Pertti Juhani Torstila (born 13 February 1946 in Jyväskylän maalaiskunta) has had a long career in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland made by an official and a diplomat. Prior to his retirement, he served as State Secretary for Foreign Affairs in 2006-2014. In June 2014, Torstila was elected Chairman of the

Finnish Red Cross The Finnish Red Cross (FRC, fi, Suomen Punainen Risti, sv, Finlands Röda Kors) is an independent member of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which is one of the biggest and best-known international organi ...

. In May 2015, Torstila was promoted to the post of Honorary Doctor of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Budapest (Eötvös Lorand). Pertti Torstila was elected in November 2015 as a "Social Science Fellow".

Career

Torstila graduated as student in 1965. In 1966-1967 he was the UN peacekeeping forces (

UNFICYP The United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) is a United Nations peacekeeping force that was established under United Nations Security Council Resolution 186 in 1964 to prevent a recurrence of fighting following intercommunal violen ...

) in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

. In 1970 Torstila graduated as a bachelor of political science 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 ...

and started the same year as an assistant at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Between 1972 and 1973 Torstila prepared a European Conference on Security and Cooperation (OSCE), whose summit was held in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

in 1975. From 1973 to 1976 Torstila was Secretary of the Embassy of the

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and from 1976 to 1978 at the Embassy of

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. From 1979 to 1980, Torstila was the Foreign Affairs Secretary of the Political Department of the Foreign Ministry. In 1980-1981 Torstila studied at the École nationale d'administration and in 1981-1984 was the Counselor in Paris. From 1984 to 1988, Torstila was Head of the Department of Disarmament and Security Policy at the Department of Political Affairs of the Foreign Ministry and in 1988-1989 Deputy Head of the Political Department. From 1989 to 1992, he was the Finnish OSCE Ambassador in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. In 1992, Torstila was Vice-Chairman of the Finnish OSCE delegation at the OSCE Monitoring and Summit in Helsinki. Torstila was an ambassador in 1992-1996 in Hungary and

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. Between 1996 and 2000, he was head of the Political Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in 2000-2002 was the Under-Secretary of State.From 2002 to 2006, he was the Ambassador of Finland to

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

before moving to the State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in May 2006. He retired in February 2014

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Torstila, Pertti Ambassadors of Finland to Sweden Ambassadors of Finland to Hungary 1946 births École nationale d'administration alumni Ambassadors of Finland to Croatia Living people Permanent Representatives of Finland to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe