europe who share Green values. The European Greens works closely with the Greens–European Free ...

; its MEPs 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 Pekka Olavi Haavisto (born 23 March 1958) is a Finnish politician of the Green League who has been serving as the Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2019. Haavisto returned to the Finnish Parliament in the Finnish parliamentary election of M ...

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 t ...

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

. The party slowly rose in popularity between 1995 and 2007, 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, 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. From 2015 to 2019, the party was in opposition, and provided harsh criticism regarding the actions of the conservative

Sipilä Cabinet The cabinet of Juha Sipilä was the 74th government of Finland, from 2015 to 2019. It was formed following the parliamentary election of 2015 and formally appointed by President Sauli Niinistö on 29 May 2015. From June 2017, the cabinet consis ...

such as financial support for economically well-off companies,

Fortum Fortum Oyj is a Finnish state-owned energy company located in Espoo, Finland. In addition to Finland, it focuses on Germany and other countries in Central Europe, Great Britain, Russia and the Nordic region. Fortum operates power plants, inc ...

's purchase of Uniper, 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 entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

-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, feminists, 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 subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

an green party to be part of a state-level cabinet. 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 Robert Michels (; 9 January 1876 – 3 May 1936) was a German-born Italian sociologist who contributed to elite theory by describing the political behavior of intellectual elites. He belonged to the Italian school of elitism. He is best know ...

iron law of oligarchy The iron law of oligarchy is a political theory first developed by the German-born Italian sociologist Robert Michels in his 1911 book ''Political Parties''.James L. Hyland. ''Democratic theory: the philosophical foundations''. Manchester, Engl ...

, which claims that movements inevitably degenerate into oligarchies 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, ...

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 Phi ...

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 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 Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

, and

became the

Minister of the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of the environment) is a cabinet position charged with protecting the natural environment and promoting wildlife conservation. The areas associated with the duties of an ...

, 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 Satu Maijastiina Hassi (born 3 June 1951) is a Finnish politician, and former Member of the European Parliament for the Green League. She served as the Minister of Environment and Development Co-Operation in Paavo Lipponen's second cabinet betw ...

and Heidi Hautala. 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, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

, 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 A leadership election is a political contest held in various countries by which the members of a political party determine who will be the leader of their party. Generally, any political party can determine its own rules governing how and when a l ...

, there were six candidates running for party chair, of whom MP

Touko Aalto Touko Juhani Aalto (born 1 April 1984) is a Finnish politician. He was chairman of the Green League from 2017 to 2018. He represented the electoral district of Central Finland in the Parliament of Finland 2015–2019. Life Aalto was born in S ...

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. Maria Ohisalo 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 in its party program.

Ideology and policies

The Green League is no longer a protest party, nor an alternative movement. 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

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: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

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

. 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 sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

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

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 in the second round held on 5 February.

Politicians

List of party chairs

File:Kalle Könkkölä.jpg,

Kalle Könkkölä Kalle Könkkölä Kalle Kustaa Topias Könkkölä (16 January 1950 – 11 September 2018) was a Finnish politician and human rights activist. He was one of the two first Green members of the Finnish Parliament, from 1983 to 1987, even before t ...

(1987) File:Heidi_Hautala_A4.jpg, Heidi Hautala
(1987–1991) File:Pekka_Sauri.jpg, Pekka Sauri
(1991–1993) File:Pekka_Haavisto_2x3.jpg,

(1993–1995, 2018–2019) File:Tuijabrax.jpg, Tuija Brax
(1995–1997) File:Satu_Hassi,_Finland-MIP-Europaparlament-by-Leila-Paul-1.jpg,

(1997–2001) File:Osmo_Soininvaara.jpg,

Osmo Soininvaara Osmo Heikki Kristian Soininvaara (born 2 September 1951 in Helsinki) is a Finnish politician and writer. He served as Minister of Social Services in Paavo Lipponen's second cabinet between 14 April 2000 and 19 April 2002. He was the leader of the ...

(2001–2005) File:Tarja_Cronberg_Finnish_MEP_2014.jpg, Tarja Cronberg
(2005–2009) File:Anni Sinnemäki Kolmen Sepän Aukiolla.JPG,

Anni Sinnemäki Anni Milja Maaria Sinnemäki (born 20 July 1973) is a Finnish politician and a member of the Finnish Parliament between 1999 and 2015, representing the Green League. Biography She was first elected to the parliament in 1999 and served as the M ...

(2009–2011) File:Ville Niinistö 2009.jpg, Ville Niinistö
(2011–2017) File:Touko Aalto.jpg,

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

(

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 cou ...

) File:Maria Ohisalo 2019 cropped.jpg, Maria Ohisalo
( Minister of the Interior)
(New) File:Krista Mikkonen.jpg,

Krista Mikkonen Krista Johanna Mikkonen (born 15 November 1972 in Hamina, Finland) is a Finnish politician for the Green League, member of parliament, and Finland's Minister of the Interior. She lives in Joensuu, but spent her childhood in Koria. She was first ...

( Minister of the Environment and Climate Change) File:Mari_Holopainen.jpg, Mari Holopainen
(New) File:Emma_Kari.jpg, Emma Kari File:Pirkka-Pekka_Petelius.jpg,

Pirkka-Pekka Petelius Pirkka-Pekka Petelius (born 31 May 1953) is a Finnish actor, director, producer, screenwriter and politician. He has also released six records as a singer. He is a member of the Green League and was elected to the Finnish parliament in the 2019 ...

(New) File:Inka_Hopsu.jpg, Inka Hopsu
(New) File:Alanko-kahiluoto.jpg, Outi Alanko-Kahiluoto File:Iiris Suomela 2020.jpg, Iiris Suomela
(New) File:Satu Hassi, Finland-MIP-Europaparlament-by-Leila-Paul-1.jpg,

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

Hanna Holopainen Hanna Riikka Holopainen (born 8 October 1976 in Lappeenranta) is a Finnish Green League politician currently serving in the Parliament of Finland for the electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislat ...

(New) File:Mirka Soinikoski 2019.jpg, Mirka Soinikoski
(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, Heidi Hautala File:Ville_Niinistö_2009.jpg, Ville Niinistö File:Alviina Alametsä helmikuu 2019.jpg, Alviina Alametsä

References

External links

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