New Head of Mission to Baghdad, side-accreditations and an authorisation to the Bahamas

At the presidential session on 6 September 2019, the President of the Republic decided to appoint a new Head of Mission to the Embassy of Finland in Baghdad, Iraq, and to grant several side-accreditations and an authorisation to represent Finland.

At the presidential session on Friday 6 September 2019, the President of the Republic appointed Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Vesa Häkkinen as Head of the Embassy of Finland in Baghdad. Häkkinen will take up his duties on 15 November 2019.

Häkkinen is currently Director of the Unit for Communications on Current Affairs. Prior to that, he served as Deputy Head of the Embassy of Finland in Warsaw. In the Ministry, he was responsible for entry matters, for example. He has also worked at the Finnish Embassy in Stockholm and at Finland’s Consulate General in St Petersburg. Häkkinen holds a Master’s degree in Social Sciences. He joined the Ministry in 1999.

At the same session, the President of the Republic authorised Ambassador Marianne Nissilä, Head of the Embassy of Finland in Abu Dhabi, to represent Finland in Bahrain and Qatar, Ambassador Marjut Akola, Head of the Embassy of Finland in Bucharest, to represent Finland in Moldova, and Ambassador Päivi Pohjanheimo, Head of the Embassy of Finland in Mexico, to represent Finland in Costa Rica.

In addition, the President of the Republic authorised Ambassador Pertti Ikonen, Roving Ambassador for the Caribbean, based at the Ministry, to represent Finland in the Bahamas.

Inquiries: Pirjo Tulokas, Deputy Director General for Personnel, tel. +358 29 5351413
The Foreign Ministry’s email addresses are in the format firstname.lastname@formin.fi