Antti Kaikkonen

Personal details

Minister of Defence, 6 June 2019 to present
Bachelor of Social Sciences, Member of Parliament
Centre Party of Finland
Date and place of birth: 14 February 1974 Turku
Place of residence: Tuusula

Political career

Minister of Defence, 6 June 2019 to present
Centre Party Parliamentary Group, Chair 2016–2019

Member of Parliament, 2003 to present
Work in Parliament

Tuusula Local Council, Member 1996 to present

Other work experience and societal responsibilities

Eurofacts Oy, Assistant, Journalist, 2002–2003
Assistant to a Member of Parliament 2001–2002
Youth Union of the Centre Party, Chair 1997–2001
EPPE Oy, Assistant 1996–1997
Stand-in Teacher positions 1993–1998

Finnish 4H Federation, Council, Chair 2019
Pyhäjärvi Institute Foundation, Delegation, Member 2015–2019
HOK-Elanto Council of Representatives, Member 2008–2019

Other interests

Interests: football, floorball, reading, physical exercise, culture
Language skills: Finnish, English, Swedish, German (basic skills) and French (basic skills)

Profile

Born in the city of Turku in southwest Finland, in 1974, Antti Kaikkonen represents the Centre Party. On 6 June 2019, he was appointed as Finland’s 56th Minister of Defence in the Government of Prime Minister Antti Rinne.

Having completed his general upper secondary education in 1993, he took a Master’s degree in Social Sciences at the University of Helsinki in 2014.

Antti Kaikkonen has been serving as an MP for the Uusimaa electoral district from 2003 without interruption. During his parliamentary career, Kaikkonen has served as Deputy Chair of the Grand Committee (2004–2013) and chaired the Foreign Affairs Committee (2015–2016). In 2015–2019, he was member of the Defence Committee of the Finnish Parliament. In 2016–2019 he chaired the Centre Party parliamentary group.

Kaikkonen has been member of the municipal council of Tuusula since 1996.

He has also held positions of trust in the Supervisory Board of the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra and the Supervisory Board of the Bank of Finland, among others.

Along with his political career, Kaikkonen has worked as a teacher and journalist. His hobbies include football, floorball and physical exercise, and literature and other cultural activities. Having performed his military service in the Helsinki Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Kaikkonen now holds the rank of a captain in the reserves.