Welcoming New Ambassadors

PRESENTATION OF CREDENTIALS IN 2020

Permanent Representatives

Belgium, August 2020

Mr. Philippe Kridelka was appointed Director UNESCO Office in New York, and Representative to the United Nations, and assumed his post on 15 August 2010. Mr. Kridelka joined the Belgian Diplomatic Service on 15 October 1987. He became First Secretary at the Belgian Embassy in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran in 1989 and served in that position until 1992, when he returned to Brussels as Deputy Director of the Central European Desk. In 1995 Mr. Kridelka was transferred to Warsaw, Poland as the Counsellor at the Belgian Embassy until his posting in 1998 as Diplomatic Advisor to the Belgian Minister for Foreign Trade. He then served as Counsellor to the Belgian Representation to the European Union -World Trade Organization (WTO) desk from 1999-2000. From 2000-2002 Mr. Kridelka served as Diplomatic Advisor to the Belgian Deputy Prime Minister, in charge of Employment Policy and Gender Equality, before being appointed in 2002 to the position of Ambassador of Belgium to the Republic of Singapore and to the Sultanate of Brunei Darussalam. Mr. Kridelka was appointed Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of Belgium to UNESCO from 2005 – 2009. He served as Director of Cabinet, Office of the Director General of UNESCO from 2009-2010 until his present position. Mr. Kridelka holds a Master’s Degree in Law. He speaks French, English, Dutch and German.

Phillippines, July 2020

Before he started his diplomatic service, Enrique Austria Manalo, an economist, held several positions at the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) until 1979 when he joined the diplomatic corps. He served as Acting Secretary of DFA from March 9 to May 17, 2017, when former New York resident Perfecto Yasay Jr.’s ad-interim appointment confirmation was rejected by the CA due to his citizenship.

Manalo is the son of seasoned diplomats — Armando and Rosario. He attended the University of the Philippines where he obtained both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Economics. His mother was the first female career diplomat of the DFA who served as Philippine ambassador to Sweden, France, Belgium, and the European Community. His late father was ambassador to Belgium and political adviser of the Philippine Mission to the United Nations. He was also a journalist.

Austria, July 2020

The new Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations, Alexander Marschik, presented his credentials to the Secretariat today.

Before his latest appointment, Mr. Marschik was Director-General for Bilateral Affairs and European Union-Common Foreign and Security Policy and Political Director in his country’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs since 2018.  He previously served as Director-General for International Affairs and Political Director from 2015 to 2018, Ambassador to the European Union’s Political and Security Committee in Brussels from 2011 to 2015 and Director for Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs from 2007 to 2011.

At the Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations in New York, he was Deputy Permanent Representative from 2003 to 2006 and Legal and Political Counsellor from 1999 to 2003, during which time he was Vice-Chair of the Sixth Committee (Legal) during the fifty-sixth session of the General Assembly from 2001 to 2002.  He also served as Head of the General Affairs Council Unit of the European Union Division of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs from 1997 to 1999 and First Secretary to the Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations in Geneva in 1997.

Mr. Marschik holds masters and doctoral degrees in law from the University of Vienna, where he also lectured on international law from 1990 to 1998.

Switzerland, June 2020

State Secretary Pascale Baeriswyl is a diplomat with extensive multilateral and bilateral credentials. Since she assumed the post of state secretary of the FDFA on 1 December 2016, she has conducted over 60 bilateral negotiations and political consultations with officials from all of the world's major countries and represented Switzerland at numerous ministerial conferences, including at the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).

As an expert on peace and security, Ms Baeriswyl was instrumental in the establishment of four new protecting power mandates and has played a key role in peacebuilding efforts in a number of settings, including Colombia, Mozambique, the Middle East and Nepal.

Ms Baeriswyl is responsible for the strategic and conceptual development of Switzerland's foreign policy and its operational implementation via a network of around 120 embassies. She serves on a number of interdepartmental committees, including the Security Core Group and the interdepartmental structure for international cooperation on migration, which she also chaired, as well as the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Europe.

India, May 2020

The new Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, T. S. Tirumurti, presented his credentials to the Secretariat today.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Tirumurti served as Secretary to India’s Ministry of External Affairs beginning in 2018, in charge of the Persian Gulf, Arab world, Africa, development partnerships and economic relations.  He previously served in his country’s embassy in Cairo, Egypt.

A senior career diplomat with extensive multilateral experience, Mr. Tirumurti worked at the Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva and was India’s first Representative to the Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip.  He served as Counsellor in the Washington, D.C., embassy; as Deputy Chief of Mission at the embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia; and as High Commissioner in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

During his stints at the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi, he served as Under Secretary (Bhutan), Director (Foreign Secretary’s Office), Joint Secretary (Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and the Maldives) and Joint Secretary (United Nations Economic and Social).

Mr. Tirumurti holds bachelor’s degrees in commerce and law.

He is married and has two children.