Heikki Talvitie (born 5 September 1939) is a Finnish diplomat. He has served as Ambassador in Belgrade from 1984 to 1988, in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

from 1988 to 1992 and from Stockholm in 1996–2002. Talvitie has also been an EU Special Representative in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

and an

OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

Special Envoy in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Talvitie was born in Viipuri, graduated from the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

in 1963 and joined the

Ministry for Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

in 1964. In addition to the ambassador's duties, he worked at

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

Embassy and at the United Nations Office in New York. He was a Minister Counselor in

from 1976 to 1980. Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 1980–1982. Consultative Officer for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 1983–1984 Talvitie is a well-known Soviet expert. He worked extensively at the Political Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and from April 1, 1971 with a report department where there was plenty of secret and other material from Finnish embassies around the world. He was appointed to the UN Representation on September 1, 1972. Talvitie has been the chairman of the Finnish Museums Association since 2003. Talvitie was President of the Finnish-Russian Society 2002–2014 and chairman of the society's council since 2014– and President of the Union of Friends of History since 2000 Docent Jukka Seppinen accuses Talvitie of favoring pro Soviet officials and that according to Seppinen Talvitie did not attempt to defeat the influence of

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

in Finland. Translator-writer Jukka Mallinen has once again accused Talvitie of having his chairman period of taking the Finnish-Russian Society towards the Kremlins handshake and voice Talvitie has commented on the media's Russian military operations in Georgia in 2008 and in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

in 2014. Helsingin Sanomat has criticized Talvitie for his defenses of the Russian invasion in the

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

.En jaksa kirjoittaa Venäjästä kauniisti
, Helsingin Sanomat 27.10.2014. On August 18, 2014, Russian President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

rewarded Talvitie's Friendship with the Honor of strengthening friendship and Cooperation with Russia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Talvitie, Heikki Ambassadors of Finland to Yugoslavia Ambassadors of Finland to the Soviet Union Ambassadors of Finland to Sweden Ambassadors of Finland to Russia 1939 births Diplomats from Vyborg Living people