Greece was among the first countries to recognize on 5 January 1918 the independence of Finland. The countries established diplomatic relations in 1920. For a long period Finland was represented in Greece through her embassies either in Bukarest, Rome or Belgrade. In 1965, Finland decided to establish an embassy in Athens, but the implementation of this decision was postponed because of the military coup in Greece. The first Finnish Ambassador, Mr. Heikki Kalha, arrived in Greece on 1 February 1977. The commercial section of the Embassy was opened before that, in 1975.
