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Finland’s new Prime Minister

Mari Kiviniemi

In one of her first statements to the press, Finland’s upcoming prime minister Mari Kiviniemi said she will invite her Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to join her for moose hunting.

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The 41-year old Kiviniemi on Friday won a vote in the Center Party’s congress and thus becomes new leader of the party, which is a senior partner in the Finnish government coalition.

She will in few days take over the chair as Finnish Prime Minister from party colleague Matti Vanhanen.

Kiviniemi holds a Master’s degree in political science and has been an MP for 15 years. Her career includes a year as Prime Minister Vanhanen’s economic policy advisor and a six-month stint as Minister for Foreign Trade and Development. She is Minister of Public Administration and Local Government in the present coalition, Yle News reports.

In one of her first statements to the press as party leader, Kiviniemi said that she intends to invite her Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin out for moose hunting. The new government leader last year completed a bear and elk shooting test, the Helsinki Times reports.

Finnish-Russian relations are close, with bilateral trade growing rapidly and with frequent high-level political meetings.