Harry 'Hjallis' Harkimo is a 70-year-old entrepreneur and former hockey team owner who has sailed around the world and is now running for president. He's also a TV celebrity who hosted the Finnish version of The Apprentice for years.
Harkimo is a political outsider who in 2018 defected from his first political home, the National Coalition Party, to become the biggest fish in his own political pond, the party he founded — Movement Now — where he is the only MP.
He has been criticised for past business links with now-sanctioned Russian oligarchs, and now says he regrets those deals. His upstart party helped gain him re-election in 2023 — but according to the polls, it probably won't secure him the presidency.
This is part of a series of profiles on candidates in the presidential election. Our really simple guide provides some essential information about the race to become Finland's next president.
Sailing around the world
Harkimo was born in Helsinki in 1953. His father, Osmo Harkimo, was a well-known cinematographer. His mother, Doris Harkimo, who passed away over Christmas, ran a family business selling gifts.
He also has two siblings and the family is known to spend a good deal of time together in Sipoo, on the south coast of Finland. Harkimo, who has been a longtime staple of the tabloid press, is twice divorced and has three adult sons.
According to a 2016 Ilta-Sanomat interview with Harkimo and his mother, Doris was not surprised when her son ran for a seat in parliament.
"He really had no other choice. He had already done everything," his mother explained, adding that "the political world is interesting. It's not dangerous compared to sailing."
In his early 30s, after more than 168 days alone at sea, Harkimo made Finnish sailing history when he placed third in the solo round-the-world BOC Challenge in 1987. He has sailed around the world three times and crossed the Atlantic Ocean a dozen more.
Getting the job done
As he launched his campaign in November, Harkimo said his experiences at sea were proof of his ability to get jobs done after Yle asked what he thought his "superpower" was.
"I do have a superpower — if I start something, I make it happen. I proved that when I sailed around the world and built the [former] Hartwall Arena and other venues in Europe — they have all been completed," he said.
Like another celebrity businessman-politician in the US, Harkimo hosted the business reality TV show The Apprentice from 2009 to 2013, and has featured in a number of other programmes over the years.
Russian "mistake"
Until Finland joined Nato last year, Russia played a key role in the Finnish economy for decades. Like many Finnish entrepreneurs, Harkimo made deals with Russians, including oligarchs who ended up on sanction lists.
In 2013, Harkimo sold off his share of the Helsinki ice hockey arena, formerly known as the Hartwall Arena, to two Russian-Finnish businessmen, Gennady Timchenko and Roman Rotenberg. The arena was closed due to sanctions on Timchenko who's been described as an oligarch with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
As Russia's full invasion approached its one year anniversary last winter, Harkimo told Helsingin Sanomat that his dealings with Russian businessmen had been a mistake.
"The cooperation with the Russians was a mistake, and the Jokerit hockey team should not have been taken to the Russian KHL league," Harkimo told the paper in February 2023.
He was referring to the hockey team that he mostly owned, Jokerit, which joined Russia's Kontinental Hockey League about a decade ago. Jokerit left the KHL last year and moved back to Finland after Russia invaded Ukraine.
In September 2022 Helsingin Sanomat reported that the US nearly added Harkimo himself to a sanctions list in 2015. Ultimately that did not happen and the article also pointed out that Harkimo was quick to support Finland joining Nato once public opinion shifted in that direction.
When his party Movement Now first emerged, Harkimo said he started it to increase transparency in Finnish politics, promising regular member polls to influence his actions. Members of Harkimo's party chose him as its presidential candidate last summer.
Pushing boundaries
Officially, the Finnish president leads the country's foreign policy with government guidance, and presidents do not meddle in domestic affairs.
In December, Harkimo told a podcast that if he were president he would express his views about domestic matters, adding that the first thing he would do after being elected is to talk with the prime minister about economic issues.
"This country will not survive in this current economy," he said, adding that he doesn't understand why presidents should avoid domestic affairs.
Harkimo spoke at the University of Turku and outlined his platform.
"I am clearly the most right-wing of the candidates, sometimes even more right-wing than [the Finns Party's presidential candidate] Jussi Halla-aho," he said, referring to the far-right populist party's former leader, according to Turun Sanomat.
Harkimo further suggested that Finland should spend billions on artificial intelligence research and growth, rather than a planned rail upgrade, for example.
Even though Finnish presidents are limited to foreign policy issues, Harkimo criticised a planned strike by workers across the country over the government's planned budget cuts, according to the paper.
He said that in his opinion, the strikes were not acceptable in the current economic situation.
In a quick Q&A, Yle asked Harkimo why voters should choose him as their next president.
"I have by far the most experience in different fields in Finland. I have worked in the business world, in politics and was involved in Finland's Nato membership [process]. I have been involved in politics for nine years. I have the most extensive experience, most of the others are career politicians," he said.
Yle's presidential election compass offers a viewpoint on how the candidates line up on various issues. The compass is available in English here.
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