Petri Sarvamaa

Member of the European Parliament, MEP

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Petri

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…

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  • Petri
    • My international path
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PETRI SARVAMAA

Petri Sarvamaa, Finnish MEP. The eyes and ears of a citizen in the European Parliament.