New Ambassadors Appointed

The President of the Republic appointed today, 14 September, the following Ambassadors:

Ambassador Petri Salo to the position of Head of the Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa as from 15 October 2012.

Salo came to the employ of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1989. He is currently Roving Ambassador to Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Salo has served as Minister-Counsellor at the Finnish Embassy in Moscow and in various positions at the Finnish diplomatic missions in St. Petersburg, Bonn and Sofia. At the Ministry, he has served as Director of the Unit for Neighbouring Area Cooperation of the Department for Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and in a number of positions at the Political Department and the Department for External Economic Relations.

Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Mikko Pyhälä to serve as Roving Ambassador also to Dominica.

Pyhälä joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1972. He is already Roving Ambassador to the Caribbean and Venezuela, and Finland’s Ambassador to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Organisation of East Caribbean States (OECS). He has served in the Finnish Embassies in Prague, Mexico, New Delhi and Rome. He has been Chargé d’Affaires ad interim in Islamabad. He has also served as the Ambassador of Finland in Lima and in Caracas. In the Ministry, Pyhälä has held various positions in, for example, the Department for Development Cooperation and the Department for the Americas and Asia. In 1991–1995 he worked for UNEP, the United Nations Environment Programme, in Nairobi, and he led the GEF Unit responsible for the Global Environment Facility.

Additional information: Vesa Lehtonen, Chief for Personnel Planning, tel. +358 09 1605 5401