Reform and Ukraine support: Marja Ruotanen-Bourdages runs as a joint Nordic-Baltic candidate for Deputy Secretary General

As the Council of Europe prepares to elect a new Deputy Secretary General on 23 June, Marja Ruotanen-Bourdages presents a candidacy shaped by decades of experience in driving reforms, bringing together diverging interests and supporting member States, including in response to Russia’s war against Ukraine. She offers an exceptional combination of institutional insight and proven delivery at a time when the Organisation must increasingly translate political commitments into concrete action.

Ms Ruotanen-Bourdages brings more than three decades of experience within the Council of Europe, spanning its core structures: the Secretariat, the Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) and the Private Office of the Secretary General. She has held senior leadership roles across the Organisation while working closely with parliamentary processes and high-level political coordination. This broad background has given her a deep and practical understanding of how the Organisation functions and how its different parts can work together effectively to deliver visible results.

Her experience is grounded in the core functions of the Council of Europe. She has worked on developing standards, strengthening monitoring mechanisms and leading large cooperation programmes with member States. Through this work, she has helped ensure that the Organisation’s priorities are turned into concrete action and measurable outcomes.

A defining feature of Ms Ruotanen-Bourdages’s leadership is her ability to bring together different parts of the Organisation and build cooperation across institutional boundaries. She has worked extensively with complex decision-making processes, aligning competing priorities and supporting consensus among member States. This ability to connect institutions and interests is particularly relevant at a time when the Council of Europe is expected to act more coherently and reinforce its role in a changing international context.

Ms Ruotanen-Bourdages is recognised for strong managerial capacity and a clear focus on delivering reform. She has translated member States’ decisions and audit findings into concrete changes with measurable results, improving the Organisation’s efficiency and coherence in practice. In her current role as Director General, she leads over 600 staff while continuing to drive institutional reform across the Organisation.

Ahead of the election, Finland has underlined its strong support for the candidate:
“Marja Ruotanen-Bourdages has an exceptional profile to serve as Deputy Secretary General. Her values, personal integrity, strategic vision, strong leadership and management skills together with a drive for excellence and results constitute valuable assets to the Council of Europe to rise to today’s challenges and thrive through change and reform”, says Elina Valtonen, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland.