Markus Lyra new Under-secretary of state for political affairs

The President of the Republic has appointed Markus Lyra new Under-secretary of state for political affairs from the beginning of 2005. Lyra has entered the Foreign Ministry in 1973 and served at the embassies in Moscow and London and been Finland´s consul general in Leningrad/St Petersburg and ambassador in Moscow. In the Ministry he has worked as secretary general for the Finnish-Soviet committee for scientific and technical cooperation, at the political department and the department for trade and economic relations and as special assistant to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Since 2000 he has been Director General for the Political Department.