Mr Soini is the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland. He has been serving in his current position since May 2015.

Mr Soini has made a long career in politics. He is one of the four founding fathers of the Finns Party, established in 1995, and was the party chair during 1997-2017. He became a member of the Finnish Parliament in 2003 and the current term as an MP is his fourth one. Between 2009 and 2011, he served as a member of the European Parliament. He has also served as the Deputy Prime Minister in Mr Juha Sipilä’s coalition government during 2015-2017. Since June 2017 Mr Soini has been an MP of the Blue Reform parliamentary group.

Mr Soini has substantial experience in foreign and security policy as well as EU affairs. From 2011 until 2015, he worked as the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Finnish Parliament. He is regarded as one of the most prominent political figures in Finland and is a demanded and popular speaker in various arenas in Finland, Europe, and beyond. Mr Soini has also written two books.

Thorbjørn Jagland was elected Secretary General of the Council of Europe in September 2009.  In June 2014, he was re-elected, and his second term in office commenced on 1 October, 2014.

He was the President of the Storting (Norwegian Parliament) from 2005 to 2009.

He is a member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the Nobel Peace Prize every year.

He has held two of the most influential governmental positions in Norway: Prime Minister (1996-97) and Minister of Foreign Affairs (2000-2001).

After serving as Foreign Minister, he was Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and the enlarged Foreign Affairs Committee in the Storting for four years (2001-2005). He also served as Chairman of the EEA Consultative Committee during this period (2000-2005). In addition, he has held a number of other parliamentary positions, such as head of the Storting's Delegation for Relations with the European Parliament for six years.

He was a member of the Storting for 15 years.

Mr Jagland was Leader of the Norwegian Labour Party for ten years (1992-2002), and Party Secretary of the Labour Party for five years (1987-1992).

He is currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Oslo centre for Peace and Human Rights, and Member of the International Board of Governors at the Peres Center for Peace.

He served as Vice-President of the Socialist International 1999-2008, and Chair of the Social International Middle East Committee from 2000 to 2006. He was a member of the Sharm El-Sheikh Fact-finding Commission (The Mitchell Commission) from 2000 to 2001.

Over the last 20 years, Mr Jagland has published widely on a range of issues, in particular on European and international affairs. He has published four books in Norway: My European Dream (1990), Letters (1995), Our Vulnerable World (2001) and Ten Theses on the EU and Norway (2003).

Née le 15 juin 1955 à Paris

Formation universitaire

• Diplôme d'études approfondies de droit public, diplôme d'études approfondies d'histoire du droit, doctorat d'État en droit public (université Paris I), agrégée de droit public

Cursus professionnel

• Professeure des universités et rectrice de l'académie de Limoges (1997-2000) et de Toulouse (2000-2005)
• Présidente du Comité interministériel de pilotage pour la promotion de l'égalité des sexes dans les systèmes éducatifs, entre 2000 et 2005
• Professeure à l'Institut d'études politiques de Toulouse
• Présidente du conseil d'administration du Centre d'études et de recherches sur les qualifications (CEREQ)
• Membre du Conseil constitutionnel nommée par le Président du Sénat, Jean-Pierre Bel, depuis mars 2013

Mandats électoraux

• Conseillère municipale de Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse (1989-1996)
• Première adjointe au maire de Toulouse (2008-2010)
• Conseillère régionale de Midi-Pyrénées
• Première vice-présidente chargée de l'Éducation, de l'enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche, depuis 2010

Photo crédit: C.Montagné/DICOM/MJ