Ms. Veera Parko

Veera Parko has more than 15 years of experience in international and European Union affairs. She is currently based in Washington, D.C. and on leave from the position of Director, International Affairs at the Ministry of the Interior, Finland. At the Ministry, Ms Parko managed a unit responsible for Finland’s international cooperation in the field of civil protection, disaster management and civil preparedness, for example NATO and European Union cooperation, international assistance missions as well as Nordic, Arctic and bilateral cooperation.

Ms Parko has been closely involved in Finland's participation, as a partner country, in NATO’s work on civil preparedness and resilience.  She is currently 2nd Vice-Chair of the NATO Civil Protection Group. Ms Parko chaired the Working Party on Civil Protection of the Council of the European Union during Finland's EU Presidency in 2019, with a thematic focus on cross-sectoral cooperation and resilience.

An expert in EU affairs, Ms Parko worked on a wide range of EU policy issues during her eight years at the Prime Minister's Office of Finland. She has also held positions at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Helsinki, New York and Brussels as well as the European Parliament.

Ms Parko holds an MA in social sciences from the University of Helsinki and an MA in European Political and Administrative Studies from the College of Europe, Bruges. She speaks Finnish, English, Swedish and French.

An international affairs enthusiast turned expert in national preparedness, Ms Parko is interested in how nations can enhance their resilience in the face of today’s changing threat landscape by working together.