New ambassadors to Ankara, Ottawa, Sofia and Tehran

On 13 April the President of the Republic decided about the following ambassadorial appointments:

Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Nina Vaskunlahti is to serve as Head of the Embassy of Finland in Ankara, Turkey, from 1 September 2012.

Vaskunlahti will transfer to Ankara from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, where she has been Director General of the Department for Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia since 2008. She has previously served as Director of the Unit for Russia in the same department and as Director of the Unit for Cooperation with Neighbouring Areas in the Department for External Economic Relations. She has also worked in the Political Department and the Department for Development Cooperation.

In the Diplomatic Service, Vaskunlahti has worked in the Permanent Representation of Finland to the European Union in Brussels, where she has served on three separate occasions, most recently as Ambassador, Deputy Permanent Representative to Coreper I. In Moscow she has served as Minister and she has also held posts in the Finnish Embassies in Canberra and Mexico D.F.

Vaskunlahti has also held international positions: she has acted as Adviser on Economic Reconstruction to UN High Representative Carl Bildt in coordinating the economic reconstruction of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo and as a National Expert at the Directorate General for External Relations of the European Commission.

Vaskunlahti joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1984.

Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Kaarlo (Charles) Murto is to serve as Head of the Embassy of Finland in Ottawa, Canada, from 1 September 2012.

Murto joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1970. He will move to Ottawa from the Ministry in Helsinki where he is serving as the National Security Authority (NSA). Murto has also served as Ambassador for Security Policy in the Minstry and Director General for Administrative Affairs and held a number of positions in the Political Department, the Protocol Department and the Ministry’s Press Center. Murto has also been the Foreign Ministry’s head teacher in the National Defence Courses.

Murto has served in the Diplomatic Service as Ambassador of Finland to Paris, Madrid and Canberra. He has also worked in the Embassy of Finland in Jakarta and in the Mission of Finland to the European Communities in Brussels.

Before entering the Diplomatic Service, Murto worked in the Finnish Paper Marketing Association Finnpap, where he was responsible for the sale of newsprint to the UK market.

Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Harri Salmi is to serve as Head of the Embassy of Finland in Sofia, Bulgaria, from 1 September 2012.

Salmi has served as Ambassador of Finland to Tehran since 2009. He has also served in the Embassies of Finland in Bonn, Moscow, Budapest and London and as Minister-Counsellor in Oslo.

In the Ministry, Salmi has held positions in the Department for Press and Culture, Department for Administrative Affairs, Department for External Economic Relations, and Political Department. In the Department for Europe Salmi has served as Head of the Unit for Western Europe and later as Head of the Unit for Northern Europe. From 1991 to 1993, Salmi held the position of Special Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Trade.

Salmi joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1978

Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Harri Kämäräinen is to serve as Head of the Embassy of Finland in Tehran, Iran, from 1 September 2012.

Kämäräinen will transfer to Tehran from the Department for Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where he has served as Head of the Unit for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. He has also worked in the Department for External Economic Relations. In the Diplomatic Service Kämäräinen has worked in the Embassies of Finland in Warsaw and Riga and in Permanent Mission of Finland to the OSCE in Vienna and in the Mission of Finland to NATO in Brussels. Kämäräinen has also held international positions including the OSCE Secretariat and as Adviser to the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus.

Kämäräinen joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1987.

Inquiries: Vesa Lehtonen, Chief of Personnel Planning, tel. +358 9 1605 5410