Staff members at the Finnish Embassy in Portugal have jointly accused Ambassador Titta Maja-Luoto of harassment and inappropriate behaviour, according to newspaper Ilta-Sanomat.
The tabloid revealed it has seen a harassment complaint signed by eight staff members at the diplomatic mission. The complaint was filed with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 19 February, while the alleged harassment was initially reported to the ministry in October of last year.
According to IS, the complaint alleged that staff had experienced harassment, bullying, insults, age discrimination, racist behaviour and emotional abuse. The complaint further stated that the inappropriate behaviour was repeated and the situation had not changed despite being reported several times, according to the paper.
The foreign ministry confirmed to news agency STT that a harassment report concerning Maja-Luoto had been filed and that an investigation was underway.
Ilta-Sanomat asked Maja-Luoto to comment about the matter.
"It appears that there is an investigation process ongoing at the moment. Let's wait for the results," she told the paper.
The ministry's Director General of the Euro-Atlantic Department, Olli Kantanen, spoke with IS about the issue at a general level.
"This is a work community matter that the ministry takes very seriously and which will be handled in accordance with the ministry's procedures. The process will soon be complete. Due to privacy concerns, we are unable to publicly discuss the matter," Kantanen said.
Maja-Luoto began serving as the Head of Embassy in Lisbon on 1 September, 2024.
