Appointments: New Under-Secretary of State for internal and external services and Deputy Director General to Department for Asia and Oceania

Under-Secretary of State, internal and external services

The Government appointed Pirjo Tulokas to serve as Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs for a fixed term between 1 September 2025 and 31 August 2029. Tulokas will transfer from her position as Director General for Administrative Services, which she has held since 2020.

In 2016–2020, Tulokas served as the Foreign Ministry’s Deputy Director General for Human Resources. Prior to this, she served as Head of Finland’s Consulate General in St Petersburg in 2012–2016 and as the Consulate General’s Deputy Head in 2009–2012. Her career in the Diplomatic Service includes postings to London, Brussels, Vilnius and Petrozavodsk. In 2003–2007, Tulokas worked at the Foreign Ministry’s Political Department, where she was responsible for security policy issues related to NATO and the Baltic Sea.

Tulokas holds a Master of Arts degree. She joined the Ministry in 1994.

Deputy Director General, Department for Asia and Oceania

The Government appointed Mikko Kivikoski to serve as Deputy Director General of the Department for Asia and Oceania for a fixed term from 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2027. Kivikoski has held the position since 1 August 2024. Before that, he served as Deputy Director General of the Department for Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia in 2021–2024.

He moved to the position of Deputy Director General from the Department for Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where he worked on a special assignment. He served as Ambassador in Astana in 2017–2020 and as Deputy Head of Mission in St Petersburg in 2014–2017. Prior to these positions, Kivikoski worked in the Unit for Russia. In the Diplomatic Service, he has also worked in Finland’s Permanent Mission to the UN in New York, Finland’s Permanent Mission to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna and Finland’s embassies in Riga and Moscow.

Kivikoski holds the degree of Licentiate of Social Sciences. He joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 2001.

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