The Washington Diplomat

Appointments - January 2009

Afghanistan
Khojista F. Ebrahim Khel assumed the position on consular counselor in August.

Algeria
Abdallah Baali became ambassador of Algeria to the United States on Nov. 5, 2008. From 2006 to 2008, Ambassador Baali previously served as ambassador advisor at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, special envoy to African and Latin American states, head of delegation at various international conferences, and head of delegation to Morocco for the Saharawi negotiations on the Western Sahara. Prior to that, he was Algeria’s permanent representative to the United Nations in New York from 1996-2005 — including permanent representative (2004-05) and president (December 2004) of the U.N. Security Council — as well as Algeria’s ambassador to Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand and Brunei Darussalam from 1992 to 1996. He also served as a member of the Algerian Permanent Mission to the United Nations on a prior occasion, from 1982 to 1989. During his time at the United Nations, Ambassador Baali was president of the 6th Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, vice president of the 54th and 59th sessions of the U.N. General Assembly, special envoy to Central and Latin America, and a member of the Monterrey Strategy Group on Nonproliferation. In addition, he served as head of the Information and Documentation Division and spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1990-92), head of the Political Affairs Division (1977-82), and advisor to the minister for Arab Maghreb and European affairs (1989-90). Ambassador Baali has also been a lecturer at institutions such as Yale, Princeton and Fordham universities, as well as the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, Le Centre d’Etudes Diplomatiques et Stratégiques in Paris, L’Institut Diplomatique et de Relations Internationales in Algiers, and various disarmament institutes (Monterrey, Tokyo, Albuquerque, Hiroshima). Ambassador Baali holds a diploma from the Diplomatic Section of the National School of Administration in Algiers and a diploma in contemporary American politics from New York University. He speaks Arabic, French, English and Spanish, and is married with two children.

Bulgaria
Latchezar Petkov became ambassador of Bulgaria to the United States on Nov. 5. Ambassador Petkov previously served as director of the Human Resources Directorate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2006-08) and as Bulgaria’s ambassador to Poland with accreditation to Latvia and Lithuania (2002-06).

Tihomir Stoytchev assumed the position of deputy chief of mission, minister counselor on Nov. 21, replacing Chavdar Dimov. Stoytchev previously served as head of the European Union Directorate Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2007-08), and counselor for political and economic affairs at the Bulgarian Embassy in Washington (2003-07).
Hind Kamal assumed the position of second secretary in July.

Cyprus
Ourania Dionysiou assumed the position of press attaché on Nov. 14. She holds a bachelor’s degree in foreign languages, translation and interpreting from the Ionian University in Greece; a master’s degree in foreign languages, literature and civilizations from the Université Paul-Valéry in France; and a second master’s in international relations and international economics from the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C.

Czech Republic
Jana Kalimonova departed the post of second secretary on April 22.

Alice Navratilova assumed the position of second secretary (consular) on Aug. 25, replacing Ivana Klanova, who departed the post of second secretary on Aug. 31. Navratilova previously served as consular officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Prague.

Jana Racova assumed the position of third secretary on Oct. 7, having previously served as a lawyer; desk officer for the Baltic states and Austria; and student of the diplomatic academies in Prague and Vienna.

European Commission
Tor Burman assumed the position of attaché on Oct. 1.

Julian Hall assumed the position of attaché on Aug. 18.

Peter Kerstens assumed the position of counselor (economic and financial) on Aug. 1.

Georges Pineau assumed the position of minister (financial) on Nov. 1.

Ricardo Llaudes Sanchez assumed the position of first secretary (financial) on April 1.

Holy See
Monsignor Luciano Russo assumed the position of first counselor in August, replacing Monsignor Martin Krebs, who departed the post in August.

Namibia
Joseph Plaatjies assumed the position of second secretary on Dec. 5, replacing Dudley Delie, who departed the post on Oct. 31.

Poland
Marek Konarzewski assumed the position of minister counselor on Nov. 7, having previously served as head of the Science and Technology Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Zbigniew Przybylski departed the post of counselor on Oct. 31.

Slovenia
Andrej Medica assumed the position of political counselor on Dec. 2.

Tadej Rupel departed the post of counselor on Sept. 4.

Slovak Republic
Peter Burian became ambassador of the Slovak Republic on Dec. 2. Ambassador Burian previously served as Slovakia’s permanent representative to the United Nations in New York (2004-08), director of the Policy Planning and Analysis Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2003-04), head of Slovakia’s mission to NATO in Belgium (1999-2003), and director-general for human dimension affairs at the Foreign Affairs Ministry (1997). In addition, he was a secretary and later chargé d’affaires of the Slovak Embassy in Washington (1992-97), and chargé d’affaires of the Czechoslovak Embassy in Lebanon (1987-89). Ambassador Burian also served postings in the Middle East Department of the Czechoslovak Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1983-87; 1991-92). He studied at the Diplomatic Academy in Moscow, the Institute of International Relations at Commenius University in Bratislava, the University of Cairo, and St. Petersburg State University. He speaks English, French, Russian and Arabic.

Spain
Jorge Dezcallar de Mazarredo became ambassador of Spain to the United States on Aug. 21. Ambassador Dezcallar previously served as general-secretary of the International Strategy Council of Repsol (2006-08), ambassador to the Holy Seat and the Sovereign and Military Order of Malta (2004-06), director of the Superior Center of Defense Information and later the National Center of Intelligence (2001-04), as well as Spain’s ambassador to Morocco (1997-2001). In addition, he served various postings in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including special mission ambassador for foreign policy and common security (1996-97), general director of political affairs (1993-96), general director of foreign policy for Africa and the Middle East (1985-93), and deputy general director of North Africa and the Near and Middle East (1983-85). He was also secretary and later counselor at the Spanish Embassy in Montevideo (1978-81), secretary in the Consulate General in New York (1974-78), and secretary in the Consular and Commercial Representation in Warsaw (1972-74). Ambassador Dezcallar is a law graduate with a degree in international studies from the Diplomatic School in Spain, and he joined the Foreign Service in 1971.

Suriname
Florence M. Eltenberg assumed the position of chancellor on Sept. 1, having previously served as financial officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.