HARRI HOLKERI, FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF FINLAND, ELECTED PRESIDENT OF MILLENNIUM ASSEMBLY
Press Release
BIO/3315
GA/9749
HARRI HOLKERI, FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF FINLAND, ELECTED PRESIDENT OF MILLENNIUM ASSEMBLY
20000905 Biographical Note(Based on information received from the Protocol and Liaison Service)
Harri Holkeri, a former Prime Minister of Finland, was today elected the President of the fifty-fifth session of the United Nations General Assembly.
From 1987 to 1991, Mr. Holkeri was Prime Minister of Finland, heading a coalition formed by his own Conservative party and the Social Democrats. In a political career that spanned several decades, he served as Secretary of the national Coalition Party from 1965 to 1971 and as its Party Leader from 1971 to 1979. From 1970 to 1978, he was a Member of Parliament. He also served as a Member of the Board of Governors of the Bank of Finland from 1978 to 1997, and Chair of the Helsinki City Council from 1981 to 1987.
At the international level, Mr. Holkeri was a member of the Finnish delegation to the United Nations General Assembly from 1963 to 1965. During his career as Member of Parliament he held various international positions, including as a member of the Nordic Council from 1975 to 1978 and Vice-President of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Parliamentarians from 1974 to 1975. He assumed the Presidency of that body in 1976.
Mr. Holkeri was one of three independent chairmen of the multi- party peace negotiations convened to end the conflict in Northern Ireland. From 1995, he was a member of the International Body, a group set up by the Governments of the United Kingdom and Ireland for the purpose of decommissioning illegal weapons in Northern Ireland.
Among other honours, in 1991 he was invested as Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for his achievements in the Northern Ireland peace process. In 1998, Finnish President Ahtisaari accorded him a Finnish honorary title, "Valtioneuvos," for his national and international achievements.
Born on 6 January 1937, Mr. Holkeri earned a Masters in Political Science from the University of Helsinki. He holds the military rank of Major in the Finnish reserve forces. He is the Chairman of the Board of Finnair, Finland's national airline, and sits on the boards of various Finnish industries and organizations.
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