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New Ambassadors to Belgrade, Kabul and Rome

Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Publication date 22.2.2019 14.00
News item

At the presidential session on Friday 22 February, the President of the Republic decided to appoint the following new Ambassadors.

Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Kimmo Lähdevirta was appointed to serve as Head of the Embassy of Finland in Belgrade, Serbia, from 1 June 2019. 

Kimmo Lähdevirta

Lähdevirta will transfer to Belgrade from the post of Director General of the Department for the Americas and Asia. Previously he has served as Head of Mission at the Embassy of Finland in Hanoi.       

Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Pekka Kosonen was appointed to serve as Head of the Embassy of Finland in Kabul, Afghanistan, from 1 June 2019. 

Pekka Kosonen

 Kosonen will transfer to Kabul from the post of Head of the Sanctions Team of the Unit for Public International Law.   

Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Pia Rantala-Engberg was appointed to serve as Head of the Embassy of Finland in Rome, Italy, from 1 July 2019. 

Pia Rantala-Engberg

Previously she has worked, for example, as the Ambassador of Finland to NATO in Brussels and as Head of Finland's Mission in Ramallah in the Palestinian territory.  

 

Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Pasi Hellman was appointed to serve as Head of the Consulate General of Finland in Shanghai, China, from 1 June 2019. 

Pasi Hellman

Hellman will transfer to Shanghai from the post of Managing Director of the Nordic Development Fund (NDF). Previously he has worked, for example, as Deputy Director General of the Department for Development Policy. He has also held positions in the Asian Development Bank in Manila and in Finland's Embassies in Nairobi and The Hague.

Inquiries: Pirjo Tulokas, Deputy Director General for Personnel, tel. +358 295 351 413

 
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