Deputy Directors General appointed to Department for Euro-Atlantic Affairs and Department for International Trade, EU Affairs Director to Unit for EU Affairs

The Government appointed Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Sannamaaria Vanamo to serve as Deputy Director General of the Department for Euro-Atlantic Affairs for a fixed term from 1 September 2024 to 31 August 2028.

Vanamo transfers to the post from her previous position as Ambassador for Education at the Department for International Trade. Before that, she served as Finland’s Consul General in St Petersburg in 2021–2023, as Deputy Director General of the Department for Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia in 2017–2021 and as Director of the Unit for Arms Control at the Political Department in 2014–2017. Vanamo has also worked at the Embassies of Finland in Washington, D.C. and Moscow and at the Permanent Representation of Finland to the EU in Brussels. 

Vanamo has worked for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs since 2000. She holds a Master’s degree in social sciences.

The Government appointed Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Anne Sipiläinen to serve as Director for EU Affairs at the Unit for EU Affairs for a fixed term from 1 August 2024 to 31 August 2028.

Sipiläinen transfers to the post of Director for EU Affairs from her previous position as Ambassador responsible for the reform of the Foreign Service. Prior to this, she served as Ambassador at the Embassy of Finland in Berlin in 2019–2023, as Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Security Policy in 2015–2019 and as Under-Secretary of State for Development Policy in 2011-2015. Sipiläinen has also served as Ambassador to the EU Political and Security Committee at the Permanent Representation of Finland to the EU in Brussels and as Deputy Director General and Head of the Unit for European Correspondents at the Political Department.

Sipiläinen has worked for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs since 1987. She holds a Master’s degree in social sciences.

The Government appointed Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Juha Pyykkö to serve as Deputy Director General of the Department for International Trade for a fixed term from 1 September 2024 to 31 August 2028.

Pyykkö transfers to the post of Deputy Director General from his previous post as Ambassador of Finland in Manila. Before that, he served as Ambassador of Finland to Greece from 2017 to 2020 and as Director of the Unit for Climate and Environmental Diplomacy from 2013 to 2017. Pyykkö has also held other positions at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, including as Diplomatic Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development and at the Embassies of Finland in New Delhi and Bangkok.

Pyykkö has worked for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs since 1995. He holds two university degrees: a Master of Social Sciences and a Master of Science in Economics and Business Administration.

The organisational reform of the Foreign Service will begin on 1 August. With the reform, there will be changes to some of the names of departments and units at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.