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President Sauli Niinistö and Prime Minister Sanna Marin formally announce that Finland will apply for NATO membership. Niinistö says that "this is a historic day", and that Finland is "entering a new era".
2022-05-15

Finland rejects Russian demands that it never join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, with President Sauli Niinistö saying that it is his country's right to join the military alliance if it wants to.
2022-01-1

President Egils Levits tests positive for COVID-19 after returning from a trip to Denmark and Sweden despite being fully vaccinated, prompting his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto to self-isolate.
2021-10-14

Following his meeting at Finnish President Sauli Niinistö's residence, Russian President Vladimir Putin says that Russia would respect Finland's choice whether to join NATO, though as part of NATO's military infrastructure, Finnish Defence Forces would overnight be at the borders of the Russian Federation. Putin and Niinistö call for improved security in Baltic airspace where Russian and Western aircraft have had close encounters in recent months.
2016-07-1

Finland and Russia agree to impose temporary restrictions at two Arctic border crossing points on the Finnish–Russian border following an increased flow of asylum seekers from Russia to Finland. Under a deal clinched by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö in Moscow, crossings at two popular entry points, Salla and Raja-Jooseppi, will be reserved only for Finnish, Russian and Belarusian citizens and their family members for a period of 180 days.
2016-03-22

The President of Finland, Sauli Niinistö, in an address to the Finnish parliament (Eduskunta), says the current flow of migrants into Europe threatens the continent's Western values and that the UN's Convention relating to the Status of Refugees is outdated, saying "All estimates predict that the flow of people will increase this year. This is challenging the ability of Western democracies to help and also challenging the very structures underlying the idea of Europe".
2016-02-4

Alexander Stubb is elected new leader of the National Coalition Party and thus the new prime minister of Finland, the first Swedish-speaking Finn to hold the post since 1959.
2014-06-14