Former Savonlinna mayor takes ministerial job, offers settlement

Former Savonlinna mayor Janne Laine says he is ready to settle his dismissal dispute with the city, Yle reports. He has recently started work as a special adviser to Finance Minister Riikka Purra of the Finns Party.

Savonlinna City Council dismissed Laine in spring 2025, but the Eastern Finland Administrative Court overturned the decision because of a procedural error. The city has since appointed a new temporary committee to prepare another dismissal.

Laine said he had been willing to negotiate more than a year ago, but was then pressed to resign under his executive agreement, which he said would have involved taking a legal risk.

City board chair Tuukka Suomalainen of the Centre Party said Laine’s willingness to negotiate was positive. Suomalainen said the city had sought a settlement since spring 2025, but that Laine had initially said negotiations were not possible and later did not respond to the city’s proposals.

Laine acknowledged receiving emails asking him to make a settlement proposal, but said that was not an adequate way to negotiate. Suomalainen said mediation through lawyers was an established approach to resolving disputes.

The city says Laine’s public-service employment ended with the first dismissal in spring 2025. It therefore does not object to his new job, and says he did not need permission or a leave of absence to take it. The city did not allow him to return to his post after the court overturned the dismissal.