Albania

Gilbert Galanxhi became ambassador of Albania to the United States on Feb. 23, 2011. Ambassador Galanxhi joined the Foreign Service in 1994 as head of the Press and Information Department and spokesman of the Foreign Affairs Ministry. Most recently, he served as Albania’s ambassador to the United Nations Office in Vienna and to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (2007-10). From 2000 to 2007, he worked for the European Union (Police Assistance Missions in Tirana, Albania, with the training unit, and lastly as the chief of cabinet. In 1997, he served as charge d’affaires at the Albanian Embassy in Argentina, and in 1999, he worked for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Tirana as the coordinator between the Albanian government and the international organizations in Albania. Ambassador Galanxhi is an English language and literature graduate of Tirana University from the Faculty of History and Philology. He graduated from the Swiss International Relations Institute of Geneva in 1994 and from the Foreign Service Institute of the State Department in Washington, D.C., in 1995. Ambassador Galanxhi is married to Etleva Galanxhi, and they have a daughter, Xhiljola, 20, and a son, Xhesi, 14. He was born in Tirana on July 28, 1962.

France

François Delattre became ambassador of France to the United States in Feb. 23, 2011. He previously served as France’s ambassador to Canada (2008-11), consul general in New York (2004-08), and press and communications director at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C. (1998-2002). A member of President Jacques Chirac’s foreign policy team (1995-98), Ambassador Delattre was responsible for European and transatlantic defense and security matters and managing the Bosnian crisis. He also served as deputy director of the French Foreign Minister’s Office (2002-04) and was a member of Foreign Minister Alain Juppé’s cabinet (1993-95), following two years with the Strategic, Security and Disarmament Department of the French Foreign Ministry (1991-93). In addition, Ambassador Delattre was posted in Bonn at the French Embassy in Germany (1989-91), where he was in charge of matters pertaining to the economic impact of Germany’s unification and the environment.

Hungary

György Szapáry became ambassador of Hungary to the United States on Feb. 23, 2011. Ambassador Szapáry previously served as deputy governor of the National Bank of Hungary and a member of the Monetary Council on two occasions (2001-07; 1993-99), as well as advisor to the president of the National Bank of Hungary (1999-2001) and senior resident representative of the International Monetary Fund in Hungary (1990-93). Prior to that, he worked at the IMF in Washington, D.C., most recently as assistant director, from 1966 to 1993. Other positions include alternate governor for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (1994-95); president of the Board of Directors for the International Training Centre for Bankers in Budapest (1993-2001); board member of the Budapest Commodity Exchange (1997-2001); president of the Foundation for Enterprise Promotion for the Hungarian province of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok (1995-99); member of the Economic and Financial Committee of the European Commission and of the European Central Bank’s International Relations Committee (2004-07); and member of the Hungarian Economic Social Council (2004-07). Ambassador Szapáry has also been a member of the Advisory Council for the European Studies Foundation in Budapest since 2002, a member of the Euro 50 Group since 2001, a member of the Gyula Andrássy Foundation in Budapest since 2006, and a member of a steering group on public finances for the European Commission in Brussels. He holds a master’s degree and a doctorate in economics from the University of Louvain in Belgium, where he was also a research assistant in the early 1960s.

Kyrgyzstan

Muktar Djumaliev became ambassador of the Kyrgyz Republic to the United States on Dec. 3, 2010. Most recently he served in the administration of President Roza Otunbayeva as first deputy chief from June to December 2010. He also previously served as ambassador and permanent representative of Kyrgyzstan to the United Nations and to the World Trade Organization in Geneva, as well as ambassador to the Swiss Confederation. Ambassador Djumaliev also spent six years as an official in various ministries under President Askar Akayev’s administration, serving as deputy minister in the Ministry for Economic Development, Industry and Trade; first deputy minister in the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Industry; assistant of the minister in the Ministry of Finance; and head of the Foreign Economic Relations Division in the Ministry of Finance. In addition, he was deputy director in the Directorate on Investment and technical assistant for the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic. Ambassador Djumaliev obtained a master’s in international law and economics from the University of Bern in Switzerland and an undergraduate economics degree from the National University of the Kyrgyz Republic. He was born on June 22, 1972.

St. Kitts and Nevis

Jacinth Lorna Henry-Martin became ambassador of St. Kitts and Nevis to the United States on Feb. 23, 2011, with concurrent accreditation as permanent representative to the Organization of American States in Washington. Ambassador Henry-Martin most recently served as director of U.S. operations for the St. Kitts Tourism Authority. She also previously served as director of culture and parliamentary secretary for culture in the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Environment; federal minister of government, an elected position with portfolio responsibilities in information, culture, youth and sport; and as the deputy high commissioner of St. Kitts and Nevis in the United Kingdom.

Tajikistan

Jonibek Hikmatov departed the post of second secretary on March 5, 2011.

Farhod Salim assumed the position of counselor, deputy chief of mission on March 1, 2011 having previously served as head of the Department of European and American Countries at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.