Appointments: Head of Mission to Ottawa and non-resident Ambassador to Benin and Ghana

At its session on 7 November, the Government appointed Director of the Unit for North America Hanna-Leena Korteniemi to serve as Counsellor for Foreign Affairs as of 15 January 2025. The President of the Republic appointed Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Hanna-Leena Korteniemi to serve as Head of Mission at Finland’s Embassy in Ottawa, starting on 15 January 2025.

Korteniemi transfers to the post of Head of Mission from her position as the Director of the Unit for North America, which she has held since 2020. Korteniemi has previously worked abroad as the Head of the Unit for Peace and Security at the Permanent Mission of Finland to the UN in New York, and at the Embassy of Finland in Washington. At the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Korteniemi has served at the Political Department’s Unit for Arms Control and Unit for Security Policy and Crisis Management, as well as at the Departments for Global Affairs and for International Trade. She has worked as a Transatlantic Diplomatic Fellow at the United States Department of State.

Hanna-Leena Korteniemi joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 2006. She holds a Master’s degree in social sciences from the University of Tampere and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Oregon.

The President of the Republic appointed Ambassador Sanna Selin, Head of Mission at the Embassy of Finland in Abuja, to serve as a non-resident Ambassador to Benin and Ghana.