Green League

This article is about the Finnish political party. For the university ranking index, see The People & Planet Green League.

Green League
Vihreä liitto (Finnish)
Grönä förbundet (Swedish)
Ruoná lihttu (Northern Sami)
Ruánáá litto (Inari Sami)
Ruânn lett (Skolt Sami)
AbbreviationVihr
ChairpersonSofia Virta
SecretaryAnna Moring [fi]
General SecretaryTiina Kivinen [fi]
Parliamentary group leaderAtte Harjanne
First deputy chairOras Tynkkynen
Founded28 February 1987; 37 years ago (1987-02-28)
Legalised1988; 36 years ago (1988)
HeadquartersMannerheimintie 15b A, 00260 Helsinki
Women's wingVihreät Naiset [fi]
Youth and student wingFederation of Green Youth and Students
Membership (2023)Decrease 8,079[1]
Ideology
Political positionCentre-left
European affiliationEuropean Green Party
European Parliament groupGreens–European Free Alliance
International affiliationGlobal Greens
Nordic affiliationCentre Group
Colors  Dark green
SloganNeljän vuodenajan puolesta (For the four seasons)
Eduskunta
13 / 200
European Parliament
2 / 15
Municipalities
433 / 8,859
County seats
90 / 1,379
Website
vihreat.fi
Part of a series on
Green politics
Sunflower symbol
Core topics
Four pillars
Perspectives
Organizations
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The Green League, (Finnish: Vihreä liitto [ˈʋihreæ ˈliːtːo], Vihr; Swedish: Gröna förbundet [ˈɡrøːnɑ fœrˈbʉndet]; Northern Sami: Ruoná lihttu; Inari Sami: Ruánáá litto; Skolt Sami: Ruânn lett) shortened to the Greens, (Finnish: Vihreät; Swedish: de Gröna)[2] is a green political party in Finland.[3][4][5] Ideologically, the Green League is positioned on the centre-left of the political spectrum.[6][7][8] It is a reformist party and it is supportive of feminism, animal rights and green liberal ideas.[9]

Originally split on whether Finland should join the European Union, the Green League decided on being pro-European, it was also the first Finnish party in favor of the federalisation of the European Union.[10][11] The Green League is among the midsized political parties in Finland. The Greens hold thirteen of the 200 seats in the Finnish Parliament and two of Finland's 15 European Parliament seats. The party is a member of the Global Greens and the European Green Party; its MEPs sit in the Greens–European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament.

Founded in 1987, the party absorbed a number of green organizations and their members, electing its first MPs in 1987. The party won ten seats in the 1991 election. Despite small losses in the 1995 election, Pekka Haavisto joined Paavo Lipponen's first cabinet, which was composed of a "rainbow" coalition. This made the Green League the first green party to form part of a national cabinet. The party remained in government until 2002 when it resigned in opposition to nuclear power. The party slowly rose in popularity between 1995 and 2007, when winning a total of 15 seats, and joined the center-right-led government. In the 2011 election, the party suffered significant losses, falling to ten seats, but remained in government. In 2015, the party recovered its losses from 2011, returning to 15 seats. In the 2019 election, the party achieved by far its best-ever result, winning 20 seats and 11.5% of the vote. They became the fifth-largest party and became the third-largest member of the Social Democratic-led government.

In the 2017 municipal elections, the Green League was the fourth biggest party with 534 seats. They gained 211 more seats from 2012 elections. Since June 2023, the party's leader and chairman has been Sofia Virta.[12] From 2015 to 2019, the party was in opposition and provided harsh criticism regarding the actions of the conservative Sipilä Cabinet, such as financial support for economically well-off companies, Fortum's purchase of Uniper, and the expedited process of constitution-changing surveillance laws.[13][14][15]

  1. ^ "Yli 4 700 vihreää antoi äänensä puheenjohtajavaalissa", Helsingin Sanomat, 8 June, 2023
  2. ^ "Yle party poll: Centre recovers as Greens, Finns Party falter". Yle Uutiset. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  3. ^ "Political Programme of the Greens between 2023 and 2027". The Green Party of Finland. 2023.
  4. ^ Claire Annesley (11 January 2013). Political and Economic Dictionary of Western Europe. Routledge. pp. 177–. ISBN 978-1-135-35547-0.
  5. ^ Daniele Caramani (29 March 2004). The Nationalization of Politics: The Formation of National Electorates and Party Systems in Western Europe. Cambridge University Press. pp. 303–. ISBN 978-0-521-53520-5.
  6. ^ Jan-Erik Lane; Svante Errson (2008). "The Nordic Countries: Compromise and Corporatism in the Welfare State". In Josep M. Colomer (ed.). Comparative European Politics: Third Edition. Routledge. p. 260. ISBN 978-1-134-07354-2.
  7. ^ "Election briefing No 32, Europe and the Finnish parliamentary elections of March 2007". European Parties Elections and Referendums Network. 2007.
  8. ^ "Finland". Europe Elects. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  9. ^ "Finland's largest political parties". European Parliament Information. 2014.
  10. ^ Raunio, Tapio; Tiilikainen, Teija (2003). Finland in the European Union. London: Routledge. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-7146-5375-4.
  11. ^ Raunio, Tapio; Tiilikainen, Teija (2003). Finland in the European Union. London: Routledge. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-7146-5375-4.
  12. ^ Eduskunta profile
  13. ^ "Nyt on oikea aika uudistaa perhevapaat ja yritystuet". Vihreät - De Gröna (in Finnish). 27 June 2017. Archived from the original on 25 October 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  14. ^ "Fortumin Uniper-kauppa vesittää puhtaat lupaukset". Vihreät - De Gröna (in Finnish). 9 October 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  15. ^ "Perustelut tiedustelulain kiirehtimiselle puuttuvat". Vihreät - De Gröna (in Finnish). 31 January 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.