Ville Tavio
{{short description|Finnish politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Ville Tavio
| image = Ville-Tavio-O45A9250 (cropped).jpg
| caption = Tavio in 2023
| office = Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade
| primeminister = Petteri Orpo
| term_start = 20 June 2023
| term_end =
| predecessor = Ville Skinnari
| successor =
| office1 = Chairperson of the Finns Party Parliamentary Group
| term_start1 = 23 April 2019
| term_end1 =
| predecessor1 = Leena Meri
| successor1 =
| office2 = Member of the Finnish Parliament
for Finland Proper
| term_start2 = 22 April 2015
| term_end2 =
| predecessor2 =
| successor2 =
| birth_name = Ville Tapani Tavio
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1984|6|25|df=y}}
| birth_place = Lappeenranta, South Karelia, Finland
| death_date =
| death_place =
| party = Finns Party
| spouse =
| children =
| alma_mater =
| website = {{URL|villetavio.fi|Official website}}
}}
Ville Tapani Tavio (born June 25, 1984) is a Finnish politician and member of the Parliament of Finland (MP).{{Cite web|url=https://www.is.fi/politiikka/art-2000006071809.html|title=Tässä uusi eduskunta – katso kaikki 200 kansanedustajaa|last=IS|date=2019-04-15|website=Ilta-Sanomat|language=fi|access-date=2019-09-21}} He became the chairperson of the Finns Party Parliamentary Group in April 2019.{{Cite web|url=https://www.is.fi/politiikka/art-2000006220328.html|title=Ville Tavio arvostelee hallituksen taloustoimia: Perussuomalaisten linja on, että valtio ei voi jakaa sellaista, mitä sillä ei ole|last1=Jantunen|first1=Salla|last2=Joensuu|date=2019-08-29|website=Ilta-Sanomat|language=fi|access-date=2019-09-21}}{{cite web |url=https://www.ts.fi/uutiset/4555793 |title=Turkulainen Tavio Perussuomalaisten eduskuntaryhmän johtoon |last=Taponen |first=Aki |publisher=TS-Yhtymä oy |date=April 23, 2019 |website=Turun Sanomat |access-date=September 20, 2019 |language=fi}} He has been Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade since June 2023.
Education
After upper secondary school graduation, Tavio enrolled in the University of Turku and received LL.M. degree in 2012. He has been an exchange student at the Prince of Songkla University in Thailand in 2010.{{cite web |last=Tavio |first=Ville |date=September 16, 2019 |title=CV of Ville Tavio |url=http://puheenvuoro.uusisuomi.fi/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/2019-09-16-Tavio-CV-Eng.pdf |access-date=September 26, 2019 |website= |publisher= |language=}}
Political career
Tavio joined the Finns Party in 2012.{{cite web |url=http://www.kansalainen.fi/ville-tavio-suomi-on-suomalaisten-kansallisvaltio/ |title=Ville Tavio: "Suomi on suomalaisten kansallisvaltio" |last=Ollikainen |first=Jasmina |publisher=Vapaan sanan tuki ry |date=May 16, 2019 |website=Kansalainen |access-date=September 20, 2019 |language=fi}} He was first elected to the Turku City Council in October 2012 and to the Parliament of Finland in April 2015.
In June 2023, he was appointed Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade in the Orpo Cabinet.{{Cite web |title=Prime Minister Orpo's Government appointed |url=https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/-/10616/prime-minister-orpo-s-government-appointed |access-date=2023-06-21 |website=Valtioneuvosto |language=en-US}}
Controversies
After his appointment in June 2023, Tavio's past remarks came under scrutiny, as he had continuously claimed in the Parliament that ethnic Finns are being demographically replaced with non-white peoples, thus referring to the Great Replacement. Finnish Security Intelligence Service considers that the Great Replacement is one of the noteworthy ideological motivations of far-right terrorism.{{Cite web |title=Ministeri Ville Tavio on puhunut väestönvaihdosta useita kertoja eduskunnassa|url=https://www.hs.fi/politiikka/art-2000009695963.html |date=2023-07-03 |access-date=2023-07-04 |website=Helsingin Sanomat}}
Tavio has also written that, if living in the Wild West, "climate-crazed" president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen would have been "kicked out of the country and dipped in oil and feathers". These writings circulated widely in German media after Tavio's appointment.{{Cite web |title=Das Gruselkabinett |url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/finnland-neonazi-verschwoerungstheorien-rassismus-regierung-orpo-junnila-rantanen-1.5997189?reduced=true |date=2023-07-04 |access-date=2023-07-05 |website=Süddeutsche Zeitung}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.villetavio.fi Ville Tavio] – Ville Tavio's website {{in lang|fi}}
{{Eduskunta members 2023–2027}}{{Eduskunta members 2019–2023}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tavio, Ville}}
Category:People from Lappeenranta
Category:Finns Party politicians
Category:Members of the Parliament of Finland (2015–2019)
Category:Members of the Parliament of Finland (2019–2023)
Category:Members of the Parliament of Finland (2023–2027)
Category:Trade ministers of Finland
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