his gorgeous finish man you see here, is the politician and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland! YES! It is not so often to see young intelligent and cool politicians around. A very smart and open mind person. But let’s see his history: Born April 1, 1968. In 1986, Stubb graduated from Mainland High School in Daytona Beach, Florida and graduated two years later from the Gymnasiet Lärkan in Helsinki. After completing his military service, he won a golf scholarship to Furman University in South Carolina, where he intended to study for a business degree. He later switched to political science, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1993. The following year he gained a Diploma in French Language and Civilisation from the Sorbonne in Paris. In addition to his native languages Swedish and Finnish (as a Swedish-speaking Finn), Stubb speaks English, French and German. In 1995 he gained a Master of Arts in European Affairs from the College of Europe, Belgium. Between 1995 and 1997 he was a researcher at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and then at the Finnish Academy from 1997 to 1999. In 1997 he also started his work as a columnist, which he continues today. Stubb gained a Doctor of Philosophy from the London School of Economics in 1999. Between 1999 and 2001 he was a special researcher at Finland’s representation to the European Union in Brussels, as well as a member of the Finnish government’s delegation to the intergovernmental negotiations for the Treaty of Nice.
In 2000, he became a professor at the College of Europe, a position he still holds. 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 elections to the European Parliament. He lived in Genval, Belgium, with his wife, Suzanne Innes-Stubb who is a British-born lawyer until they moved to Tapiola, Espoo She works for the law firm White & Case in Brussels. They have two children, a daughter named Emilie and a son called Oliver Johan. A “confessed sports nut”, Stubb regularly competes in marathons, triathlons and has finished an Ironman Triathlon. Alexander 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 his time he became one of the most well-known members of the Parliament. Stubb was a member on the Committee on Budgetary Control and a vice-president on the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection. He was a substitute member on 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 euro 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. On 1 April 2008, Stubb’s 40th birthday, the Finnish government announced that Stubb would be appointed as 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 had been unanimous and his seat in the European Parliament will be taken up by Sirpa Pietikäinen, a former environment minister. Stubb is seen as a competent politician and has been a supporter of Finland’s accession to NATO, stating he does not understand Finland’s non-alignment policy. He also 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 foreign minister of Finland, Stubb also becomes Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Stubb has stated that he has “always been of the opinion that matters must be discussed openly and honestly”, hence he is a columnist for various newspapers; APU, Ilta-Sanomat, Blue Wings, various papers in Suomen Lehtiyhtymä group, Nykypäivä and Hufvudstadsbladet. He has also authored a number of academic articles and nine books about the European Union. Stubb has a podcast and a blog, which he maintained post-election despite some other Finnish political figures largely abandoning theirs. 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.
” I have worked as the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland since April 2008. It’s a fascinating job. There is nothing like representing a dynamic country from the north-eastern corner of Europe. My party, Kokoomus (centre-right liberal), is in a coalition government with the Centre Party, the Green League and the Swedish People’s Party of Finland. In total there are 20 ministers in the Cabinet.I must admit that I am a bit of an EU nerd. I used to work as a civil servant in Helsinki and Brussels. I came to government from the European Parliament where my focus was on the institutions and the internal market of the EU. I hope that these pages will give you a flavour of the type of work done by the Foreign Minister of Finland. In my blog you will find an almost daily analysis of foreign policy affairs – the ups and the downs. And yes, I know, I should write more in English. You can also have a laugh at my personal section where I try to explain who I am, or at least who I think I am. The publications section gives you a flavour of my columns, articles and books. It also includes some speeches and Press Releases. In the picture gallery, you will find photos from the corridors of the Ministry and elsewhere. Please check out my assistants too; they try to keep me under control. I call them my “Yes, Minister” gang. Feedback is always welcome, so drop me a line or two and tell me what you think. You’ll find my contact details above. Increase the Peace!”
Alexander Stubb participate also at the opening of Helsinki Gay Pride 2010 ad talk to his people in that occasion. This prove that he is seriously involved on the social-political Finnish life. How you could not admire and vote such people? Why not every country have a Stubb style politician too? We are all tired to see same old and sometime stupid people in charge of our governs! We always think that Obama is the only cool politician around. Well…now we know that Alexander Stubb exist too. Our congratulation Mr. Stubb! Your country must be proud of you. But you have to know that now, we are proud of you too!
www.alexstubb.com
