{"id":10826,"date":"2026-02-12T15:59:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T15:59:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/10826\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T15:59:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T15:59:06","slug":"kaisa-juuso-resigns-as-minister-and-takes-sick-leave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/10826\/","title":{"rendered":"Kaisa Juuso resigns as minister and takes sick leave"},"content":{"rendered":"

Finland\u2019s Social Affairs and Health Minister Kaisa Juuso resigned on Thursday and took immediate sick leave. She announced her decision in a statement and on social media<\/a>. She said the work had been heavy and that the government had faced hard choices to secure key services.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI have submitted my resignation as minister. The work has been heavy and we have had to make difficult decisions to safeguard important services for Finns. I believe I have done my best, but now it is time for someone else to continue. I wish strength to my successor, whom I will help as best I can,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

Juuso said she would not comment further.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The announcement came after a short-notice press briefing in Parliament called by Finance Minister and Finns Party leader Riikka Purra. She said Juuso informed her and Prime Minister Petteri Orpo earlier in the day.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is Minister Juuso\u2019s own decision. I respect the work she has done for Finland. My sincere thanks to Kaisa,\u201d Purra said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Purra said the party would start the process of selecting a successor at once. She said she expects a decision early next week.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

She said the next minister must show \u201ccourage, determination and the ability to withstand pressure from different directions\u201d.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Purra said the resignation did not come as a full surprise.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Juuso\u2019s departure follows weeks of pressure over spending cuts in social welfare. On Wednesday a ministry working group failed to meet a \u20ac100 million savings target set by the government. The group proposed cuts of \u20ac50 million.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Purra said the result disappointed her but noted that the mandate rested with the working group. She did not criticise Juuso over the outcome.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Social Affairs and Health Ministry has faced criticism within government over delays in preparing savings lists. Officials have struggled to identify reductions in services without breaching statutory obligations.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Juuso, 65, is a second-term MP from Lapland. She entered Parliament after serving as a councillor in Tornio. Before politics she worked in the insurance sector and as a carer for her mother for 15 years. She has said the pace of work in elderly care led her into politics.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

She became minister in 2023. She had no prior ministerial experience. She said at the time that her appointment came with one day\u2019s notice.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Her term included protests in Lapland over hospital network reductions. Demonstrators travelled to Helsinki last November to oppose service cuts in her home region.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In 2024 she faced criticism after stating that planned cuts in the social and health sector had come as a surprise<\/a> to her. Opposition parties questioned her oversight of the portfolio.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In autumn 2025 she appointed her adult son<\/a> as a parliamentary assistant. The move drew criticism from political opponents.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

She also drew backlash after describing citizens as ungrateful during debate on hospital closures in her constituency.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Juuso took a lengthy sick leave last spring.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Finns Party parliamentary group chair Jani M\u00e4kel\u00e4 said the group supports Juuso. He said the change of minister may prove easier now that major reforms have already passed.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my view she handled her duties well,\u201d M\u00e4kel\u00e4 said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

He accused the opposition of sustained attacks.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cThe opposition\u2019s criticism has at times been inappropriate and has gone very close to workplace bullying. Constant barking about these matters does begin to weigh,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

HT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Finland\u2019s Social Affairs and Health Minister Kaisa Juuso resigned on Thursday and took immediate sick leave. She announced…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10827,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[87],"tags":[8562,158,308,113,8561,8557,3926,1158,8560,8558,8559,8563],"class_list":{"0":"post-10826","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-helsinki","8":"tag-antti-kaikkonen","9":"tag-finland","10":"tag-finns-party","11":"tag-helsinki","12":"tag-jani-makela","13":"tag-kaisa-juuso","14":"tag-petteri-orpo","15":"tag-politics","16":"tag-resignation","17":"tag-riikka-purra","18":"tag-social-affairs-and-health-minister","19":"tag-social-services-cuts"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10826\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}