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Pasi Patokallio

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Pasi Patokallio
Portrait of Pasi Patokallio, 2024
Born (1949-09-29) September 29, 1949 (age 76)
Kangasala, Finland
Alma materTampere University
OccupationDiplomat
Years active1974–

Pasi Patokallio (born 29 September 1949[1]) is a Finnish diplomat. He has served as the Ambassador of Finland to Israel, Canada and Australia, and led Finland's campaign for a seat on the United Nations Security Council in 2012.[2]

Biography

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Early life (1949–1974)

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Patokallio was born in Kangasala in the Pirkanmaa region of Finland[1] and graduated with a master's degree in international relations from the Tampere University in 1973.[3][4]

He joined Finland's foreign service in 1974. He was posted to the Embassy of Finland in Washington, D.C. (1978–1981), the Embassy of Finland in Tokyo (1981–1983), the Permanent Mission of Finland in Geneva (1986–1988) and the Permanent Mission of Finland in New York City (1989–1993).[3]

He chaired two meetings of the Preparatory Committee of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, including in New York City in April 1997.[5][1]

An expert on arms proliferation, Patokallio served as the Director for Arms Control and Disarmament (as well as the Deputy Director-General for Multilateral Affairs) at the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs,[2] and as chairman of the Nuclear Suppliers Group prior to 2004.[1]

He held the position of Finland's ambassador to Israel and Cyprus in Tel Aviv from 1998 to 2003.[3][1] In 1999–2000, he was a candidate to head the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) weapons inspection organisation in Iraq following the resignation of Richard Butler,[6][7][8][9][10] a role that eventually went to Swedish diplomat Hans Blix.

After completing a one-year fellowship dedicated to Middle Eastern issues at Harvard University's Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Patokallio served as Finland's ambassador to Canada and the Bahamas from 2004 to 2008.[3][1] He was appointed by the UN General Assembly to chair the 2nd Biennial Meeting of States for the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms in 2005.[11][12]

In March 2009, he was appointed by Finland's foreign minister Alexander Stubb as his special representative to head the task force on Finland's bid for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in 2013–2014,[13] and "to ease access to political decision makers abroad".[14] He travelled widely in this role to meet with high-level representatives of other UN member states, including several presidents, and established Finland's diplomatic relations with Kiribati and South Sudan.[15]

Patokallio is a noted critic of the Ottawa Treaty banning anti-personnel mines, which Finland joined in 2012 during the presidency of Tarja Halonen.[16] He has argued that given Finland's lengthy border with Russia, unilaterally signing the treaty when Russia did not caused "irreparable harm" to Finland's defence posture.[17] In 2024, he was one of the authors of a successful citizens' initiative to withdraw from the treaty.[18] Finland formally notified the UN of its intent to withdraw in July 2025.[19]

Publications

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  • Minä, aseet ja maailma. Diplomaattiset muistelmat, Jyväskylä: Docendo, 2023, ISBN 978-952-382-680-9

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Curriculum Vitae: Mr. Pasi Patokallio, Ambassador of Finland to Canada". Embassy of Finland, Ottawa. 1 March 2006. Archived from the original on 2006-10-10.
  2. 1 2 "New Heads of Mission to Canberra and Nicosia". Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Virenius, Mirja, ed. (February 2013). "News from the embassy of Finland" (PDF). Uutukainen. Palmerston, Australian Capital Territory: Canberra Finnish Society. p. 9. ISSN 2209-8887. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 September 2016.
  4. ↑ Patokallio, Pasi (1973). Transnationaaliset suhteet kansainvälisessä järjestelmässä: teorian ja empirian tarkastelua [Transnational relations in the international system: A review of theory and evidence] (M.A. thesis) (in Finnish). Tampere University.
  5. ↑ Fournier, Sami (April 1997). "Enhanced NPT review process gets underway at first PrepCom session". Arms Control Today. Vol. 27, no. 2. Washington, DC: Arms Control Association. p. 35. JSTOR 23625556. Archived from the original on 13 November 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2026.
  6. ↑ Lynch, Colum (23 September 1999). "Plan to Send U.N. Arms Inspectors Back to Iraq Fails". Washington Post.
  7. ↑ "Patokallio YK:n asetarkastajien johtoon" [Patokallio to lead UN weapons inspectors]. MTV3 (in Finnish). 23 September 1999. Archived from the original on 27 September 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
  8. ↑ "Irak: Uusi asetarkastuselin epäonnistuu" [Iraq: New weapons inspection body fails]. MTV3 (in Finnish). 15 January 2000. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
  9. ↑ Crossette, Barbara (15 January 2000). "U.N. scrambles to choose chief Iraqi arms inspector". New York Times.
  10. ↑ MacAskill, Ewen (19 January 2000). "UN split over Iraq arms inspector". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 24 August 2013.
  11. ↑ United Nations Department of Public Information (14 July 2008). "Universal action needed to halt illegal proliferation of small arms and light weapons, says secretary-general as he opens meeting of states parties" (Press release). Author. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2026.
  12. ↑ "Ambassador Patokallio to chair UN small arms conference". Embassy of Finland, Bangkok (Press release). 5 November 2004. Archived from the original on 26 September 2021.
  13. ↑ "Foreign Minister Stubb: The world now needs a strong UN". Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland (Press release). 17 March 2009. Archived from the original on 3 March 2026. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
  14. ↑ Piiparinen, Touko; Seppä, Tarja; Tervo, Anni (2023). "Greater than its size? Comparing Finland's and Luxembourg's campaigns to the security council". In Ekengren, Ann-Marie; Möller, Ulrika (eds.). The quest for power in the UNSC: The campaigns and selection of non-permanent members. Leiden: Brill. p. 171. doi:10.1163/9789004687110_008. ISBN 978-90-04-68688-5.
  15. ↑ Piiparinen, Touko; Seppä, Tarja; Tervo, Anni (2023). "Greater than its size? Comparing Finland's and Luxembourg's campaigns to the security council". In Ekengren, Ann-Marie; Möller, Ulrika (eds.). The quest for power in the UNSC: The campaigns and selection of non-permanent members. Leiden: Brill. pp. 153, 169, 171–172. doi:10.1163/9789004687110_008. ISBN 978-90-04-68688-5.
  16. ↑ Viljakainen, Miika (2 January 2018). "Kanava: Ex-suurlähettiläs ripittää Halosta ja Tuomiojaa jalkaväkimiinoista luopumisesta: 'Heikensi merkittävästi Suomen puolustusta'" [Kanava: Ex-ambassador criticizes Halonen and Tuomioja for abandoning anti-personnel mines, saying it 'significantly weakened Finland's defense']. Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 2 January 2018.
  17. ↑ Patokallio, Pasi (1 January 2018). "Entinen suurlähettiläs tyrmää Halosen-Tuomiojan linjan: miinakielto aiheutti korvaamatonta vahinkoa" [Former ambassador rejects Halonen-Tuomioja's policy, says the landmine ban caused irreparable damage]. Suomen Kuvalehti (in Finnish).
  18. ↑ "Citizens' initiative calls on Finland to withdraw from the Ottawa landmine treaty". Yle News. Yle. 28 November 2024.
  19. ↑ Lehto, Essi (11 July 2025). "Finland notifies UN of withdrawal from landmine ban treaty". Reuters.com. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
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