Veteran lawmaker of Vihreä liitto (Finnish Green League) Pekka Haavisto on Friday announced that he would submit his resignation soon to join a job of United Nations in Sudan, local media reported. He took the decision following his appointment as the UN secretary-general's personal envoy for Sudan. Haavisto said that he will join the new role leaving the local politics soon and it will happen within few weeks. His party college and former lawmaker Mari Holopainen from Helsinki will take Haavisto's seat in the parliament. Earlier on February 24, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced the appointment of Pekka Haavisto as his new Personal Envoy for Sudan. “Mr. Haavisto succeeds Ramtane Lamamra of Algeria, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his dedication and commitment to peace efforts in Sudan,” said a press release issued by UN. Haavisto has been serving as a lawmaker for a long from 1987 to 1995 in the first phase and again from 2007. He led the Vihreä liitto from 1993 to 1995 and again from 2018 to 2019. He has more than forty years of experience in politics and international affairs, having held several ministerial positions in the Government of Finland and senior roles with the European Union and the United Nations. From 2019 until 2023, Haavisto served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland. Prior to this, from 2016 to 2019, he served as President of the European Institute of Peace. He has also held the ministerial positions of Development Cooperation, State Ownership and the Environment. He has broad experience in mediation and negotiation processes in the Horn of Africa region and in the Middle East. He also has experience with the United Nations. From 2009 to 2017, he served as Special Representative to the Finnish Foreign Minister for mediation and crisis management in Africa. From 2005 to 2007, Haavisto served as the European Unions Special Representative for the Sudan, taking part in the Darfur peace negotiations. During this time, he also served as a United Nations Senior Advisor to the Darfur peace process. Haavisto worked for the United Nations Environment Programme from 1999 to 2005, including in Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Liberia and Sudan. He also contested as a favourite candidate in the last Presidential election in February 2024 and was narrowly defeated to the current President, Alexander Stubb. The was also among the recipients of Sweden's Order of the Polar Star medals awarded by the Swedish government for contributions in conjunction with Sweden joining NATO.