Anna-Kaisa Heikkinen

Thematic expertise: Diplomacy, strategy and management planning and implementation, communications

Regional/country-specific expertise: Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, Russia, South Asia

Languages: Finnish, English, German, Swedish, Russian, Portuguese, Hindi, French, Arabic

Anna-Kaisa Heikkinen has been working as Director General of the Department for Africa, the Middle East and Latin America in Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs since September 2024. Before this, she worked as Finland’s Ambassador to Mozambique, Eswatini and Madagascar in 2020-2024, and as Finland’s Ambassador to Palestine in 2017-2020. Prior to that, Ms. Heikkinen worked in the Prime Minister’s Office as the diplomatic advisor for two Prime Ministers of Finland. Her earlier responsibilities at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs include, among others, work as the deputy head of unit for Russia, and postings in New Delhi, Moscow and Petrozavodsk. She joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 2003 after several years of work in the field of communications. Ambassador Heikkinen holds a Master's degree in international relations from the University of Tampere. She has authored a textbook of Hindi for Finnish-speaking students.