Alexander Stubb

Cai-Göran Alexander Stubb (, born 1 April 1968) is a Finnish politician who has been the 13th president of Finland since 2024. He previously served as Prime Minister of Finland from 2014 to 2015.

Rising in politics as a researcher specialised in the affairs of the European Union, he was elected to the European Parliament in 2004 as a member of the National Coalition Party. In 2008, Stubb was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs. In 2011, he was elected to the Finnish Parliament for the first time as an MP with the second-highest vote count in the election. He was then appointed Minister for European Affairs and Trade in the Cabinet of Jyrki Katainen.

When Katainen stepped down as Prime Minister and Chairman of the National Coalition Party in 2014, Stubb was elected as party chairman. He went on to form a five-party government coalition, and was officially appointed Prime Minister by President Sauli Niinistö on 24 June 2014. At the parliamentary election held in April 2015, Stubb's National Coalition Party lost its status as the largest party, coming in second in vote share and third in seats. After coalition negotiations between the winning Centre Party, Finns Party and National Coalition Party, Stubb was appointed Minister of Finance on 29 May 2015 by newly elected Prime Minister Juha Sipilä.

In 2016, Stubb's leadership was challenged from within the party by MP Elina Lepomäki and Interior Minister Petteri Orpo. On 11 June, Stubb lost the leadership to Orpo at the party conference. Resigning as Finance Minister, and declining further ministerial positions, Stubb resigned as a Member of Parliament in 2017 to accept appointment as vice-president of the European Investment Bank. After his term at the European Investment Bank ended in January 2020, he was chosen as the director and professor of the School of Transnational Governance at the European University Institute.

In August 2023, Stubb announced his decision to run in the 2024 Finnish presidential election. He finished first in the first round of voting on 28 January and won the run-off on 11 February, winning 51.6% of the votes against the former Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto. Stubb is the second Finland-Swedish president in the history of Finland after C. G. E. Mannerheim, and the first to be elected.

Early life and education

Stubb was born in Helsinki into a bilingual family; his father, Göran Stubb, is a native Swedish-speaker and his mother, Christel Stubb ( Setälä), was a native Finnish speaker. Stubb spoke both languages at home. While Stubb is a native of Helsinki, he has family roots from the Pedersöre municipality located in the Swedish-speaking Ostrobothnia, where there is also a village called Stubb. His father worked in the business of professional ice hockey; he was the CEO of the Finnish Ice Hockey Association from 1976 to 1983, and also worked as the NHL Director of Euro Scouting. Through his mother, he is descended from the Setälä family, and his maternal grandfather was professor Kai Setälä.

Stubb spent his childhood in Lehtisaari, Helsinki. He played ice hockey in HIFK until his teen years. He started playing golf when he was twelve years old and during high school played in the Finnish national golf team. In 1986, Stubb graduated from Mainland High School in Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S., and, two years later, graduated from the Gymnasiet Lärkan in Helsinki, then completed his military service at Santahamina.

Stubb won a golf scholarship to Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, U.S. He was a member of the Finnish national golf team and intended to become a professional golfer after graduation, but studying with political scientist Brent Nelsen and other faculty caused him to quit golf after a year to focus on his studies. Stubb graduated with a BA degree in political science from Furman University in 1993.

The following year he studied French and obtained a diploma in French Language and Civilisation from the Sorbonne University, Paris, in 1994. Stubb speaks five languages: Swedish, Finnish, English, French, and German.

In 1995, Stubb graduated with an MA degree in political science ( European affairs) from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium. He then went on to pursue a doctorate at the London School of Economics and Political Science under the supervision of William Wallace, Baron Wallace of Saltaire, obtaining his PhD degree in international politics in June 1999. Wallace later said: "LSE has had a number of extremely bright Finnish students in recent years – but Alex was one of the most outstanding." Stubb's thesis was called ''Flexible Integration and the Amsterdam Treaty: negotiating differentiation in the 1996–97 IGC'' and it dealt with the 1996–97 Intergovernmental Conference of the European Union.

Early career

Between 1995 and 1997, Stubb was a researcher at the Finnish Foreign Office, and then at the Academy of Finland from 1997 to 1999. In 1997 he began to work also as a columnist.

From 1999 to 2001, Stubb was a researcher in Finland's representation in the European Union in Brussels, and a member of the Finnish government's delegation to the intergovernmental negotiations for the Treaty of Nice. In 2000, he became a lecturer at the College of Europe. Following the IGC's conclusion in 2001 he became an adviser to the President of the European Commission (then Romano Prodi) and a member of the Commission Task Force on the European Convention. In 2003 he returned to Finland's representation to the EU as a special expert and to the intergovernmental negotiations, this time for the European Constitution. When that ended in 2004, he stood for the National Coalition Party in the election to the European Parliament.

Political career

European Parliament (2004–2008)

Stubb served as an MEP for Finland from 2004 to 2008. He was elected in 2004 with 115,225 votes (the second highest number of votes in Finland for that election) as a member of the National Coalition Party. As that party was a member of the EPP, he sat in the European People's Party-European Democrats group. During this time he became one of the most well-known members of the Parliament.

Stubb was a member of the Committee on Budgetary Control and a vice-president of the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection. He was a substitute member of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs and the Delegation to the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee (as of August 2007).

In 2006, he wrote a report for the Parliament on the EU's interpretation costs, which was adopted by the Parliament. He called for greater awareness of the costs of translation, which he calculated as 511 million euros in 2005 for the Parliament, Commission and Council together. Despite the costs and the need for some changes, he underlined that multilingualism is one of the EU's main assets.

Stubb was vice-president of European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights.

Minister for Foreign Affairs (2008–2011)

On 1 April 2008, Stubb's 40th birthday, the Finnish government announced that Stubb would be appointed its new Minister for Foreign Affairs following a scandal surrounding his predecessor, Ilkka Kanerva. Stubb was sworn in on 4 April. The decision to appoint him was unanimous and his seat in the European Parliament was taken up by Sirpa Pietikäinen, a former environment minister.

On his appointment, Stubb was described as a competent politician and a supporter of Finland's accession to NATO, stating that he does not understand Finland's non-alignment policy.

In July 2010, Stubb invited the head of Al-Jazeera Wadah Khanfar and former President Martti Ahtisaari to discuss about the role of media in conflict resolution.
In October 2010, Stubb visited the Middle East and discussed the Middle Eastern conflict with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

In 2010, Stubb and Sweden's Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt proposed the European Institute of Peace. They developed a joint non-paper that was addressed to EU High Representative Catherine Ashton. They referred to the limits of traditional diplomacy and emphasised the added value that capacities beyond those available to high-level decision-makers could have. At the same time, the idea of a European Institute of Peace gained increasing attention among members of the European Parliament (MEP) and was particularly supported by German MEP Franziska Brantner and French MEP Alain Lamassoure. The institute was founded in 2014.

Stubb brought attention to issues of disabled people. In 2010 Stubb and Finnish sign language rapper Signmark – who had become the first deaf person to sign a recording contract with an international record company – worked together to organize Silent Shout event to support sign language speakers. Stubb and Signmark also later collaborated for bringing attention to disabled people in international forums.

Stubb does not believe the President of Finland needs to attend meetings of the European Council in addition to the Prime Minister. Jyrki Katainen, the Finnish Finance Minister and chairman of National Coalition Party, supported Stubb stating he was surprising, courageous and that he "puts a smile on one's face".

As the Foreign Minister of Finland, Stubb was the Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe from 5 April 2008 to 31 December 2008. The Russo-Georgian War occurred during this period, and OSCE brokered an agreement to send military observers to the area.

In January 2011, Stubb and EU Foreign Commissioner Catherine Ashton worked together to help hundreds of beaten and imprisoned opposition activists in Belarus.

During the 2011 Egyptian revolution, Stubb expressed hope that power in Egypt would be transferred to a democratically elected government as fast as possible and without violence.

Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade (2011–2014)

In 2011, Stubb stood for election to the Finnish Parliament for the first time and was elected MP. He was the second-most-popular candidate in the election, in which the National Coalition Party became the largest party. In the government negotiations the Foreign Affairs ministerial portfolio went to the Social Democrats. Stubb became Minister for Europe and Foreign Trade in Jyrki Katainen's cabinet.

During Euromaidan, Stubb argued that money should be used as a force for good in geo-political relations, stating: "As I have said before, money is the best peace mediator" and "Money should be given the Nobel Peace Prize". (As Prime Minister he would later change his stance after further escalation in Eastern Ukraine, describing EU's sanctions against Russia necessary.)
Stubb stated that the sanctions against Russia will not be removed until Russia has met the requirements set by the EU.

Prime Minister (2014–2015)

When Jyrki Katainen stepped down as Prime Minister and Chairman of the National Coalition Party, Stubb was elected as party chairman in June 2014 over his two rivals, Paula Risikko and Jan Vapaavuori. He formed a five party government coalition, and was officially appointed Prime Minister by President Sauli Niinistö on 24 June. One of the challenges the new Prime Minister faced is the relationship between Finland and neighboring Russia. This has always been a difficult issue for Finland, as it affects Finland's willingness to become a NATO member. The Russo-Ukrainian war as well as the dispute over free trade between Russia and Finland have made the issue thornier.

Stubb supported the proposal to implement basic income experiments in the country. In November 2014, Stubb organized Northern Future Forum, a meeting of Prime Ministers of Northern Europe, in Startup Sauna in Aalto University campus. In March 2015, Stubb invited companies and officials to an event to discuss industrial Internet and Internet of Things.

In the election held in April 2015, Stubb's National Coalition Party lost its status as the largest party, coming in as second in vote share and third in seats. Coalition negotiations began on 8 May between the winning Center Party, Finns Party and National Coalition Party. He resigned from the office days after the election and left office on 29 May 2015.

Minister of Finance (2015–2016)

Stubb was appointed Minister of Finance on 29 May 2015 by newly elected Prime Minister Juha Sipilä. Stubb demanded "structural reforms, structural reforms and more structural reforms". In November 2015, Stubb said at the Finnish Parliament that about 90 percent of the Finnish authoritatives supported introduction of administrative registration. However, it was revealed that in reality only about 10 percent of them supported it.

Stubb's term as Minister of Finance drew criticism due to his perceived insensitivity towards the effects of the spending cuts he introduced, which affected the Finnish welfare state and public education system. An instance of Stubb and Sipilä bumping fists after the end of a conference that announced a deal between Finnish trade unions and the Confederation of Finnish Industries was interpreted as a sign of mockery towards the trade unions.

In November and December 2015, Stubb was in the middle of a scandal when he was accused of lying to the Finnish Parliament consistently and deliberately. In November, Stubb had said to Parliament that 90 percent of the experts who had given a statement were supporting the government's pact to make it possible for Finns to own publicly listed companies' stock through nominee accounts. The real number was 10 percent, opposite of what Stubb had said. Chancellor of Justice Jaakko Jonkka received multiple complaints over Stubb. In his reply, Jonkka stated that Stubb's mistake in numbers was not deliberate, but was rather an unfortunate, whilst understandable, result of a fast-paced discussion over a policy draft.

Partly as a result of a series of Stubb's gaffes, such as insensitive tweets, in spring 2016, MP Elina Lepomäki and Minister of Interior Petteri Orpo announced that they would challenge Stubb in June's party conference. On 11 June, Stubb lost the election against Orpo, who became the new leader of the National Coalition Party. Orpo soon announced that he would take Stubb's seat as the Minister of Finance. In return, he offered Stubb the role of Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade, but Stubb declined and decided to continue as a Member of Parliament.

After Finnish politics

On 15 June 2017, Stubb was chosen as the vice-president of the European Investment Bank, after the previous representative from Finland Jan Vapaavuori had vacated the seat. He left his duties in the Parliament on 30 July 2017 in order to assume his new position. Stubb later commented that he had no interest in returning to the Finnish politics, but could be interested in running for the presidency of the European Commission or European Council.

In June 2017, Stubb was nominated by former President Martti Ahtisaari to assume the leadership of the Crisis Management Initiative, a non-governmental organisation that works to prevent and resolve conflicts. His position was confirmed by the board on 29 November 2017.

On 2 October 2018, Stubb launched his bid for presidency of the European Commission as the lead candidate of the European People's Party. On 8 November 2018, Stubb lost in EPP's Spitzenkandidat election against Manfred Weber, the group leader for the European People's Party in the European Parliament.

In January 2020, as Stubb's term at the European Investment Bank was ending, he was chosen as the director and professor of the School of Transnational Governance-based within the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. He started in the position on 1 May 2020.

2024 Finnish presidential election

Ahead of the Finnish presidential election in January 2024, Stubb was constantly among the names that were mentioned as the National Coalition Party's presidential candidate. When asked about the topic, Stubb replied that he had promised to seriously consider candidacy if the party asks him to be their candidate. On 14 August 2023, the board of the National Coalition Party decided to formally request Stubb to be the presidential candidate. On 16 August 2023, Stubb announced that he would accept National Coalition Party's candidacy in the presidential election.

With 27.21% of the total vote count, Stubb gained the most votes in the first round of voting and faced the former Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto in the second round. Stubb won the second round with 51.4% of the votes.

Presidency (2024–present)

Stubb succeeded Sauli Niinistö as President of Finland on 1 March 2024 when he was sworn in before Finland's parliament. Stubb is the first President from the Swedish-speaking minority since Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim who ruled the country from 1944 to 1946.

In September 2024, Stubb said that Finland is not ready to recognize a Palestinian state. He defended Finland's decision to buy a missile defense system called David's Sling from Israel despite the ongoing Gaza war.

Overseas visits

The same day he was sworn in, King Carl XVI Gustaf invited Stubb to visit Sweden in April. On 7 March 2024, Stubb made his first foreign trip as Finland's new president to NATO's Nordic Response military exercise in northern Norway. In July,
he attended the 2024 Washington summit, Finland's second NATO summit as a member of the alliance and the first during his presidency.

Political views

Stubb is a proponent of deepening European integration. When he was the Minister for Foreign Affairs in 2008, Stubb gave a speech in which he argued in favour of the EU taking an active role in international politics. He noted that while the EU is the world's largest economy, it is not a superpower but a regional soft power. When running for party leadership in 2014, he described himself as an "academic federalist", although "in practice a functionalist" with regard to the EU. Stubb, for example, opposes eurobonds. He also insisted that he is no longer the "pure federalist" that he used to be when he was a researcher. Stubb has expressed his support for Turkey's EU membership in 2010. He warned that Brexit could pose a " Lehman Brothers moment" that could lead to the collapse of the EU. Stubb held early on that Finland should apply for membership of NATO. Stubb also firmly opposes Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and has thus tried to strongly influence the US government to offer its support to Ukraine, including by holding close discussions with President Donald Trump.

Stubb is seen as a representative of the National Coalition Party's liberal wing. He has characterised himself as a liberal, as well as a moderate liberal. Stubb wants to bring about a "more positive way of doing politics". He believes everyone should be appreciated and respected even when there are disagreements. He supports same-sex marriage, and has been the patron of Helsinki's gay pride parade. He supports multiculturalism, and believes that increasing immigration to Finland is necessary.Stubb: Nämä aatteet korvasivat oikeiston ja vasemmiston
, Verkkouutiset 30 September 2014, accessed 3 October 2014. Stubb believes that the most important political divide in modern politics is that between the supporters of globalisation (like himself) and opponents of globalisation. During his presidential campaign, he announced that his foreign and security policies would be consensual, and contingent upon existential circumstances.

Other work

An active columnist, Stubb has stated that he has "always been of the opinion that matters must be discussed openly and honestly". Since his professorship at the College of Europe, Stubb has published 16 books, dozens of academic articles, and hundreds of columns. In 2016, Stubb started to write columns for the ''Financial Times''. Stubb maintains a blog. He is also one of the most active Twitter users among European leaders. He has co-authored an e-book in Finnish about what to do on Twitter.

Stubb regularly contributes to the STG channel on YouTube ( EUI School of Transnational Governance). His book ''Alaston totuus ja muita kirjoituksia suomalaisista ja eurooppalaisista – The Naked Truth and Other Stories About Finns and Europeans'' (), a collection of his columns for the Finnair in-flight magazine ''Blue Wings'', was published in a bilingual Finnish–English edition by WSOY in 2009. Stubb has received the Schwarzkopf Foundation prize.

Electoral history

Finnish presidential election

European Parliament elections

Finland Parliamentary elections

Source:

Honours

National honours

* : Commander of the Order of the White Rose of Finland (2010)
*: Grand Master and Commander Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the White Rose of Finland (2024)
*: Grand Master and Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the Lion of Finland (2024)
*: Grand Master and Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the Cross of Liberty (2024)

Foreign honours

* : Knight of the Order of the Elephant (4 March 2025)
*:
** Collar of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana (23 May 2024)
** First Class of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana (2014)
*: Officer of the Order of Legion of Honour (2018)
*: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (5 September 2008)
*:
** Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Olav (15 October 2024)
** Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit (2012)
* : Knight of the Royal Order of the Seraphim (23 April 2024)

Honorary doctorates

*: Honorary Doctor of Business Sciences – LUT University (2012)
*: Honorary Doctor of Philosophy – Furman University (2017)
*: Honorary Doctor of Arts – University of the Arts Helsinki (2024)

Personal life

Relationship in America

In the early 1990s, when Stubb went to the United States to study, he met fellow student Kerstin Armstrong (née Reinhold) and they dated at university for three years. Ultimately, their relationship was incompatible with their thoughts on religion.

Family

Stubb is married to Suzanne Innes-Stubb, a British–Finnish lawyer whom he met at the College of Europe in Bruges. They have two children (born in 2001 and 2004). She is the first person of overseas origin to become the First Lady of Finland.

Stubb resided in Westend, Espoo, before his election as president. He previously owned two cats but one died in 2024. He also owns a cat which he adopted from a rescue organisation in 2016.

Stubb is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.

Sports enthusiasm

Alexander Stubb played ice hockey for HIFK as a youth but stopped playing in the B-juniors. Stubb has been still a familiar sight at HIFK's home games, at the Helsinki Ice Hall.

After ice hockey, Stubb moved on to golf and became a member of the Helsinki Golf Club in the mid-1980s. Stubb was able to study at Furman University in the United States on a partial golf scholarship in the late 1980s. After quitting competitive golf, Stubb really focused on his studies.

As a "confessed sports nut", Stubb regularly competes in marathons and triathlons and has finished Ironman Triathlons.

In his 2012 Frankfurt Ironman, he competed with "Iron Birds Finland", a team of 18 people competing to support leukemia research.
In the 2013 Ironman Sweden (in Kalmar), Stubb's time was 9:55'47. Stubb ran his best marathon time, 3:08:13, in the 2015 Frankfurt Marathon.

Languages

Stubb is polyglot. He speaks and understands both Finnish and Swedish natively and also speaks English, French, German and Italian.

Cabinets

* Stubb Cabinet

References

External links

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Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Stubb
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stubb, Alexander
1968 births
Living people
Politicians from Helsinki
Prime ministers of Finland

Ministers for foreign affairs of Finland
Ministers of finance of Finland
Members of the Parliament of Finland (2011–2015)
Members of the Parliament of Finland (2015–2019)
MEPs for Finland 2004–2009
National Coalition Party MEPs
Swedish-speaking Finns
National Coalition Party politicians
Alumni of the London School of Economics
College of Europe alumni
Academic staff of the College of Europe
Furman University alumni
Paris-Sorbonne University alumni
Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 1st Class
Presidents of Finland
21st-century Finnish diplomats