Ambassador appointments and non-resident Ambassador appointment to Solomon Islands
At the presidential session on 30 May, the President of the Republic decided to appoint two new Ambassadors and one non-resident Ambassador. The Government decided to renew an appointment at its session on 30 May.
Embassy of Finland in Abuja, Nigeria
At its session on 30 May, the Government appointed Counsellor Sanna Selin as Counsellor for Foreign Affairs as of 1 September 2024. The President of the Republic appointed Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Selin to serve as Head of Mission at Finland’s Embassy in Abuja, starting on 1 September 2024.
Selin will move to Nigeria from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs’ Department for International Trade, where she has been Director of Market Access Unit since 2021 and where she worked in export promotion in 2020–2021. She has previously worked at the Foreign Ministry at the Department for the Americas and Asia, where she was responsible for regional issues related to Afghanistan and Pakistan. She has also worked in a coordinator role at the ministry’s Department for Europe and with security policy matters at the Political Department. Her career in the Diplomatic Service includes posts at the Embassies of Finland in New Delhi and Nicosia and in Finland's Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels.
Selin joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 2003. She holds a Master of Arts degree (Geography).
Embassy of Finland in Beijing, China
The President of the Republic appointed Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Mikko Kinnunen to serve as Head of Mission at Finland’s Embassy in Beijing, starting on 1 October 2024.
Kinnunen has served as Ambassador for Strategic Communications at the Foreign Ministry since 2023. Prior to this, he served as Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Ukraine-Russia-OSCE Trilateral Contact Group in 2021–2022. He has previously held several positions at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, including as Director General of the Political Department in 2019–2021 and as Director of the Unit for Security Policy in 2013–2018. Kinnunen served as Finland’s Ambassador to Kazakhstan in 2009–2013. His career in the Diplomatic Service also includes posts in the Finnish Embassies in Moscow and Washington and in the Permanent Mission of Finland to the UN in New York.
Kinnunen joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1996. He holds a Master’s degree in Social Sciences (political history, University of Helsinki).
Non-resident Ambassador to Solomon Islands
The President of the Republic also appointed Ambassador Arto Haapea, Head of Mission at the Embassy of Finland in Canberra, to serve as a non-resident Ambassador to the Solomon Islands.
Renewal of appointment
In its session on Thursday 30 May, the Government also decided that Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Erik Lundberg will continue as Deputy Director General of the Political Department at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs from 1 August 2024 to 31 August 2026.