MFA: Jukka Salovaara appointed as Permanent State Secretary at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs

The position is a fixed-term appointment ending on 31 August 2026. In the same session, the Government appointed the Ministry’s current Permanent State Secretary Matti Anttonen to continue in his duties until 30 April 2022.

Salovaara will transfer to the new post from New York, where he has served as Head of Mission and Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations since 2019.

Salovaara joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1995. Previously, he has worked, for example, as Director General of the Ministry’s Political Department and Department for Europe. Outside the Foreign Service, Salovaara has served as Deputy Director General of the Government Secretariat for EU Affairs and as Committee Counsel of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament. He holds a Master’s degree in Political Sciences.

“The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has a significant responsibility in promoting Finland’s interests internationally. Cooperation is a strength for Finland, and I hope that in my new role I will be able to promote it,” Salovaara says.

The Permanent State Secretary at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs directs, develops and supervises the activities of the Ministry and its administrative branch. For example, the Permanent State Secretary is responsible for performance management and for coordinating the activities of the Ministry and its administrative branch with other ministries’ activities.

Inquiries:

Kirsti Pohjankukka, Deputy Director General for Human Resources, tel. +358 29 550 038

Requests for interviews with Jukka Salovaara: Mika Mickelsson, Counsellor, Unit for Communications on Current Affairs, tel. +358 295 350 189

The email addresses of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs are in the format firstname.lastname@formin.fi.