New ambassadors to Greece, Zambia and Iceland and side accreditations to Monaco, Macedonia and Mauritania

The President of the Republic decided on 31 January the following appointments and side accreditations: 

Pauli Mäkelä
Ambassador Pauli Mäkelä to the post of the Head of the Embassy of Finland in Athens, Greece, as from 1 September 2014.

 Mäkelä will transfer to Athens from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs’ Department for External Economic Relations, where he works as Ambassador in charge of energy affairs related to Finland’s external economic relations. Previously, he has worked at the Ministry’s Departments for External Economic Relations and Development Cooperation, Legal Service, and as Head of Unit for Western Europe among other positions at the Department for Europe.

At Finnish missions abroad, Mäkelä has served in Marseille, Brussels, Caracas, Paris, as Consul General in Hong Kong, and twice in Rome, first as Minister Counsellor and later as Head of the Embassy. 

Mäkelä joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs staff in 1979.

Timo Olkkonen
Counsellor of Foreign Affairs Timo Olkkonen to the post of the Head of the Embassy of Finland in Lusaka, Zambia, as from 1 September 2014.

At the moment Olkkonen serves as Head of the Unit for General Development Policy and Planning at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs’ Department for Development Policy. He has also worked at the Ministry’s Political Department and the Department for Africa and the Middle East.

At Finnish missions abroad, Olkkonen has served at the Permanent Mission of Finland to the OSCE in Vienna, the Finnish Embassy in Nairobi, and Finland’s Permanent EU Representation in Brussels. He has also worked in positions dealing with international affairs in the Ministry of Education and as National Expert at the European Commission.

Olkkonen entered the service of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1999.

Valtteri Hirvonen
Counsellor of Foreign Affairs Valtteri Hirvonen to the post of the Head of the Embassy of Finland in Reykjavik, Iceland, as from 1 September 2014.

Hirvonen will transfer to Reykjavik from his current position as Deputy Inspector-General in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Previously, he has acted as Team Leader in various teams of the Department for the Americas and Asia, as Advisor for the management at the Department for Development Cooperation among other positions, and he has held various positions at the Department for External Economic Relations and the Political Department.

At Finnish missions abroad, Hirvonen has served in Pyongyang, Tokyo, Warsaw, Mexico City, and Canberra.

Hirvonen joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs staff in 1988.

The President of the Republic granted side accreditation to Risto Piipponen, Head of Finnish Embassy in France, to also represent Finland in Monaco; Timo Rajakangas, Head of Finnish Embassy in Croatia, to also represent Finland in Macedonia; and Christina Harttila, Head of Finnish Embassy in Morocco to also represent Finland in Mauritania.

Additional information: Vesa Lehtonen, Deputy Director General for Personnel, tel. +358 295 351 439