At the beginning of September, 23 new heads of mission will assume their posts in Finland’s embassies and permanent diplomatic missions. Before embarking on their new assignment, they attended the Annual Meeting of Finnish Heads of Mission, held in Helsinki during the last week of August.
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs usually times the annual rotation for heads of mission to take place at the beginning of September. Heads of mission generally serve at a post to which they are stationed for three to four years. They may then move on to a second posting elsewhere before they return to the Ministry in Helsinki.
The appointment rounds for ambassadors are prepared initially at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The decision concerning appointments is made by the President of the Republic. Finland has a total of 97 diplomatic missions the world over. In all, 568 public servants sent from Helsinki work at the diplomatic missions. In addition, the embassies employ about 1,200 locally hired staff members.
In the area covered by ScandAsia, two Heads of Mission take up their posts at the beginning of September: In Hanoi it is Kimmo Lähdevirta; in Singapore it is Ari Heikkinen.
Other Heads of Mission ready to move in are: Abu Dhabi / Ilkka-Pekka Similä; Abuja / Riitta Korpivaara; Alger / Hannele Voionmaa; Athens / Pekka Lintu; Belgrade / Pekka Orpana; Brussels / Per-Mikael Engberg; Bucharest / Ulla Väistö; Dar es Salaam / Sinikka Antila; Kathmandu / Asko Luukkainen; Kiev / Arja Makkonen; Lima / Juha Virtanen; Lusaka / Pertti Anttinen; Maputo / Matti Kääriäinen; Mexico / Anne Lammila; Nairobi / Sofie From-Emmesberger; Rabat / Christina Harttila; Reykjavik / Irma Ertman; Tel Aviv / Leena-Kaisa Mikkola; Washington / Ritva Koukku-Ronde; Finland’s permanent representation to the Council of Europe, Strasbourg / Pekka Hyvönen; Mission of Finland to NATO, Brussels / Pia Rantala-Engberg.
Two ambassadors took up their posts earlier this year: Ambassador Harry Helenius, who started in Stockholm in March and Ambassador Päivi Luostarinen, who started in Berlin in June. Ambassador Pekka Metso will take up his post in Ljubljana in November.
