Press releases, 17.02.2021

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) in Bern for 2020/2021. These changes are part of the usual transfer rotation and are based on appointments made by the Federal Council. The appointment of heads of mission abroad becomes effective following approval by the respective host state.

Appointments made on 17 February 2021 (assumption of posts in 2021)
Olivier Bangerter, currently head of international cooperation in Kabul, will become the new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Kyrgyz Republic, based in Bishkek.

Patric Franzen, currently head of mission in Tbilisi, has been conferred the title of ambassador to allow him to carry out his new function as deputy state secretary of the FDFA and head of the Europe Division at the FDFA's State Secretariat in Bern.

Alexandre Fasel, currently head of mission in London, has been conferred the title of ambassador to allow him to carry out his new function as Special Envoy for Science Diplomacy.

Thomas Greminger, currently senior adviser at the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the United Nations and the other international organisations in Vienna, has been conferred the title of ambassador to allow him to carry out his new function as director of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP).

Marianne Jenni, currently head of FDFA Real Estate in the Directorate for Resources in Bern, will become the new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of Ecuador, based in Quito.

Martin Michelet, currently head of the permanent delegation of Switzerland to UNESCO and the representative of the Swiss Confederation to the Permanent Council of La Francophonie in Paris, will become the new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Estonia and the Republic of Lithuania, based in Riga.

Dagmar Schmidt Tartagli, currently deputy head of mission in Rome, will become the new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of Korea, based in Seoul.

Appointments made on 11 December 2020 (assumption of post in 2021)
Markus-Alexander Antonietti, currently head of mission in Lima, will become the new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Portuguese Republic, based in Lisbon.

Christian Dussey, currently director (with the title of ambassador) of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP), will become the new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Islamic Republic of Iran, based in Tehran.

Raymund Furrer, currently head of the Economic Cooperation and Development Division in the Directorate of External Economic Affairs of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), which is part of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) in Bern, will become the new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of Bulgaria, based in Sofia.

Dominique Paravicini, currently head of mission in Ankara, will become head of the Economic Cooperation and Development Division in the Directorate of External Economic Affairs of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), which is part of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) in Bern.  To allow him to carry out this new function, the Federal Council has conferred on him the title of ambassador and has also authorised him to use the title of Federal Council Delegate for Trade Agreements.

Monika Schmutz Kirgöz, currently head of mission in Beirut, will become the new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Italian Republic, the Republic of Malta and the Republic of San Marino, based in Rome.

Martin Strub, currently head of mission in Montevideo, will become the new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of Cameroon, the Central African Republic and the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, based in Yaoundé.

Appointments made on 25 November 2020 (assumption of post in 2021)
Rita Adam, currently head of mission in Rome, will become the new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary and head of the Swiss mission to the European Union in Brussels.

Caroline Bichet-Anthamatten, currently deputy head (with the title of ambassador) of the Europe Division and head of EU Coordination at the FDFA's State Secretariat in Bern, will become the new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Australia, the Republic of Kiribati, the Republic of Nauru, the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and the Republic of Vanuatu, based in Canberra.

Daniel Derzic, currently deputy head of mission in Seoul, will become the new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Oriental Republic of Uruguay and to the Republic of Paraguay, and permanent observer to the Latin American Integration Association, based in Montevideo.

David Grichting, currently assistant director and head of FDFA Finance in the Directorate for Resources in Bern, will become the new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Tajikistan, based in Nur-Sultan.

Rita Hämmerli-Weschke, currently head of mission in Quito, will become the new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Dominican Republic, Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of Dominica and the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, based in Santo Domingo.

Christine Honegger Zolotukhin, currently head of the Regional Coordination Eastern Europe and Central Asia of the Eurasia Division at the FDFA's State Secretariat in Bern, will become the new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of Belarus, based in Minsk.

Markus Leitner, currently head of mission in Tehran, will become the new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, based in London.

Simon Pidoux, currently deputy head of mission in Kyiv, has been appointed by the FDFA as special envoy to the Ukraine Reform Conference in Bern. To allow him to carry out this new function, the Federal Council has conferred on him the title of ambassador. 

Josef Philipp Renggli, currently deputy state secretary a.i. for Europe at the FDFA's State Secretariat in Bern, will become the new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of Tunisia, based in Tunis.

Jean-Daniel Ruch, currently head of mission in Tel Aviv, will become the new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of Turkey, based in Ankara.

Andrea Semadeni, currently head of mission in Brasilia, will become the new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of Senegal, the Republic of Cape Verde, the Republic of The Gambia, the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, the Republic of Mali and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, based in Dakar.

Appointments made on 14 October 2020 (assumption of posts in 2021)
Roberto Balzaretti will become the new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the French Republic and the Principality of Monaco, based in Paris. He took up his post as head of mission in Paris in December 2020.

Muriel Berset Kohen, currently head of mission in Sofia, will become the new head of the permanent delegation of Switzerland to UNESCO and the representative (with the title of ambassador) of the Swiss Confederation to the Permanent Council of La Francophonie in Paris.

Urs Bucher, currently head of the Swiss mission to the European Union in Brussels, will become the new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the State of Israel, based in Tel Aviv.

Paul Garnier, currently head of mission in Cairo, will become the new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of Peru, based in Lima.

Véronique Hulmann Marti, currently head of mission in Bishkek, will become the new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of North Macedonia, based in Skopje.

Pietro Lazzeri, until recently head of mission in Yaoundé, will become the new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Federative Republic of Brazil, based in Brasilia.

Konstantin Obolensky, currently head of mission in Riga, will become the new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of Uzbekistan, based in Tashkent.

Marion Weichelt Krupski, currently head of mission in Dakar, will become the new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Lebanese Republic, based in Beirut.

Appointments made on 18 September 2020
Tamara Mona will become the new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Republic of South Sudan. Since January 2021 she has been head of mission of the Swiss embassy in Addis Ababa in a job-sharing arrangement.

Pietro Mona will become the new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of Djibouti and the permanent representative to the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). Since January 2021 he has been head of mission of the Swiss embassy in Addis Ababa in a job-sharing arrangement.

Christian Winter will become the new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of the Sudan and the State of Eritrea. He took up his post as head of mission in Khartoum in December 2020.


Further information:

Federal Council appoints special representative for science diplomacy


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