Prime Minister Vanhanen's obituary for Kalevi Sorsa, former Finnish Prime Minister, 17 January 2004

We received sad news. Kalevi Sorsa had died.

Kalevi Sorsa was a statesman whose finest years were in in the 1970s and 1980s. He led Finland, as the country's longest-serving Prime Minister and the head of four Governments, through great structural change, modernised the country, strengthened its international position and paved the way for Finnish integration into Europe in the 1990s.

Kalevi Sorsa's work was characterised by democratic values, ideological conviction and by extensive and profound involvement in societal debate. He can be described as the guarantor of Finnish consensus. Through that policy our well-being and prosperity grew in an unprecedented manner. Sorsa held culture in high esteem, based his actions on democracy, built up the Finnish economy and was a man of influence internationally.

Kalevi Sorsa will live in our memories as Finland's most important Prime Minister in recent history. He devoted his life to the good of Finnish society. We have much to thank him for.