The Washington Diplomat

Appointments - October 2008

France
Aurelien Lechevallier assumed the position of political officer, special assistant to the ambassador, on June 23, having previously served as a diplomatic fellow at the U.S. State Department.

Hungary
András Bácsi-Nagt assumed the position of counselor (political affairs) on Sept. 1, replacing Maria Vass, who departed the post on Aug. 20.

Zoltán Iván Gázor assumed the position of deputy chief of mission, minister-counselor, on Aug. 15, replacing Viktor Szederkenyi, who departed the post on June 26.

Sándor Mihalko assumed the position of counselor (political affairs) on Aug. 15, replacing József Petróczi, who departed the post on July 14.

Madagascar
Christiane Razafijemisa departed the post of commercial counselor on Aug. 31.

Russia
Sergey I. Kislyak became ambassador of Russia to the United States on Sept. 16, having previously served as Russia’s deputy minister of foreign affairs since 2003. Prior to that, Ambassador Kislyak served as ambassador to Belgium and simultaneously as Russia’s permanent representative to NATO in Brussels (1998-2003). He has also served various postings in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including director of the Department of Security Affairs and Disarmament (1995-98), director (1993-95) and deputy director (1991-93) of the Department of International Scientific and Technical Cooperation, and deputy director of the Department of International Organizations (1989-91). In addition, he served in the United States before as first secretary and counselor at the Russian Embassy in Washington (1985-89) and second secretary at the Russian Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York (1981-85). Ambassador Kislyak graduated from the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute in 1973 and from the U.S.S.R. Academy of Foreign Trade in 1977. He speaks Russian, English and French, and is married with one daughter.

Sri Lanka
Jaliya Wickramasuriya became ambassador of Sri Lanka to the United States on July 18, having previously served consul general for Sri Lanka in California since 2005. Ambassador Wickramasuriya’s experience in the private sector began at Dilmah, Sri Lanka’s global tea brand, working his way up throughout the company, after which he spent a short time with another tea exporter in Sri Lanka, Standard Trading Co. In 2000, Ambassador Wickramasuriya created his own internationally recognized brand for Ceylon Tea by establishing Ceylon Royal Tea Pvt. Ltd. with its head office in the outskirts of Colombo, serving as the company’s chief executive officer and managing director and pushing Chami, his own brand of tea, to high-end markets in the U.S. and Canada. Born in 1960 in the deep south of Sri Lanka, Ambassador Wickramasuriya had his early education at the village school and completed his academic studies in Colombo.