New Swiss ambassadors
Bern, 22.11.2023 - A number of staff changes and conferments of ambassadorial titles have been announced for 2023/24 for several Swiss representations abroad and at the head office of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER), and the Federal Department of Finance (FDF) as part of the usual transfer rotation and on the basis of appointments made by the Federal Council.
Appointments
Andreas Baum, currently head of mission in Tokyo, has been appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Arab Republic of Egypt and Special Envoy of the Federal Council to the League of Arab States, based in Cairo.
Dominique Favre, currently executive director at the World Bank Group in Washington, has been appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, the Republic of Guinea, the Republic of Liberia and the Republic of Sierra Leone, based in Abidjan.
Simon Geissbühler, currently head (with the title of ambassador) of the Peace and Human Rights Division PHRD of the FDFA State Secretariat in Bern, has been appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the State of Israel, based in Tel Aviv.
Mirko Giulietti, currently head of mission (with the title of ambassador) of the Americas Division of the FDFA State Secretariat in Bern, has been appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of Kenya, the Republic of Burundi, the Republic of Uganda, the Republic of Rwanda, the Federal Republic of Somalia and permanent representative of Switzerland to the United Nations Environment Programme, based in Nairobi.
Ralf Heckner, currently head of mission in New Delhi, has been appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the United States of America and permanent observer of Switzerland to the Organization of American States (OAS), based in Washington.
Adrian Junker, currently head of Regional Coordination West, Central and Southern Europe at the FDFA State Secretariat in Bern, has been appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Sweden, based in Stockholm.
Natalie Kohli, currently presidential adviser and international adviser at the Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA) General Secretariat in Bern, has been appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of Cameroon, the Central African Republic and the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, based in Yaoundé.
Chantal Moser, currently deputy head of mission in London, has been appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Malaysia, based in Kuala Lumpur.
Nicole Providoli, currently deputy head of mission in Paris, has been appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the United Republic of Tanzania and Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the East African Community (EAC), based in Dar es Salaam.
Maya Tissafi, currently head (with the title of ambassador) of the MENA Division of the FDFA State Secretariat in Bern, has been appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of India and the Kingdom of Bhutan, based in New Delhi.
Valentin Zellweger, currently head of mission in Nairobi, has been appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Morocco, based in Rabat.
Appointment: diplomatic responsibility for Niue
Viktor Vavricka, currently head of mission in Wellington, has been appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Niue in addition to his existing cross accreditations.
Conferment of FDFA ambassadorial titles at the FDFA
Roland Portmann, currently head of the General International Law Section of the General, Treaties and Asset Recovery Division of the Directorate of International Law of the FDFA in Bern, has been conferred the title of ambassador for the exercise of his new function as deputy director of the Directorate of International Law at the FDFA in Bern.
François Voeffray, currently head of mission in Stockholm, has been conferred the title of ambassador for the exercise of his new function as head of the Americas Division at the FDFA State Secretariat in Bern.
Conferment of ambassadorial titles elsewhere
Valerie Berger has been conferred the title of ambassador for the exercise of her new function as head of the Free Movement of Persons and Labour Relations Division at the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO of the EAER in Bern.
Erwin Bollinger has been conferred the title of ambassador and the authorisation to use the title of Federal Council Delegate for Trade Agreements for the exercise of his function as head of the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the WTO and EFTA in Geneva.
Nicole Krenger, currently a project manager for tax policy matters at the Federal Tax Administration FTA within the Federal Department of Finance FDF in Bern, has been conferred the title of ambassador for the exercise of her new function as head of the Tax Division of the State Secretariat for International Finance SIF, FDF, in Bern.
Address for enquiries
FDFA Communication
Federal Palace West Wing
CH–3003 Bern
Press service: +41 58 460 55 55
Email: kommunikation@eda.admin.ch
Twitter: @EDA_DFAE
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
