Director General and Deputy Director General of Legal Service and Deputy Director General of Department for International Trade appointed

The Government appointed Senior Ministerial Adviser Kaija Suvanto to continue in her duties as Director General of the Legal Service at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The appointment is for a fixed term between 1 September 2023 and 31 August 2028. 

Suvanto has served as Director General of the Legal Service since 2018. Before this position, Suvanto worked as Director of the Unit for EU and Treaty Law. Suvanto joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 2001. 

Suvanto holds a Master of Laws degree (LL.M) and has been awarded the honorary title of ‘Master of Laws (Trained on the Bench)’.
 

The Government appointed Counsellor Markku Lampinen as Counsellor for Foreign Affairs as of 1 September 2023 and assigned him to serve as Deputy Director General of the Legal Service for a fixed term from 1 September 2023 to 31 August 2027. 

Lampinen is currently Director of the Unit for South-Eastern Europe and EU Enlargement at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Lampinen has previously worked in the Political Department and the Department for Europe at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. His career in the Diplomatic Service includes posts at the Embassies of Finland in Warsaw, Paris and Berlin as well as at the Permanent Representation of Finland to the European Union and the European External Action Service in Brussels.  Lampinen joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1994. 

Lampinen holds a Master of Laws degree (trained on the bench) and Master of Laws in International and EU law from Leiden, Netherlands. Furthermore, he has attended the French National School of Administration ENA.

The Government appointed Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Marianne Nissilä to serve as Deputy Director General of the Department for International Trade at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The appointment is for a fixed term between 1 September 2023 and 31 August 2027. 

Nissilä will transfer to the position from the Embassy of Finland in Abu Dhabi where she is serving as Head of Mission. Prior to that, she has worked as Chief Specialist in Education Export at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and in several positions at the Permanent Representation of Finland to the European Union in Brussels, for example as Deputy Permanent Representative (Ambassador, Coreper 1). Her career in the Diplomatic Service also includes posts at Finland's missions in The Hague and Paris. Nissilä joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1996. 

Nissilä holds the degree of Bachelor of Social Sciences and has completed the degree of Maîtrise en politique internationale.