Four diplomats from Turkey, Germany, Malta and the European Union have been formally installed in their new roles as Ambassadors to the Principality of Monaco following a meeting with Prince Albert II.
On 11th April, Monaco’s sovereign met with the four new representatives, who presented him with their official Letters of Credence.
Then it was on to the Hôtel Hermitage for a traditional luncheon with Marie-Catherine Caruso-Ravera, Monaco’s Director of Diplomatic and Consular Relations. Caruso-Ravera was standing in for Isabelle Berro-Amadeï, the Principality’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, who typically hosts these kinds of events.
MEET THE AMBASSADORS
The EU’s new Ambassador to Monaco is Christina Kokkinakis of Austria. She joined the Austrian diplomatic service in 1995 and has served in various positions, primarily in multilateral diplomacy as well as within the European Service for External Action. Since 2023, she has been a Permanent Representative of the European Union to UNESCO and the OECD.
Turkey’s Yunus Demirer (far right in picture) began his diplomatic career at the nation’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has held numerous positions within the ministry, both domestically and abroad, including postings to Baghdad with NATO, Bucharest, Washington, Beirut and Strasbourg. In September last year, he was appointed as the Ambassador of Turkey to France.
Germany’s new Ambassador to the Principality is Stephan Steinlein (second from left), who worked at the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bonn and Warsaw before becoming Director of the Federal Chancellery in 2003. During his long career, he has worked as State Secretary to the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin and Diplomatic Advisor to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva. Last summer, he was formally appointed as Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to France.
Alberto di Luca, Malta’s new representative, began his career in the private sector before ascending to the Chamber of Deputies in Rome from 1994 to 2006. At a diplomatic level, he was Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta to the Republic of Serbia between 2010 to 2023 and is currently the Permanent Representative of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta to the Assembly of Parliamentarians of the Mediterranean.
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Photo credit: Manuel Vitali / Monaco Communications Department