Maria Ohisalo: ‘Brussels is where the magic happens’ on tackling climate crisis and championing human rights

Maria Ohisalo: ‘Brussels is where the magic happens’ on tackling climate crisis and championing human rights

She’s been the leader of the Finnish Green League and held two ministerial roles in government. Now Maria Ohisalo wants to go to Brussels.

The Vihreät politician joins the other party leaders who formed Finland’s first all-female coalition government at the end of 2019 - minus Sanna Marin - in standing as a candidate in June’s European Parliament election: Anna-Maja Henriksson (SFP), Katri Kulmuni (Centre) and Li Andersson (Left) are also campaigning for Brussels MEP jobs.

“The European Parliament is one of those dream places for a nerd like me who loves politics. Brussels is where the magic happens,” she tells Finland Insider.

“As a former minister, I’ve learned how important it is to be at those EU tables and able to influence. We have big problems on our hands when it comes to the climate crisis, rule of law, biodiversity, human rights. And you can influence a lot more in the European Parliament as an MEP who is willing to work hard, than as a minister from Finland even.”

While Ohisalo is keen to get to work in Europe, polls suggest it might not be a sure thing. The ‘green wave’ of recent years in northern Europe seems to have peaked, and there’s a groundswell of support for right-wing and populist parties across the continent.

Some polls have indicated that Finland’s Greens could lose one or even two of their three MEP seats - and while two of their current MEPs are standing down this year there’s a slate of other well-known and established Green politicians vying for contention including incumbent MEP Ville Niinistö, parliamentary group leader Atte Harjanne and former minister Krista Mikkonen.

There’s also additional challenges specific to Finland, where voter apathy around the European Parliament elections saw a turnout of just over 41% at the 2019 ballot; and where another recent poll highlighted that Finnish voters along with Poles and Czechs, had the lowest level of respondents who believe that fighting climate change is a priority for the EU.

“I never thought it would be an easy task to fight for these themes but I joined the Green party as I thought there were the most important themes to fight for,” states Ohisalo.

“But in the European Parliament, the Greens and European Free Alliance have been the most influential when it comes to environmental issues. That was especially true when Ursula von der Leyen was forming the programme for this term, she needed Green support and that’s one reason why the European Green Deal got a lot of emphasis in the Commission.”

Another priority for Maria Ohisalo and fellow Green politicians at the European Parliament, she explains, is strong and continued support for Ukraine.

“Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine is affecting us in many ways. Ukraine is fighting for the whole continent, for European values, and our values and freedoms in Finland as well. I personally said we need to support Ukraine for as long as we can, and as much as we can, because Russia won’t stop if we stop supporting Ukraine now,” she tells Finland Insider.

Domestic politics

Turning to domestic politics, it’s clear that Ohisalo is deeply troubled by the way the right-wing coalition of PM Petteri Orpo has been running the country - a level of frustration beyond that which an opposition politician might usually express.

Vihreät recently used their first interpolation - a motion of no confidence - in parliament against the government over its handling of the environment where they see a string of broken promises.

“We’ve been waiting a year for this new government to introduce legislation to bring down emissions or make Finnish nature better, and they’ve not delivered,” she says.

“If one reads the government programme there are nice words in there, yes we will get rid of emissions and make some good decisions regarding Finnish nature for example, but still there is no action. This government is not delivering anything.”

Warnings about the rise of the far-right

There’s concerns too among the Greens, other left-wing parties and many civil society actors about Finland’s lurch to the right under this government: what it means for the country as a whole, and specific issues like the rule of law.

“A year ago when Petteri Orpo started to form this government I said out loud I was worried that it would mean tough times for poor people, minorities, climate and nature and our EU politics will have a huge shift. And all of this happened.”

“I’m not a witch. I didn’t have to predict it. But I knew from their programme that when the far-right shakes hands with the centre-right it makes things worse for immigrants and workers and the poor.”

Ohisalo says she “really struggles to find anything” positive to say about the government, especially with the latest round of cuts to the Foreign Ministry’s budget which sees funding stripped from organisations like former President Martti Ahtisaari’s CMI peace foundation and the Finnish UN Association.

“That is a value choice,” says Ohisalo, “and they are showing their values in all kinds of ways.”

“Some democracies are falling for right-wing populism and seeing their democracy eroded when people are no longer fighting for it, or defending media freedom or academic freedom. For the Greens, that’s the values we want to be defending.”