Anne-Maria Seesmaa was appointed Associate Legal Officer at the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) of the UN Security Council in July 2016 and became a Legal Officer in April 2018. She provides expert support on law enforcement and border security, assisting Member States in implementing relevant Security Council resolutions on counterterrorism.
From 2011 to 2015, Seesmaa served as Senior Adviser in Finland’s Ministry of the Interior, representing Finland in the EU Terrorism Working Group and coordinating its counterterrorism policies, including implementation of UN resolutions. She also worked on reducing the supply of illegal drugs, representing Finland in the EU Horizontal Working Party on Drugs and at the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs. Additionally, she contributed to foreign relations from a police perspective and EU and UN policing, including police participation in civil crisis-management operations.
Seesmaa has played an active role in strengthening transnational law enforcement cooperation, preparing and participating in meetings of the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council, the Standing Committee on Operational Cooperation on Internal Security (COSI), and the Law Enforcement Working Party. In 2016, she served as a Project Expert at the Police University College of Finland for an EU-China peer-to-peer study on police-to-police cooperation.
From 2010 to 2011, Seesmaa was a Senior Officer at Finland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, representing Finland on international counterterrorism bodies, including the EU External Working Group on Terrorism and the Council of Europe Committee of Experts on Terrorism. She also worked on EU sanctions policy. In 2009, she served in Finland’s Permanent Mission to the UN, handling legal matters, including in the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly.
Seesmaa holds a Master’s in Law from the University of Helsinki and studied European Law and International Relations at the University of René Descartes, Paris. She speaks Finnish, English, and French.