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Yle has learned that MP Pekka Haavisto (Green) is to be appointed as the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.
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Ex-foreign minister Pekka Haavisto appeared on Yle’s A-studio talk show in September. Image: Yle
According to Yle sources, former foreign minister Pekka Haavisto (Green) is to be named as the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.
The Office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) was established in 1994 as a result of the Oslo Accords, which sought a path to peace in Israel and Palestine.
The appointment is not certain, but people familiar with the matter consider it likely.
On Wednesday, former Greens chair Haavisto said that he would not take part in next spring’s municipal elections or the race for mayor of Helsinki, citing requests regarding international responsibilities.
Helsingin Sanomat reported that Haavisto was still considering his candidacy on Tuesday, deciding to withdraw overnight after news of an international assignment.
UN posts since 1999
The Special Coordinator represents UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in his duties.
The current Coordinator is Tor Wennesland of Norway, who was appointed by Guterres in December 2020.
Wennesland, 72, was previously Norway’s Special Envoy for the Middle East Peace Process after serving as the country’s representative to the Palestinian Authority and ambassador to Egypt and Libya.
Haavisto, 66, has held UN posts since 1999, when he led UN Environment Programme Task Forces on the environmental impacts of various wars for six years.
Beginning in 2007, he was UN Assistant Secretary-General for Darfur Peace Process after serving as the EU’s Special Representative for Sudan and Darfur. He was also Finland’s Special Representative for African crises in 2009–17.
He has served three stints as a cabinet minister, beginning as the first Green member of a European government in 1995 after working as a journalist. He was Minister of Development and the Environment for four years, followed by about a year as Minister for International Development in 2013–14. Haavisto was then foreign minister in 2019–23.
Haavisto has been a second-round presidential candidate three times since 2012, losing to Alexander Stubb last February by the narrowest margin in Finnish history. According to Yle sources, Stubb – also a former foreign minister – has also supported Haavisto in landing a significant international assignment.
An MP and Helsinki city councillor off and on since the late 1980s, Haavisto has led both the Finnish Greens and the European Green Party.
If Haavisto is named as special coordinator, he will have to resign from Parliament. He would be replaced by former MP Mari Holopainen (Green) from the Helsinki constituency.
Yle was unable to reach Haavisto for comment on Thursday. Ilta-Sanomat was the first to report the new information.
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