Paavo Tapio Lipponen (pronounced [ˈpɑːʋo ˈlipːonen] ⓘ; born 23 April 1941) is a Finnish politician and former reporter.

Paavo's maternal grandparents were Jaakko Antero Ingman/Iisalo (a distant relative of Adolf Fredrik Munck and Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim) and his wife Siiri Törnroos.

Receiving his gymnasium diploma from the Lyceum of Kuopio in 1959, he then studied philosophy and literature at Dartmouth College for one year on a Fulbright scholarship.

[7] According to Alpo Rusi's book Vasemmalta ohi, Lipponen began cooperation with the East German secret police Stasi in 1969.

Tight fiscal policies allowed the participation of Finland in the European Monetary Union, which resulted in the introduction of the euro in 1999.

During the second Lipponen cabinet, he headed Finland's six months in the EU presidency and pursued pro-integration and pro-expansion policies.

Anneli Jäätteenmäki of the Centre Party won the elections after she had accused Paavo Lipponen, who was prime minister at the time, of allying neutral Finland with the United States in the war in Iraq during a meeting with President George W. Bush, and thus associated Finland with what many Finns considered an illegal war of aggression.

Jäätteenmäki resigned as prime minister after 63 days in office amid accusations that she had lied about the leak of the documents about the meeting between Bush and Lipponen.

[14] On 15 August 2008, during the 2008 South Ossetia war, Nord Stream 1, a Russian gas project, announced that it had signed a consulting contract with Lipponen.

[15] As a result of the scandal that followed, Lipponen relinquished his office in the parliament building and resigned from all of his duties in Finland except veteran activities.

Lipponen criticised the way many Finnish and German politicians were opposed to nuclear power and stated that their fundamentalism destroys both energy security and climate policy.