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Mrs. Liisa Jaakonsaari MP

Member of Parliament
Born in Oulu, on September 2nd, 1945
Married
Journalist
Electoral district: Oulu

• Member of the Parliament of Finland since March 1979 - ; Eighth electoral period
• Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Parliament of Finland 1999 - 2007
• Minister of Labour in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen’s First Government 1995-1999

 Present positions:           

• Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee 2007 -
• Member of the Finnish Parliament’s Committee for the Future 2007 -
• Member of the Parliamentary Supervisory Council 2007 -
• Member of the Finnish Delegation to the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly 2007 -
• Chairperson of the Atlantic Council of Finland 2009 -

 Some other previously held positions:

• Vice Chair of the Parliamentary Review Committee on Finland’s Security 2002 - 2004
• Member of the Finnish Observers to the Parliamentary Assembly of NATO 1999 - 2007
• Chair of the Finnish Delegation to the Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region 2001- 2007
• Chair of the Finnish Delegation to the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly 2004- 2007
• Chair of the Finnish Delegation to the WEU Parliamentary Assembly 1999 - 2003
• Vice Chair of the Administrative Council of the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE 2004 - 2007
• Member of Speaker’s Council 1999 - 2007
• First Deputy Speaker in March-April 2003
• Elector of the President of  Finland 1978, 1982, 1988
• Member of the City Council of Oulu 1972 - 1992

Social Democratic Party

• Deputy Chair of  SDP 1993 - 1999
• Member of Board of SDP 1993 - 2005
• Chair of the Social Democratic Women 1990 - 1999
• Vice Chair of the Social Democratic Parliamentary Group 1987 - 1993

About Liisa
In the last years, Mrs Jaakonsaari’s main focus concentrated on security questions.

Mrs Jaakonsaari has initiated several important public discussions on Finnish security matters and she takes actively part in current discussions. Mrs Jaakonsaari has written many articles and columns on various socio-political topics including security issues.

She enjoys reading literature, history, and politics. Too, she enjoys exploring other cultures and countries.

During her holidays, Mrs Jaakonsaari likes walking and hiking together with her husband and friends in the Finnish forests and skiing in the Nordic Skiing Resort RUKA near Kuusamo.  In summer, you can see her fishing and berry-picking when she spends some time in her summer cottage that is hidden away in the Finnish forest.

Mrs Jaakonsaari is known for her witty humour, her creative ideas and her courageous outspokenness. 

Apart from Finnish, Mrs Jaakonsaari speaks English, German, and Swedish. Presently, she is learning Russian.