Esko Aho

{{Short description|Prime minister of Finland from 1991 to 1995}}

{{Infobox officeholder| name = Esko Aho

| image = File:Esko Aho in 2022.jpg

| caption = Esko Aho in 2022

| order = 37th Prime Minister of Finland

| term_start = 26 April 1991

| term_end = 13 April 1995

| president = Mauno Koivisto
Martti Ahtisaari

| deputy = Ilkka Kanerva
Pertti Salolainen

| predecessor = Harri Holkeri

| successor = Paavo Lipponen

| birth_name = Esko Tapani Aho

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1954|5|20|df=y}}

| birth_place = Veteli, Finland

| death_date =

| death_place =

| party = Centre

| spouse = Kirsti Aho

| profession = Master of Political Sciences,

Visiting Professor at Sciences Po, Paris

| nickname =

}}

Esko Tapani Aho (born 20 May 1954) is a Finnish politician who was prime minister of Finland from 1991 to 1995.{{Cite web |url=http://www.valtioneuvosto.fi/hakemisto/ministerikortisto/ministeritiedot.asp?nro=458 |title=Ministerikortisto |publisher=Valtioneuvosto }} {{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Early life and career

Aho was born in Veteli, Finland. Prior to attending university, he began a career in politics. From 1974 to 1979, he was chairman of the Finnish Centre Youth, many of whose previous chairmen had risen to high political positions. In 1978, he became a presidential elector, a position he also held in 1982 and 1998. From 1979 to 1980, Aho was political secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 1980 to 1983, he was a trade promoter for the municipality of Kannus.[http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/information_society/evaluation/data/pdf/fp6_ict_expost/ex-post_panel.pdf Ex-post Evaluation of the IST Thermatic Priority], 6th FP. Retrieved 23 January 2010.

Aho studied at the University of Helsinki, graduating with a Master of Social Science degree in 1981.

Since 2010 he has been a member of the board of the Skolkovo Innovation Center. Currently, he is a visiting professor at Sciences Po, Paris.{{Cite web|url=http://www.sciencespo.fr/psia/faculty|title=Faculty {{!}} Sciences Po psia|date=30 June 2014|website=www.sciencespo.fr|language=en|access-date=14 December 2017|archive-date=15 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215053340/http://www.sciencespo.fr/psia/faculty|url-status=dead}}

Parliamentary career

File:Esko-Aho-1993.jpg

File:Visit of Esko Aho, Finnish Prime Minister, to the EC.jpg in 1994]]

Aho was first elected to the Finnish Parliament (eduskunta) in 1983. He became chairman of the Centre Party in 1990, a position that he held until 2002. The party was at the time one of three major political parties in Finland.{{Cite web

|url = http://www.eduskunta.fi/triphome/bin/hx5000.sh?{hnro}=104&{kieli}=su&{haku}=kaikki

|title = Edustajamatrikkeli

|publisher = Eduskunta

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110611023315/http://www.eduskunta.fi/triphome/bin/hx5000.sh?%7Bhnro%7D=104&%7Bkieli%7D=su&%7Bhaku%7D=kaikki

|archive-date = 11 June 2011

}}. Retrieved 23 January 2010.

At 36 years of age, he was the youngest prime minister in Finnish history.{{cite web |url=http://www.iop.harvard.edu/Programs/Fellows-Study-Groups/Former-Fellows/Esko_Aho |title=Harvard University Institute of Politics - Esko Aho |access-date=23 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100703071958/http://www.iop.harvard.edu/Programs/Fellows-Study-Groups/Former-Fellows/Esko_Aho |archive-date=3 July 2010 }}

Aho was the prime minister of a centre-right coalition government (Centre Party, National Coalition Party, Christian Democrats and Swedish People's Party) from 1991 to 1995. He is best known for leading Finland into the European Union. Aho's own party, most of whose voters lived and live in rural areas, was the most opposed to EU membership among major parties. The greatest concern of these voters was the EU's effect on Finnish agriculture,{{cite web| url = http://www.hs.fi/english/print/1101978168148| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121020183825/http://www.hs.fi/english/print/1101978168148| archive-date = 20 October 2012| title = Helsingin Sanomat – International Edition}} but they were persuaded to support membership due to the prime minister's diplomacy. Finland applied for EU membership on 16 March 1992, and a referendum was held two and a half years later.Journal of European Integration, Volume 19, Issue 1 Autumn 1995 , pages 43 – 69 Enlargement of the European Union and the Nordic Model Aho's government also faced the deep economic depression of the early 1990s. Despite a steep rise in the national debt, the Aho government applied a stringent policy of austerity that made it unpopular. This partly caused its fall in the 1995 election and the Centre Party's eight-year period in the opposition.Porvarihallitus: [http://sites.google.com/site/oikeisto/ Porvarihallitusten ottama velka], accessed 28 March 2011.

Aho had the nickname "Kennedy of Kannus" Kannus being his hometown) due to his streamlined and well coiffed habitus reminiscent of John F. Kennedy.

Esko Aho lost the bid for President of Finland to Tarja Halonen in 2000. He subsequently retired from active politics, initially in the form of a "sabbatical leave" of one year, during which he led a study group on the EU in the 2000 fall semester at Harvard University (where he was a resident fellow at the Institute of Politics). In the 2003 election he left{{clarify|date=October 2022}} parliament and retired from daily politics. He then served as the president of the Finnish national innovation fund SITRA (the Finnish National Fund for Research and Development).{{Cite web |date=4 June 2011 |title=Finnish ex-PM Esko Aho to join Nokia management – Forbes.com |url=https://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2008/08/15/afx5327262.html |access-date=28 February 2022 |website= Forbes|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604031949/https://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2008/08/15/afx5327262.html |archive-date=4 June 2011 |url-status=dead}}

In 2008, Aho's name was included in an opinion poll on possible presidential candidates, in which he ranked last.{{cite web |url=http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/kotimaa/2008/08/stubb_karkikolmikossa_presidenttikyselyssa_315268.html |title=Stubb kärkikolmikossa presidenttikyselyssä | Kotimaa | YLE Uutiset | yle.fi |access-date=23 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606221637/http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/kotimaa/2008/08/stubb_karkikolmikossa_presidenttikyselyssa_315268.html |archive-date=6 June 2011 }} Stubb kärkikolmikossa presidenttikyselyssä YLE 20 August 2010

On 1 November 2008, Aho became Nokia's executive vice president of corporate relations and responsibility and became a member of its executive board.{{cite news | url=https://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2008/08/15/afx5327262.html | work=Forbes | title=Finnish ex-PM Esko Aho to join Nokia management | date=15 August 2008 | access-date=27 August 2017 | archive-date=4 June 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604031949/https://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2008/08/15/afx5327262.html | url-status=dead }}[http://www.nokia.com/press/press-releases/showpressrelease?newsid=1243842 Esko Aho to join Nokia on 1 November 2008 – Veli Sundbäck to retire at the end of May 2009 Nokia]

At the time of his rise to prime minister, he was the youngest head of government in Europe.

Banks

Aho became a member of the board of directors of the Russian Sberbank in 2016.{{cite web | url = https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-8751004| title = Esko Ahoa esitetään venäläispankin johtopaikalle| work = Yle Uutiset| date = 17 March 2016| access-date = 30 March 2018}} He resigned from the position in February 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.{{cite web | url = https://www.is.fi/politiikka/art-2000008638785.html| title = Esko Aho IS:lle: "Jätän Sberbankin välittömästi" | work = Ilta-Sanomat | date = 24 February 2022 | access-date = 24 February 2022}}

Honors

55x55px Order of the White Rose of Finland (Finland, 1992){{Cite web |date=2021-04-25 |title=ANNETUT KUNNIAMERKIT 1990-2021 |url=https://ritarikunnat.fi/annetut-kunniamerkit-1991-2021/ |access-date=2024-04-06 |website=Ritarikunnat |language=fi}}
55x55px Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana (Estonia, 2003){{Cite web |title=Teenetemärkide kavalerid |url=https://president.ee/et/teenetemargid/teenetemarkide-kavalerid/11623-esko-tapani-aho |access-date=2024-04-06 |website=Vabariigi Presidendi Kantselei |language=et}}
55x55px Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (Italy, 1993){{Cite web |year=2024 |title=AHO S.E. Esko |url=https://www.quirinale.it/onorificenze/insigniti/11137 |access-date=2024-04-06 |website=Palazzo del Quirinale |language=it}}