Anttonen appointed to serve as Director General of the Department for External Economic Relations and Myllyntausta as Chief of Protocol

On 4 April the Government decided about the following appointments:

Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Matti Anttonen is to serve as Director General of the Department for External Economic Relations from 1 June 2012 to 31 August 2016.

Anttonen joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1986. He will transfer to the Ministry from Moscow, where he has served as the Ambassador of Finland since 2008. Anttonen has held positions in the Department for External Economic Relations and worked as Head of the Unit for Russia and Deputy Director in the Division for Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. In addition to his post in Moscow, Anttonen’s diplomatic career includes postings to the Permanent Mission of Finland in Geneva and to the Embassy of Finland in Washington D.C. where he served as Minister from 2002 to 2006.

Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Tiina Myllyntausta is to serve as Chief of Protocol from 1 September 2012 to 31 August 2016.

Myllyntausta has served as the Ambassador of Finland in Pretoria, Republic of South Africa, since 2009. In the Ministry, she has held various positions in the Protocol Department and worked in the Division for Western European Integration and the Unit for Southern Africa. Prior to transferring to South Africa, Myllyntausta served as Deputy Chief of Protocol. In the Diplomatic Service, she has also served in the Embassies of Finland in Madrid and Lisbon and in the Permanent Mission of Finland to the UN in New York. Myllyntausta joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1990.