Page "History of Finland" Paragraph 47

That same year Finland joined the United Nations, though it had already been associated with a number of UN specialized organisations.

The first Finnish ambassador to the UN was G. A.

Gripenberg ( 1956 – 1959 ), followed by Ralph Enckell ( 1959 – 1965 ), Max Jakobson ( 1965 – 1972 ), Aarno Karhilo ( 1972 – 1977 ), Ilkka Pastinen ( 1977 – 1983 ), Keijo Korhonen ( 1983 – 1988 ), Klaus Törnudd ( 1988 – 1991 ), Wilhelm Breitenstein ( 1991 – 1998 ) and Marjatta Rasi ( since 1998 ).

In 1972 Max Jakobson was a candidate for Secretary-General of the UN.

In another remarkable event of 1955, the Soviet Union decided to return the Porkkala peninsula to Finland, which had been rented to the Soviet Union in 1948 for 50 years as a military base, a situation which somewhat endangered Finnish sovereignty and neutrality.