Reetta Purontakanen and Sanna Immanen appointed as Press Counsellors to Tokyo and Tallinn

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has appointed Reetta Purontakanen to serve as Press Counsellor at Finland’s Embassy in Tokyo from 1 August onwards. Purontakanen has served as Press Counsellor at the Embassy of Finland in Tokyo since 2020.

Before that, she worked in the Foreign Ministry’s Department for Communications from 2018 to 2020 where her responsibilities included guiding the communications and country branding work of Finland’s embassies in Western Europe and later Finland’s embassies in Asia. Before joining the Ministry, Purontakanen served in civilian crisis management tasks of the European Union, as Communications Manager at the British Embassy in Finland and as OSCE election observer in Ukraine and elsewhere.

Based on her work history, Purontakanen has diverse skills and knowledge both of public relations and strategic planning of country branding and of crisis communications and cooperation with international media. She holds a Master’s degree in War Studies from King’s College London.

The Press Counsellor’s duty is to use communication, culture and other means of promotion to advance Finland’s objectives and country brand among the key target groups in Japan. The aim is to present Finland as an increasingly attractive cooperation partner in different sectors. In addition, the Press Counsellor fosters close contacts with Tokyo Team Finland and participates in the mission's reporting tasks, as appropriate.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs appointed Sanna Immanen to serve as Press Counsellor at the Embassy of Finland in Tallinn as of 1 August. Immanen has served as Press Counsellor at the Embassy in Tallinn since 2020.

Immanen has accumulated a comprehensive knowledge of Estonia in her previous positions. For example, she has served as Head of the Estonian Institute in Finland, as Managing Director of the Association of Estonian Societies in Finland and as Representative of the University of Tartu in Finland. She has a long history as a translator and she has edited a number of books about Estonia. She has also worked as Researcher in a biography project of the Society of the Estonian War of Independence and the Estonian War Museum.

Immanen has versatile experience in communications and country branding with regard to Finnish–Estonian relations. In her earlier positions, Immanen has communicated about Estonian affairs in Finland, spoken on behalf of Estonia and made Estonian culture known in Finland. She holds a Master’s degree in Arts from the University of Helsinki. Her main subject was Baltic-Finnic languages.

The Press Counsellor’s duty is to use communication, culture and other means of promotion to advance Finland’s objectives and country brand among the key target groups in Estonia. The aim is to promote Finland’s positive country image and present Finland as an attractive partner in different sectors. In addition, the Press Counsellor fosters broad contacts with the Estonian media and international correspondents posted to the country.