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]

Pasi Patokallio
Born	(1949-09-29) September 29, 1949 (age 75)
Occupation	Diplomat

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] In 2024, he was one of the authors of a successful citizens' initiative to withdraw from the treaty.^[9] Finland formally notified the UN of its intent to withdraw in July 2025.^[10]