Pasi Patokallio

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]

An expert on arms proliferation, Patokallio served as the Director for Arms Control and Disarmament at the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs[2], the Chairperson of the 2nd Biennial Meeting of States for the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms,[3][4] the Chairman of the Nuclear Suppliers Group[1] and the Chair of two sessions of the Preparatory Committee of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.[5][1] Patokallio was a candidate to head the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) weapons inspection organisation in Iraq,[6] a role that eventually went to Swedish diplomat Hans Blix.

He is also a noted critic of the Ottawa Treaty banning anti-personnel mines, which Finland joined in 2012 during the presidency of Tarja Halonen.[7] Patokallio argues that given Finland's lengthy border with Russia, unilaterally signing the treaty when Russia did not caused “irreparable harm” to Finland's defence posture.[8]