Jaakko Laajava was the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Security Policy in the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. In 2011, he was designated the facilitator for the 2012 conference on the establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction.
His career in the Finnish Foreign Service began in 1971 and during his career he has served in Poland, Spain, and the former Yugoslavia. From 1996-2001 he held the position of ambassador to the United States. Before assuming this post, he was Finland’s ambassador to the United Kingdom.