My international path
1908 Petri’s father Boris Saharoff born in St Petersburg
1917 Grandmother Maria brings Boris and his little sisters Jelena and Valentina through Terijoki to North Karelia. Grandfather Simeon follows them before the October Revolution
1925 Petri’s mother Kaija Mollerus born in Karijoki
1941 – 1944 Petri’s father decodes secret Russian messages in the Radio Intelligence Battalion
1960 Petri born in Joensuu
1967 Starts primary school in the Roihuvuori quarter of Helsinki
1976 Assistant waiter at the Helsinki Airport restaurant
1977 Usher at the Bio Bristol cinema
1979 Graduates from Roihuvuori Secondary School
Driver’s mate at the Suomen Silkkikutumo silk-weaving mill
1980 Serves in the army. While doing military service attends Urho Kekkonen’s 80th birthday bash at the presidential palace! 😉
1981 Begins intensive studies at the Helsinki University Faculty of Political Science
1982 Starts work as freelance sports writer on the Ilta-Sanomat newspaper and as a Yle teletext contributor
1984 TV news international coordination
1987 Starts work at the TV news foreign desk
1988 CNN producer for President Reagan’s visit to Helsinki
1989 Appears on the Intervision ‘News conference’ programme in Prague and gets a surprise
1990 Covers President Koivisto’s state visit to Canada
1991 Follows Bulgaria’s first free parliamentary election and has an interesting meal at the Sofia Press Club
1992 Sees Europe’s aorta of hatred, in the Balkans
1993 Gets to know NATO in Brussels and Mons and at many bases
1994 Deeply moved by the Estonia tragedy
1995 Aboard USS America. US ends the siege of Sarajevo
1996 Explores EU issues in Greece and Brussels, goes camel riding in India and discovers the enormous potential of India’s rising middle class
1997 Starts job as head of the TV news foreign desk, goes deeper into the EU institutions
1998 More boning up on the EU in Brussels, Ahtisaari’s visit to Greece, bursts of kalashnikovs in Albania
1999 Shares dance floor with Prince Albert. Interviews all the main candidates in the Finnish presidential election
2000 Becomes TV news foreign editor
2001 September 11
2002 162nd national defence course. Sent to Washington as the Yle (Finnish Broadcasting Company) chief correspondent
2003 Meets Hillary Clinton for an exclusive interview
2004 Back following other men’s campaign trails (George W. Bush and John Kerry) – sees and hears Obama speak
2005 Experiences the unique natural beauty of Alaska
2006 Back in Europe and mounts guard by the television with Martti Ahtisaari to await news of the Nobel Prize – but it was the wrong year!
2007 Gentle workout on the A-studio current affairs programme
2008 Graduates from university – and considers that more of an achievement for a 47-year-old than it would be for a 25-year-old! Involved in the incipient public debate about election funding. Back once more in the United States to witness the ‘impossible’ November election result
2009 After three months of campaigning wins the backing of 27 391 Finnish voters for his candidacy to the European Parliament
2010 Decides to take the plunge, driven by a passion for truth and social issues. Resigns from YLE to stand in Helsinki for the Finnish Parliament. Polls 4 529 votes in the April 2011 election, about 300 votes shy.
2012 Enters the European Parliament, replacing Ville Itälä
2014 Rises to heavy-duty positions in the European Parliament and makes it to the TOP 40 most influential MEPs -list
2019 Story continues…
