Matti Vanhanen - Personality

Personality

Vanhanen has been characterised as uncharismatic and even boring, which he has attempted to turn to his advantage in tense political situations. Vanhanen is known for being a teetotaler, saying that he does not like the taste of alcohol. He has been quoted as denying ever taking advice from other persons.

Matti Vanhanen was against the independence movement in the Baltic States during 1980s. In his column in Suomenmaa in 1985, Vanhanen condemned the Baltic independence movement both for "wishing to change the Soviet system" and for "indifference towards the post Second World War reality." Vanhanen claimed that the difference between capitalism and socialism was not significant; and that instead of being concerned about the Soviet system, it would be better to concentrate, for example, on the research of Finno-Ugric languages.

In 2009, he visited China and credited the government for being systematic, as well as being able to place clear priorities and to mobilise the required resources to accomplish them. In his opinion, the Western world ought to note the example of China, where policies are implemented rapidly and effectively. He said he was impressed of the progress the country has made in dealing with difficult issues.

Vanhanen married Merja Vanhanen in 1985. They have two children: Annastiina (born 1991) and Juhana (born 1994). Matti Vanhanen and Merja Vanhanen unexpectedly announced their divorce on 6 April 2005, which had political repercussions for the self-styled family man.

Later there were claims in the tabloid press of affairs during and after his marriage. After his divorce, Susan Kuronen (she later changed her last name to Ruusunen) was widely linked to Vanhanen. but their relationship broke down. In February 2007, Kuronen released a tell-all book The Prime Minister's Bride, which actually boosted the prime minister's popularity with the public. Tens of thousands of Finns signed an online petition against the book and some bookstores refused to put it on the shelf. Vanhanen sued Kuronen for invasion of privacy in March 2007, following the March elections. In 2010 the Supreme Court of Finland upheld the privacy violation conviction against Susan Ruusunen and her publisher.

After ending his dating relationship with Kuronen (Ruusunen), Vanhanen got engaged to Sirkka Mertala in 2009. This relationship ended in 2010.

In a 2006 book commissioned for the presidential elections, Se on ihan Matti, Vanhanen compared the Finnish tabloid press to the KGB and Stasi, former Soviet Union and East German secret police agencies.

During the ASEM 2006 meeting in Helsinki, French president Jacques Chirac described Vanhanen, perhaps jokingly, as "the sexiest man in Finland." Vanhanen is about 198 cm (6'6"). He is left-handed.