Pia Stjernvall appointed Deputy Head of Mission of EU civilian crisis management mission in Afghanistan

Press release 150/2014
25 June 2014

The European Union has appointed Counsellor Pia Stjernvall from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs to Deputy Head of Mission of the European Union Police Mission in Afghanistan (EUPOL) from 22 June.

This is the EU's second largest civilian crisis management mission, with a total staff of approximately 350 people. The number of Finnish experts involved in the mission is 35. Karl Åke Roghe from Sweden acts as Head of Mission.

The primary aim of the mission is to contribute to the strengthening of the Afghanistani police services and the rule of law in the country. In Afghanistan, EUPOL mission acts as part of the comprehensive reform of the national security sector, which is a key element of the international cooperation endeavour to bring stability to Afghanistan and to strengthen the functioning capacity of the central administration. The main task of EUPOL is to train professional civilian police forces in various provinces of the country, and to mentor, advise and train the police command and prosecutor’s office staff.

Stjernvall has gained extensive experience in international tasks, concerning the situation in Africa and Afghanistan in particular. Earlier, Stjernvall has worked, for example, as Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of Finland in Kabul, Afghanistan, as Finland’s Deputy Permanent Representative to UNEP and UN-HABITAT in Nairobi, Kenya, and in the Embassies of Finland in Kenya and Hungary. Stjernvall will transfer to the service of EUPOL Afghanistan from the position of Special Representative for International Dialogue on Peacebuilding and Statebuilding at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland.

Additional information: Director Mikko Kinnunen, Unit for Security Policy and Crisis Management, tel. +358 295 351 820; and Pia Stjernvall, tel. +358 44 564 7045