Nils Torvalds

Nils Torvalds
MEP
Torvalds in 2023
Member of the European Parliament
In office
5 July 2012 – 16 July 2024
Preceded byCarl Haglund
ConstituencyFinland
Personal details
BornNils Ole Hilmer Torvalds
(1945-08-07) 7 August 1945
Ekenäs, Finland
Party Finnish
Swedish People's Party of Finland
EU
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
Children5, including Linus
Alma materHelsinki University
Signature
Websitenilstorvalds.fi

Nils Ole Hilmer Torvalds[1] (born 7 August 1945) is a Finnish politician who was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2012 to 2024. He is a member of the Swedish People's Party of Finland, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. He was previously a journalist with the Finnish Broadcasting Company.

Torvalds, a Finland Swede, is the son of the poet Ole Torvalds, and the father of the software engineer Linus Torvalds, known for the Linux kernel.[2]

Education and experience

Torvalds was a member of the Communist Party of Finland from 1969 to 1982. He studied economics in Moscow and was the editor of the taistoist magazine Arbetartidningen Enhet. Torvalds has later described his communism as a "rebellion".[3] Between 1995 and 2004 Torvalds worked as a foreign correspondent for the Finnish Broadcasting Company in Moscow and Washington.[4]

In addition to his native language Swedish, Torvalds is fluent in Finnish, English, German, and Russian. He also understands Flemish, Danish and Norwegian.[5]

Political career

Career in national politics

In 2006, Torvalds joined the Swedish People's Party,[4] and the following year he was elected to the post of the third vice chairperson.[6] This upset some party voters due to Torvalds's past.[4] In 2008, he was elected to Helsinki City Council for term 2009–2012.[7]

On 11 June 2017 the Swedish People's Party chose Torvalds as the party candidate for the 2018 presidential election.[8] Some of his campaign themes were education, technology and the environment. Torvalds was the only candidate who openly supported Finland's NATO membership during his campaign.[9] In the election, Torvalds placed last with 1.5 percent of the votes, while the incumbent president Sauli Niinistö went on to secure his second term.[10]

Member of the European Parliament

Torvalds in 2014

Torvalds was a candidate for European Parliament election in 2009 on the Swedish People's Party list. He received 14,044 votes which was insufficient for a seat.[11] However, on 5 July 2012, he was installed in the European Parliament, when Carl Haglund left his seat to join the Katainen Cabinet as Minister of Defence. In the 2014 European Parliament election Torvalds received about 29,000 votes and was elected.[3]

As a MEP[12] his positions have included vice-chair of the Fisheries committee (PECH) and member of the committee for Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE). Since 2021, he has been part of the Parliament's delegation to the Conference on the Future of Europe.[13]

Torvalds has served as shadow rapporteur on the circular economy[14] and on the biofuels directive[15] (which became directive 2015/1513[16]) and as rapporteur of the annual report 2018 on the European banking union.[17]

Torvalds opposed the Copyright Directive (2019) since it was first proposed, considering it unbalanced especially because of its article 13 (i.e. 17).[18]

In addition to his committee assignments, Torvalds is part of the MEPs Against Cancer group[19] and the European Parliament Intergroup on Traditional Minorities, National Communities and Languages.[20]

Following the 2019 elections, Torvalds was part of a cross-party working group in charge of drafting the European Parliament's five-year work program on economic and fiscal policies as well as trade.[21]

In June 2023, Torvalds was the recipient of the Environment and Climate Action Award at The Parliament Magazine's annual MEP Awards.[22]

Linux kernel statement

Torvalds's son Linus, the creator of the Linux kernel, was asked during a LinuxCon keynote on 18 September 2013 if National Security Agency, asked for a backdoor in the kernel. He answered no, while nodding his head indicating yes.[23] Later, Torvalds brought this incident up during a LIBE committee inquiry.[24]

When my oldest son [Linus Torvalds] was asked the same question: "Has he been approached by the NSA about backdoors?" he said "No", but at the same time he nodded. Then he was sort of in the legal free. He had given the right answer, [but] everybody understood that the NSA had approached him.

— Nils Torvalds, LIBE Committee Inquiry on Electronic Mass Surveillance of EU Citizens[25] – 11th Hearing, 11 November 2013[26]

Other activities

  • Reimagine Europa, Member of the Advisory Board[27]

Honours

Works

  • Ollus, Simon-Erik; Torvalds, Nils (2005). Kaupasta kumppanuuteen : Suomen Venäjä-talousstrategia. Helsinki: Sitra. ISBN 951-37-4519-8.
  • Torvalds, Nils (2008). Muodonmuutoksia : Venäjän pitkä vuosisata 1900-2008. Helsinki: Sitra. ISBN 978-951-563-635-5.

References

  1. ↑ "RKP:n Nils Torvalds tienasi presidenttiehdokkaista eniten". Savon Sanomat. Archived from the original on 13 July 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  2. ↑ Torvalds, 2001
  3. 1 2 "Nils Torvalds: "Nuorena olisi voinut seurata jyrkkää ajatuksenkulkua"" (in Finnish). Kauppalehti. Archived from the original on 1 November 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 Seppänen, Timo (10 January 2018). "Henkilökuvassa Nils Torvalds:Ankkalammikon armahtama toisinajattelija on itsetietoinen intellektuelli". Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 14 January 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  5. ↑ "Yksi presidenttiehdokkaista kielitaidossa ylitse muiden – IS: tulee toimeen viidellä kielellä". Verkkouutiset. 8 June 2017. Archived from the original on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  6. ↑ Sfp valde orförande och viceordförande, energipolitiska ställningstagandet remitterades Archived 13 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine (SFP 10 June 2007)
  7. ↑ "Kaupunginvaltuuston puoluejakauma kaudella 2009–2012". hel.fi. Archived from the original on 16 September 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
  8. ↑ "RKP:n presidenttiehdokkaaksi valittiin europarlamentaarikko Nils Torvalds" (in Finnish). Yle. 13 June 2017. Archived from the original on 11 June 2017. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  9. ↑ Jäntti, Mari (19 December 2017). "Nils Torvalds liputtaa Natoa – "Siinä vaiheessa kun se kriisi iskee, on liian myöhäistä"". Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 22 February 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  10. ↑ "Presidentinvaali 2018, 1. vaali: Ehdokkaiden äänet" (in Finnish). Ministry of Justice. 28 January 2018. Archived from the original on 28 January 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  11. ↑ "EUROPARLAMENTTIVAALIT 7.6.2009 – Tulos – Koko maa" (in Finnish). vaalit.fi (the Official Results by the Ministry of Justice). Archived from the original on 12 June 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
  12. ↑ "Nils Torvalds". European Parliament. Archived from the original on 24 October 2015. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  13. ↑ Members of the delegation to the Conference on the Future of Europe Archived 10 June 2021 at the Wayback Machine European Parliament.
  14. ↑ "Nils Torvalds: A pro-NATO liberal swimming against the tide". Yle Uutiset. 14 December 2017. Archived from the original on 23 February 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  15. ↑ "Recommendation for second reading on the Council position at first reading with a view to the adoption of a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 98/70/EC relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels and amending Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources". Archived from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  16. ↑ "Directive (EU) 2015/1513 amending Directive 98/70/EC relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels and amending Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources". 9 September 2015. Archived from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  17. ↑ "Report on Banking Union – annual report 2018 (2018/2100(INI))". 3 December 2018. Archived from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  18. ↑ "Torvalds röstade nej till upphovsdirektivet: förslaget är dåligt och obalanserat!" (in Swedish). 26 March 2019. Archived from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  19. ↑ MAC MEPs in the 2019–24 legislature Archived 16 December 2021 at the Wayback Machine MEPs Against Cancer.
  20. ↑ Intergroup on Traditional Minorities, National Communities and Languages Archived 15 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine European Parliament.
  21. ↑ Florian Eder (13 June 2019), POLITICO Brussels Playbook, presented by Google: Madrid's moment — Parliament working groups sneak peak[sic] — Happy birthday, GDPR Archived 1 March 2021 at the Wayback Machine Politico Europe.
  22. ↑ "MEP Awards: Winners 2022". The Parliament Magazine. 27 June 2023. Archived from the original on 29 June 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  23. ↑ Kerner, Sean Michael (19 September 2013). "Linus Torvalds Talks Linux Development at LinuxCon". eweek.com. Quinstreet Enterprise. Retrieved 24 March 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  24. ↑ Engström, Christian (17 November 2013). "NSA Asked Linus Torvalds To Install Backdoors Into GNU / Linux". falkvinge.net. Archived from the original on 15 August 2024. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  25. ↑ "Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, Hearings". 1 July 2014. Archived from the original on 20 May 2015.
  26. ↑ Video Archived 22 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine, programme, .
  27. ↑ Advisory Board Archived 23 October 2021 at the Wayback Machine Reimagine Europa.
  28. ↑ "06.12.2021 Itsenäisyyspäivä – Självständighetsdagen 06.12.2021". Ritarikunnat (in Finnish). 1 December 2021. Archived from the original on 20 April 2024. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
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