Finnish MP Eemeli Peltonen has died inside Parliament House in Helsinki. He was 30 years old and serving his first term for the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Parliament confirmed the death on Tuesday afternoon. Police said they were investigating the cause but did not suspect a crime. According to Finnish media, the case is being treated as suicide.
Emergency services were called to the building shortly after 11 a.m.
Several police units and an armoured vehicle were deployed to the area. Parliament briefly closed its entrances before reopening later in the day. By the afternoon, the national flag outside Parliament was lowered to half-mast.
Peltonen had spoken publicly about serious kidney problems that forced him to miss work earlier this year. In June he wrote that he had been hospitalised, diagnosed with minimal change disease, and contracted a bacterial infection during treatment. He said he had been discharged and was on sick leave for the summer.
Parliament Speaker Jussi Halla-aho expressed condolences on behalf of MPs. “Peltonen was a valued colleague across party lines,” he wrote on X. Prime Minister Petteri Orpo described the death as “deeply saddening” and announced that political discussions at the government’s summer meeting would stop for the day.
SDP parliamentary group chair Tytti Tuppurainen said in a statement that Peltonen’s death had shaken the group. “He was a well-liked member of our community. A young life has ended too soon,” she said.
Peltonen’s wife asked through social media for privacy while the family grieves.
Born in Järvenpää, Peltonen entered politics as a teenager through the local youth council and later the Social Democratic Youth. He was first elected to Järvenpää City Council in 2012 at the age of 18 and rose to become chair of the city’s executive board. He studied political science and worked as a communications specialist at the Service Union United (PAM) and as a parliamentary assistant before entering Parliament in 2023 with 5,747 votes. He was the sixth-youngest MP.
In Parliament, Peltonen sat on the Administration and Legal Affairs Committees. He was SDP’s lead member in the Administration Committee and played a role in negotiations over the controversial border pushback law passed in summer 2024.
Local officials described him as respected and approachable. Järvenpää city manager Iiris Laukkanen said she had messaged Peltonen on Tuesday morning before hearing of his death. “He was widely valued and easy to work with. He always sought constructive solutions and had a good sense of humour,” she said.
City council chair Petri Graeffe called Peltonen “a talented, reliable and trusted politician” and said his death was “a huge loss”.
Kerava councillor Samuli Isola, a close friend, recalled Peltonen’s early years in politics. “He was always interested in people’s lives and wanted to make the world a better place. He had such a promising future ahead,” Isola said.
Peltonen was also Järvenpää’s top vote-getter in the 2024 municipal elections.
Following his death, Anette Karlsson, a politician from Porvoo, will take his parliamentary seat. Karlsson won 3,867 votes in the 2023 election and had left the SDP shortly after due to local disagreements. On Tuesday she announced she would rejoin the party and serve in its parliamentary group. Her entry makes former SDP chair Antti Rinne a substitute MP.
Järvenpää will hold a day of mourning with flags at half-mast on Wednesday. Parliament is in recess until 2 September. (Helsinki Times)
