Pertti Kaukonen

Ambassador Pertti Kaukonen. The painting was created by a portrait painter from Kuwait, whose identity remains unknown.

Pertti Lauri Juhani Kaukonen (born June 5, 1942 Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish Ambassador.

Family

Kaukonen's father is Secretariate Counsellor Lauri Kaukonen and mother is Philanthropist Elsa Kaukonen.

Education

Kaukonen graduated as Bachelor in Political Science in 1965 and Master in Political Science in 1966 from the University of Helsinki.

Career

Kaukonen joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland in 1965. His first positions were in Paris and Bucharest as an attache and a secretary. He was promoted to Embassy Secretary in 1970.

In 1972, Kaukonen was promoted to Divisional Secretary at the Ministry. In 1973 President of Finland Urho Kekkonen invited the first President of Senegal Léopold Sédar Senghor to Finland. President Senghor conferred the Officer of the National Order of the Lion award upon Kaukonen.

In 1973, Kaukonen was promoted to First Secretary at the Finnish Embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark. For his efforts towards strengthening the relationship between Finland and Denmark, Kaukonen received two awards - the Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog and the Knight 1st Class of the Order of the Dannebrog, from Queen Margrethe II of Denmark in 1973 and 1977, respectively.

In 1976, Kaukonen was promoted to the position of Divisional Chief at the Ministry. That same year, President of Finland Urho Kekkonen awarded Kaukonen the Knight 1st Class of the Order of the Lion of Finland. He was later promoted to Counsellor in 1978.

Head of Diplomatic Mission in South Africa

In 1980, Kaukonen started serving as the Chargé d'affaires in Pretoria, South Africa. Although Finland and South Africa had established diplomatic relations in 1949, Finland never supported South Africa's apartheid system. In 1984, Kaukonen was honored with the Commander of the Order of Good Hope award.

Deputy Head of Mission in the United States of America

In 1984, Kaukonen was transferred to the Finnish Embassy in Washington, the United States of America, and into the role of Deputy Head of Mission. In practice, Kaukonen led the Finnish Embassy due to financial ambiguities with the Finnish Ambassador and the Ministry. Kaukonen served in the position until 1986.

From 1986 to 1992, Kaukonen worked as a Counsellor at the Ministry in Finland.

Ambassador in Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates

In 1992, Kaukonen was promoted to Counsellor for Foreign Affairs. That same year, President of Finland Mauno Koivisto appointed Kaukonen as the Ambassador of Finland to Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. As the head of state, the President of Finland made his first official visit to Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates in 1996. A Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari was the President of Finland between 1994 and 2000. Kaukonen held this position until 1998.

In 2004, a parliamentary delegation from Kuwait visited Helsinki in Finland. At a dinner banquet hosted by the Secretary General of the Finnish Parliament, Seppo Tiitinen, Ambassador Kaukonen gave a speech in which he described Kuwaiti diwaniyas as the best form of democracy.

Honours

In 1998, Kaukonen was awarded the Military Merit Medal by the Finnish Defence Forces. A civilian can receive a medal for exceptional service to the Defense Forces.

• Senegal National Order of the Lion Officer (1973)
• Denmark Order of the Dannebrog Knight (1973)
• Finland Order of the Lion of Finland Knight 1st Class (1976)
• Denmark Order of the Dannebrog Knight 1st Class (1977)
• South Africa Order of Good Hope Commander (1984)
• Finland Military Merit Medal (1998)