The President of the Republic appointed on Tuesday, 12 December, five new Ambassadors and a Consul General.
Counsellor Päivi Blinnikka was appointed Consul General in Hamburg, Germany, as from 1 September, 2005. Blinnikka entered the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1981 and has held posts in Moscow, Vienna and Budapest. At the ministry she has held posts in the Political Department and in the Division for Europe. From 1997 to 2001 she was Director for Central Europe. She will move to Hamburg from Paris where she works as Minister-Counsellor.
Counsellor Hannu Halinen was appointed Finnish Ambassador to Cairo, Egypt, as from 1 October, 2005. Halinen entered the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1973 and has held posts in the Department for Administrative Affairs and Political Department. He has been the Finnish representative to the UN Commission on Human Rights and the EU Human Rights Working Group and served as a UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. He has served in Ottawa, Budapest, Rome, Berlin , and been a member of the Permanent Delegations to the UN and FAO. From 1998 to 2002, he was Ambassador to Hungary. Since 2002, he has been Director of the Permanent International Secretariat Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS), based in Stockholm.
Consul General in Hamburg Mikko Jokela was appointed Finnish Ambassador to the Hague, the Netherlands, as from 1 September, 2005. Jokela, who started at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1976, has held posts in Bonn, Budapest and Stockholm. At the ministry he has worked as Adviser to the Minister and to the Secretary of State. He has also worked in the Department for External Economic Relations and the Political Department, among others as Director for Policy Planning and Research. He was appointed Consul General in Hamburg in 2001.
Finland's Roving Ambassador to Afghanistan and Pakistan Tarja Laitiainen was appointed Ambassador to Luxembourg, as from 1 September, 2005. Laitiainen entered the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1981 and has held posts in Lima, Tokyo and been a member of the Permanent Delegations to the UN and Unesco. From 1996 to 1998, she served as a national expert in the European Commission. At the ministry she has held different positions in the Political Department and in the Department for Development Policy and served as Director for Asia and Oceania. She was appointed Roving Ambassdor to Afghanistan and Pakistan based in Helsinki, in 2002.
Under Secretary of State for External Economic Relations Pekka Lintu was appointed Finnish Ambassador Washington, the United States, as from 1 January, 2006. Since 1972, Lintu has worked mainly in the field of External Economic Relations, among others in the Permanent Missions to Geneva and in the Permanent Delegation to the OECD. At the ministry he has held positions in the Department for Development Policy and the Department for External Economic Relations, where he was Deputy Director General from 1991 to 1994. Lintu was Ambassador to Japan from 1994 to 2000. Since 2001, he has been Under Secretary of State for External Economic Relations.
Finland's Ambassador to Japan Eero Salovaara was appointed Ambassador to Copenhagen, Denmark, as from 1 September, 2005. Salovaara entered the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1970 and he has held posts in Washington, Cairo, Paris and Brussels. He was Under Secretary of State for Administrative Affairs from 1996 to 2000 and Ambassador to Thailand from1990 to 1995, and, since 2000, Ambassador to Japan.
