Appointments to the Cabinet of the President of the Republic

Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Jukka Siukosaari (L) and Counsellor Petri Hakkarainen (R). Photo: Ministry for Foreign Affairs

Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Jukka Siukosaari (L) and Counsellor Petri Hakkarainen (R). Photo: Ministry for Foreign Affairs

Office of the President of the Republic
Press release 3/2018
22 February 2018

Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Jukka Siukosaari MSc has been appointed Secretary General at the Office of the President of the Republic. Siukosaari will take up the post on 1 June 2018 and transfers to the position from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, where he has worked since 1995. Siukosaari is currently serving as Ambassador of Finland to Japan. 

President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö appointed Siukosaari as Secretary General at the Presidential session on 22 February 2018.

Hiski Haukkala DSocSc will continue as Secretary General until the end of May, after which he will take up the position of professor of international politics in the Faculty of Management at Tampere University.

Counsellor Petri Hakkarainen DPhil has been appointed Foreign Policy Adviser to the President of the Republic. Hakkarainen will take up the post on 1 March 2018 and transfers to the position from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, where he has worked since 2006. Hakkarainen is currently minister-counsellor and team leader, political affairs at the Embassy of Finland in Washington. 

Katri Makkonen MSocSc has been re-appointed Director of Communications to the President of the Republic. Makkonen has served as the Director of Communications to the President of the Republic and been a Cabinet member since 2013. 

Pete Pokkinen MSc has been re-appointed Special Adviser to the President of the Republic. Pokkinen served as Special Adviser and a Cabinet member from 2015 to 2017 and again since February 2018. 

The legal adviser to the President of the Republic will be appointed later.