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{{Short description|Finnish politician (born 1981)}}{{Title language|fi|italics=no}}{{Expand Finnish|topic=bio|date=October 2020}}{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}

factoids

| term_start1 = 4 July 2014| residence = Espoo| caption = Valtonen in 2023elinavaltonen.fi/}}| image = File:Elina-Valtonen-02 (cropped).jpgHelsinki University of Technology|Helsinki School of Economics}}}}’ (formerly ’; born 23 October 1981)Minister for Foreign Affairs, valtioneuvosto.fi. is a Finnish politician who has served as Minister for Foreign Affairs under Prime Minister Petteri Orpo since 2023. A member of the National Coalition Party (NCP), she has represented the constituency of Uusimaa in the Parliament of Finland since 2014.WEB,www.eduskunta.fi/EN/kansanedustajat/Pages/1279.aspx, Elina Lepomäki, Parliament of Finland, In the 2021 municipal election she collected the second-highest number of votes in Helsinki and was elected a member of its city council.WEB, Municipal election 2021 Result service,vaalit.yle.fi/kv2021/en/regions/1/municipalities/91, live, 9 January 2022,web.archive.org/web/20210613224733/https://vaalit.yle.fi/kv2021/en/regions/1/municipalities/91, 13 June 2021,

Early life

As a child, Valtonen lived with her family in Bonn, West Germany; she completed A-levels (Reifeprüfung diploma) at the Deutsche Schule Helsinki.

Education

Valtonen holds a master’s degree in both technology and financial economics from the Helsinki University of Technology and Helsinki School of Economics. She is an shareholder in several technology start-ups;Elina Valtonen, www.nordicbankingforum.com. she chaired the board of the pro free-market think tank, Libera, from 2015 to 2021.WEB,www.libera.fi/libera/, Mikä Libera?, Libera,

Career

Prior to entering politics in 2014, Valtonen spent 10 years in investment banking, as a director at Royal Bank of Scotland and as a senior analyst at Nordea.“NCP MP had €100k offshore in 2014, denies wrongdoing”, Yle. 5 October 2021. She has developed a model for transforming the welfare state into a digital sharing economy, called the Life Account.WEB,www.ft.com/content/12a896c2-eb6e-11e5-bb79-2303682345c8, The Finnish model of welfare for the digital age, 17 March 2016, subscription, Financial Times, In 2018, she participated in a Bilderberg Meeting in Turin.In April 2016, Valtonen announced her candidacy for the leadership of the National Coalition Party. In the first round of the leadership election on 11 June 2016 she received 15% of the vote and thus failed to be elected.WEB,yle.fi/uutiset/stubb_ja_orpo_puheenjohtajavaalin_toiselle_kierrokselle__orpo_tarvitsee_voittoon_vain_11_aanta/8950134, Stubb and Orpo fight in the second round - Orpo only needs 11 votes to win, Yle News, 11 June 2016, In September 2020, Valtonen was elected as a new deputy chair of the National Coalition Party.NEWS, Häkkänen, Lepomäki and Ikonen become vice-chairs of the Coalition Party, Yle,yle.fi/uutiset/3-11530160, 9 January 2022, 6 September 2020, In the parliamentary elections of 2023, Valtonen raised the largest election campaign budget, 179,000 euros.WEB, 2023-08-20, Ulkoministeri Elina Valtosen vaalirahoitus ilmoitettu yli 40 000 euroa liian pieneksi, HS kertoo – onkin eduskuntavaalien suurin,yle.fi/a/74-20046049, 2023-12-19, Yle Uutiset, fi, Her biggest funders were Chaim Poju Zabludowicz and Björn Wahlroos.WEB, Miljonäärit tukivat ehdokkaita avokätisesti kevään vaaleissa – Nämä kansanedustajat saivat “Nallelta” täydet 6 000 euroa,www.iltalehti.fi/politiikka/a/754f947b-c5f0-4230-9255-d0d3b3fb8bf4, 2023-12-19, www.iltalehti.fi, fi, WEB, Waris, Olli, 2023-06-06, Kokoomuksen Valtosella yli 136 000 euron kampanja – sai Wahlroosilta ja Zabludowiczilta 6 000 euroa,www.is.fi/politiikka/art-2000009637787.html, 2023-12-19, Ilta-Sanomat, fi, In June 2023, she was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Orpo Cabinet.WEB, Prime Minister Orpo’s Government appointed,valtioneuvosto.fi/en/-/10616/prime-minister-orpo-s-government-appointed, 20 June 2023, Valtioneuvosto,

Writing

Valtonen has co-authored several reports on economics and the society such as “The Future of the Euro – The alternatives for Finland” (2014) and “The Life Account – A Social Security Reform” (2013). In 2018, she published her book (Victory of Freedom, Otava), on how to reform the Nordic welfare model and the European Union.

Other activities

• European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), Member of the Council (since 2023)Members European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).

Personal life

In September 2020, Valtonen filed for divorce from Jukka Lepomäki; in April 2021 she announced that she had changed her surname back to her maiden name.WEB, 25 April 2021, Elina Lepomäki vaihtoi sukunimeään,www.is.fi/kotimaa/art-2000007940247.html, Ilta-Sanomat, Valtonen and Lepomäki had two children together.

Honours

• (File:Royal Order of the Polar Star (1748-1975) - Commander Grand Cross.svg|50x50px) {{flag|Sweden}}: Royal Order of the Polar Star, Commander Grand Cross (23 April 2024)WEB, Ruotsalainen tyyliasiantuntija HS:lle: “Suzanne Innes-Stubbin puku korkeaa Hollywood-tasoa”, Helsingin Sanomat, 2024-04-23,www.hs.fi/politiikka/art-2000010380064.html, fi, 2024-04-27,

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

{{Commons category}}

• {{Official websiteelinavaltonen.fi/}}
• Valtonen on the website of the Parliament of Finland

{{Foreign Ministers of the European Union member states}}{{Foreign Ministers of NATO member states}}{{Eduskunta members 2023–2027}}{{Authority control}}