Tarja Jaakkola appointed Assistant Secretary General of NATO

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has appointed Tarja Jaakkola, Director-General of the Resource Policy Department of Finland's Ministry of Defence, to serve as Assistant Secretary General for Defence Investment as of 2 September 2024.

In her role, Jaakkola will lead the Defence Investment Division responsible for facilitating the development of NATO and Allied material capabilities, including air and missile defence. She will also chair the Conference of National Armaments Directors (CNAD).

"I am very pleased with being appointed to such a responsible and demanding position. The current security situation highlights the importance of defence materiel, defence industry and Allied cooperation in NATO's deterrence and defence," Jaakkola says.

NATO has eight Assistant Secretary Generals working under the Secretary General. Jaakkola is the first Finn to be appointed Assistant Secretary General.

"Jaakkola's appointment is great news for both Finland and NATO. Finland has expertise and experience to offer for prominent positions ," Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen says.

"What makes this appointment even more remarkable is that Finland has not been a member of NATO for long."

Tarja Jaakkola (born 1964) has served as Director-General of the Resource Policy Department of the Ministry of Defence since 2022. She has also held other positions at the Ministry, including Director of the Material Unit and Senior Ministerial Adviser, and has served as Assistant Director and Head of Unit at the European Defence Agency (EDA) in Brussels. Jaakkola holds the degree of Master of Laws trained on the bench.

Inquiries: Esa Pulkkinen, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence. Requests for interviews through Niina Hyrsky, Director of Communications, tel. +358 295 140 120. Interview requests for Tarja Jaakkola also through Niina Hyrsky.