Departments and Units

Administration Policy Department

Director of Department: Teemu Penttilä

The Administration Policy Department of the Ministry of Defence of Finland is responsible for the planning of defence administration operations and finance as well as the matters connected with the development of its organisation and structures. In this department, also questions related to legislation and law-drafting as well as strategic-level security is handled. Internal inspection of the Ministry of Defence and the Controller function are located in the department.  

The Administration Policy Department units are:

• Corporate Steering Unit, Director of Unit: Sanna Poutiainen
• Financial Unit, Director of Unit: Kristiina Olsson
• Legal Unit, Director of Unit: Hanna Nyholm
• Security Unit, Director of Unit: Kai Knape

Defence Policy Department

Director-General: Janne Kuusela

Deputy Director-General: Otto Saxén

The Defence Policy Department is responsible for assessing the development of the security and defence policy environment.

The Department provides the grounds for defence policy and the planning basis for the defence forces. It deals with matters concerning general national defence capability, conscription, military crisis management, peace support operations and disarmament and arms control.

The department consists of four units:

• Defence Cooperation Unit
• National Defence Unit, Director of Unit: Colonel Markku Viitasaari
• Research Unit, Director of Unit: Pekka Appelqvist
• Scientific Advisory Board for Defence, Secreterary General: Katri Haila
  

Resource Policy Department

Director-General: Olli Ruutu

The Resource Policy Department is in charge of developing resources for military national defence in the following areas: defence materiel policy, personnel policy in the administrative branch, buildings and other facilities, social responsibility and information management. The department also provides guidelines for the companies generating services for the defence administration and other cooperation partners, export control of defence materiel and steering of strategic projects.

The units within the Resource Policy Department are: 

• Material Unit, Director of Unit: Pasi Pajunen
• Personnel Unit, Director of Unit: Kati Virtanen
• Information Management Unit, Director of Unit: Chief Information Officer Mikko Soikkeli
• Community and Environmental Unit, Director of Unit: Sara Kajander

Media and Communications Unit

Director of Unit: Niina Hyrsky, Director of Communications

The remit of the Media and Communications Unit covers the internal and external communications of the Ministry of Defence and the definition of principles for the entire administrative branch's communication.

The Media and Communications Unit is responsible for providing the communication services required by the top management. For example, the Unit participates in the arrangements of official visits and organises press conferences. Other responsibilities include e.g. managing the Ministry's media relations and following national and international media.

In addition, the Media and Communications Unit is responsible for the Ministry's electronic communication and designs, develops and creates contents for the trilingual website. The Ministry of Defence produces all of its material for information purposes in the two domestic languages, Finnish and Swedish, and also in English. The Unit produces material for the Ministry's official brochures.

Administration Unit

Director of Unit: Antti Korkala

The Administration Unit is responsible for tasks connected with the internal administration and working conditions of the Ministry. The Administration Unit supports the operations of the highest level of management, internal security, the Ministry’s procurement functions, travel administration, occupational safety and health and collaboration, in addition to other administrative duties that do not fall within the remit of other units in the Ministry.

The Director of Unit handles and resolves matters respective to the Ministry’s internal HR and finance administration as well as represents the Ministry in employer activities.

Secretariat of the Security Committee

General Secretary: Petteri Korvala

The Security Committee is a joint cooperative body assisting in matters related to overall security under the central government and the ministries. The Secretariat of the Security Committee functions as a part of the Ministry of Defence. The Secretariat finalises the matters pertaining to the Security Committee. The tasks of the Committee are regulated in the government decree on the Security Committee.

The Secretariat of the Security Committee functions in cooperation with all administrative branches, business life and organisations as an expert in overall security and its harmonisation, in addition to developing society’s security strategies. The expertise of the Secretariat is being developed to correspond to the networked approach and environment.  With these measures, the prerequisites are established from the perspective of the whole for appropriate national preparedness. 

The central government has appointed Permanent Secretary Esa Pulkkinen from the Ministry of Defence to act as Chair of the Security Committee. The General Secretary of the Secretariat is Petteri Korvala.

More information about the Security Committee can be found on their website.

The Advisory Board of Defence Information, ABDI (MTS)

Secretary General: Markus Kinkku

The Advisory Board of Defence Information (ABDI) is a permanent parliamentary committee which is administratively placed under this Ministry. First appointed in 1976, the Advisory Board is appointed by Government for the duration of the Parliament’s term of office. The tenth Advisory Board was appointed in summer 2011.

The work of the ABDI is based on the decree which was reviewed in 2012 (539/2012).

The tasks of the ABDI include the following: to organise seminars on security policy, national defence and preparedness for crisis situations and emergency conditions; to order and publish studies on the climate of opinion regarding security policy and national defence and the citizens’ psychological resilience to crisis; and to support, for its part, the contingency planning of authorities to further psychological resilience to crisis and to manage surveys and contacts with civic organizations in emergency conditions.

The work is for the most part carried out in the Work Branch, the Education- and Organsation Branch, the Media Branch and the Research Branch.

The Advisory Board has its own Secretariat and close contacts with similar organisations in other Nordic countries.

For more information on its activities and opinion polls, please refer to the section maintained by the Advisory Board of Defence Information.

The Advisory Board of Defence Information (ABDI) is placed in the Communications Unit of the Ministry.