Leena Meri
Leena Kristiina Meri (born 12 April 1968) is a Finnish politician, representing the Finns Party in the Parliament of Finland. She has served in the Parliament since 2015 and in the City Council of Hyvinkää since 2013.

Meri run to the Parliament in the 2015 parliamentary election from the Uusimaa electoral district, but her 2,493 votes were not enough to get elected. However, as MP Pirkko Ruohonen-Lerner left her seat to work in the European Parliament in May 2015, Meri took the vacated seat in the Finnish Parliament.

In June 2017, Meri took part in the leadership election of the Finns Party, but finished third behind Jussi Halla-aho and Sampo Terho. The leadership election sparked resistance within the party and soon after the majority of its MPs left to form the Blue Reform. After the split, Meri was chosen as the chair of the party's parliamentary group.

In June 2023, she was appointed Minister of Justice in the Orpo Cabinet.

Political views
Meri opposes humanitarian immigration, arguing that it leads to an increase in violent crimes. She has stated that "the appropriate number of asylum seekers is zero". Meri has also suggested that the proposed immigration policy of the National Coalition party, their future partner in government, to increase the number of work permits for non-EU nationals resembles the Great Replacement. The use of this term has been criticized as racist by some media and the political opposition.

References

1968 births
Living people
Politicians from Helsinki
Finns Party politicians
Members of the Parliament of Finland (2015–2019)
Members of the Parliament of Finland (2019–2023)
Members of the Parliament of Finland (2023–2027)
21st-century Finnish women politicians
Women members of the Parliament of Finland
University of Helsinki alumni

Women government ministers of Finland
Ministers of Justice of Finland
Female justice ministers