Vesa Häkkinen made Finnish envoy to Baghdad

The President on Friday decided to appoint a new Head of Mission to the Embassy of Finland in Baghdad, Iraq, and to grant several side-accreditations and an authorisation to represent Finland, said an official press release.

Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Vesa Häkkinen has been appointed as Head of the Embassy of Finland in Baghdad. Häkkinen will take up his duties on 15 November 2019.

Häkkinen is currently Director of the Unit for Communications on Current Affairs. Prior to that, he served as Deputy Head of the Embassy of Finland in Warsaw. In the Ministry, he was responsible for entry matters, for example. He has also worked at the Finnish Embassy in Stockholm and at Finland’s Consulate General in St Petersburg. Häkkinen holds a Master’s degree in Social Sciences. He joined the Ministry in 1999.

At the same session, the President authorised Ambassador Marianne Nissilä, Head of the Embassy of Finland in Abu Dhabi, to represent Finland in Bahrain and Qatar, Ambassador Marjut Akola, Head of the Embassy of Finland in Bucharest, to represent Finland in Moldova, and Ambassador Päivi Pohjanheimo, Head of the Embassy of Finland in Mexico, to represent Finland in Costa Rica.

In addition, the President authorised Ambassador Pertti Ikonen, Roving Ambassador for the Caribbean, based at the Ministry, to represent Finland in the Bahamas.