Ilkka Laitinen

Ilkka Pertti Juhani Laitinen (22 August 1962 – 29 September 2019) was a Finnish military officer, who served as the lieutenant general and the Chief of the Finnish Border Guard from 2018 to 2019. He was the first Executive Director of Frontex, the European Union’s border protection agency, from 2005 until 2014.

Ilkka Laitinen
Ilkka Laitinen 2008 in Athens
Born	22 August 1962 Nurmes, Finland
Died	29 September 2019 (aged 57)
Allegiance	Finland
Service/branch	Finnish Border Guard
Years of service	1982–2019
Rank	Lieutenant general
Other work	Executive Director of Frontex

He served in the Finnish Border Guard in 1982 and since 1985. He rose to the rank of colonel in 2004 and held a wide variety of national and EU jobs. He was appointed as the first head of Frontex on 25 May 2005.[1]

Laitinen retired from the Finnish Border Guard due to ill health on 31 August 2019.[2] He died on 29 September 2019, aged 57, due to illness.[3]

References

1. "Franco Frattini and Luc Frieden visit the External Borders Agency (Frontex) in Warsaw". European Commission Press Release. 30 June 2005. Retrieved 18 March 2015. The Management Board of the Frontex Agency met for the first time in Warsaw, on 25 May 2005. [...] The Management Board, on the basis of the short list submitted by the Commission, appointed Colonel Ilkka LAITINEN of Finland as Executive Director of the Agency.
2. "Rajavartiolaitoksen päällikkö Ilkka Laitinen jäi työkyvyttömyyseläkkeelle – syynä vakava sairaus" (in Finnish). Ilta-Sanomat. 2019-09-03. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
3. Karjalainen, Antti (2019-09-30). "Rajavartiolaitosta johtanut Ilkka Laitinen on kuollut" (in Finnish). Ilta-Sanomat. Retrieved 2019-09-30.

• Finnish Ministry of the Interior: Press release Colonel Ilkka Laitinen appointed as Executive Director of the EU Borders Agency (2005-05-25)
• Finnish Border Guard: Curriculum vitae of Ilkka Laitinen (in Finnish)
• Frontex official site