Pasi Rajala is politically appointed State Secretary to Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen and Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen. He has previously served as Special European Affairs Adviser to Prime Minister, Special Adviser to Minister for Trade and Development, and Press Counselor and Spokesperson of the Finnish Embassy in Washington, D.C. Prior to that he has held a number of communications positions, including in development finance company Finnfund, PR agency EuroRSCG, and the UN Development Program. Mr. Rajala holds a Master of Social Sciences degree from the University of Helsinki where he majored in International Relations.