Finland's Greens name Haavisto as foreign minister in new government

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland's Greens, fresh from their best ever election result in April and part of the incoming governing coalition, named party chief Pekka Haavisto as the next foreign minister on Tuesday.

Haavisto, 61, has a long background in international conflict resolution. He has run for president twice, finishing second to current President Sauli Niinisto on both occasions. Haavisto was a minister in three previous governments.

The new government, in which Greens will get three cabinet posts, will be sworn in later this week. Four parties including the Greens, who won 20 seats in the 200-strong parliament in the April election, agreed a joint government programme last week.

(Reporting by Tarmo Virki; Editing by Mark Heinrich)