New Swiss ambassadors
Bern, 10.12.2021 - A number of personnel changes have been announced for several Swiss representations abroad and at the head office of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) as part of the usual transfer rotation and on the basis of appointments made by the Federal Council. The appointments of heads of mission abroad become effective following approval by the respective host states.
Appointments
Markus Börlin, currently consul general (with the title of ambassador) in New York, has been appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, with residence in Luxembourg.
Hans-Ruedi Bortis, currently head of mission in Guatemala City, has been appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Argentine Republic, with residence in Buenos Aires.
Christoph Burgener, currently adviser to the head of Internal Audit at the FDFA's General Secretariat in Bern, has been appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of Cyprus, with residence in Nicosia.
Yasmine Chatila Zwahlen, currently head of mission (job sharing) in Canberra, has been appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with residence in Riyadh.
Markus Dutly, currently head of mission in Luxembourg, has been appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of Chile, with residence in Santiago de Chile.
Thomas Gass, currently vice director (with the title of ambassador) and head of the South Cooperation Department at the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in Bern, has been appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, with residence in Hanoi.
Lukas Gasser, currently head of mission in Amman, has been appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of Angola and to the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, with residence in Luanda.
Emilija Georgieva, currently head of mission in Zagreb, has been appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Republic of Iraq, with residence in Amman.
Simone Giger, currently head of the SDC's Global Programme Migration and Development Division in Bern, has been appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of Ghana, the Republic of Benin and the Republic of Togo, with residence in Accra.
Ruth Huber, currently SDC vice director (with the title of ambassador) and head of Cooperation with Eastern Europe in Bern, has been appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of Albania, with residence in Tirana.
Sonja Hürlimann, currently deputy head of the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), has been appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Principality of Liechtenstein, with residence in Bern. To allow her to carry out her new function as deputy head of the Europe Division and head of bilateral relations at the FDFA State Secretariat in Bern, she has been conferred the title of ambassador.
Thomas Oertle, currently head of international cooperation in Nairobi, has been appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Sultanate of Oman and to the Republic of Yemen, with residence in Muscat.
Olivier Zehnder, currently consul general in Shanghai, has been appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), with residence in Jakarta.
Conferment of ambassadorial titles
Jacques Ducrest, currently the delegate of the Federal Council for the 2030 Agenda and deputy head of the Prosperity and Sustainability Division at the FDFA State Secretariat in Bern, has been conferred the title of ambassador for his new function as head of the International Relations Division at the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) at the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) in Bern.
Christian Frutiger, currently SDC vice director (with the title of ambassador) and head of Global Cooperation in Bern, has been conferred the title of ambassador for his new function as SDC vice director and head of Thematic Cooperation in Bern.
Nicolas Randin, currently head of the SDC's Analysis and Policy Division in Bern, has been conferred the title of ambassador for his new function as SDC vice director and head of the Sub-Saharan Africa Division in Bern.
Nicole Ruder, currently head of International Cooperation in Kyiv, has been conferred the title of ambassador for her new function as SDC vice director and head of Multilateral Affairs and NGOs in Bern.
Andrea Studer, currently head of the SDC's Middle East and North Africa Division in Bern and deputy head of Swiss Humanitarian Aid and the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit, has been conferred the title of ambassador for her new function as SDC vice director and head of the MENA–Europe Division in Bern.
Arno Wicki, currently head of mission in Santiago de Chile, has been conferred the title of ambassador for his new function as SDC vice director and head of the Asia–Latin America and the Caribbean Division in Bern.
Address for enquiries
FDFA Communication
Tel. +41 58 462 31 53
Tel. Press service +41 460 55 55
kommunikation@eda.admin.ch
Publisher
The Federal Council
https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start.html
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home.html
