Indian Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish calls upon Bavaria

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Indian Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish calls upon Bavaria

Tuesday, 1 February 2022, Munich, Free State of Bavaria, Germany: Bavaria’s Premier Dr. Markus Söder welcomed for an inaugural call at the Bavarian State Chancellery, India’s top envoy for Germany, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish.

The very first visit by Ambassador Harish was arranged in the framework of becoming acquainted to Bavaria’s head of government on a personal basis but likewise to discuss upcoming economic, cultural and academic exchanges between Bavaria and India.

The tête-à-tête was held in the Council of State Hall, and was focused on direct investment in the fields of digitisation, green partnerships, green hydrogen, space, S&T and new technologies. Bilateral ties between India and Bavaria are economically intense, and as a matter of fact, the Republic of India maintains a Consulate General in Munich headed by Consul General Mohit Yadav.

Bavaria holds a partnership with the south western Indian state of Karnataka. 
Ambassador Harish was accredited to Germany before Federal President Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier on 6 November 2021. He is a career diplomat since 1990. Previous to his German ambassadorship, he was serving in the capacity of Additional Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs. In the latter capacity, he led the Economic Diplomacy Division that deals with bilateral economic relations of India with other countries and liaises in this regard with all line economic ministries of the Government of India.

He also led the Multilateral Economic Relations Division and was the Indian Sous Sherpa for G20, G7, BRICS and IBSA.

From 2016 to 2019 he was head of diplomatic mission in the Socialist Republic of Viêt Nam. Ambassador Harish masters English and Arabic as foreign languages. 

For further information:

 
Indian Embassy in Germany: https://www.indianembassyberlin.gov.in/pages?id=eyJpdiI6IjJBVHdGWUU4XC9aMEtWQ1BBYnU3WWVnPT0iLCJ2YWx1ZSI6IkQ4ZmdQUlNOSldVMENxRVQrSFpvc2c9PSIsIm1hYyI6ImQxNmY2YThkMDE3MGIwMDNhNWIyYTg4MzBhNjkyOTViYzRiMjJiZjU0YzQ0NWY3ZWYwNGQwYzQ3MzUwYWNkNWYifQ==&subid=eyJpdiI6ImdqZGM4TjBhQ3ZHRkkzNzNwQWNvZmc9PSIsInZhbHVlIjoiWFwvUGFiSytzVzhSVVNDeUNrYkJBbnc9PSIsIm1hYyI6IjRiZDZkZGQwYTFmNzdiNjJjNjJlYTYxZjg0YzMwYjkzYTFmOTA1MGRlZDQzODFiYzYwZjA4YzI5NzhhNGExNDAifQ==

Consulate General of India in Bavaria & Baden-Württemberg: https://cgimunich.gov.in/pages/MjM3

Wopke Hoekstra, the new Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs

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Wopke Hoekstra, the new Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs

By Anton Lutter

After the longest cabinet formation, namely 299 days, the Netherlands has a new Minister of Foreign Affairs, succeeding his fellow party member Mr. Ben Knapen.

The current government is again headed by Prime Minister Mark Rutte. The Rutte-IV cabinet, which started on 10 January 2022 and consists of a coalition of the political parties VVD, D66, CDA and the Christian Union, has a record number of ministers and state secretaries, namely 20 ministers and 9 state secretaries.

The Minister of Finance in the Rutter-III Cabinet 2017-2021 H.E. Mr. Wopke Hoekstra has taken office as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister and is also the political leader of the CDA.

In an interview he reiterated the importance and challenges of the Minister of Foreign Affairs: “Tensions are rising in many places in the world. We have great concerns about what is happening in Ukraine. We also see what is happening in and around the China Sea and in the relationship between the United States and China. And the list is much longer. Europe has developed economically as a great power, but will have to catch up geopolitically by cooperating more and being much more aware of the threats we face from outside. Because in that case, unity is strength”.

Minister Hoekstra was born in 1975 and studied law in Leiden. In 2000 he studied law and international politics in Rome and subsequently obtained his MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau. He worked for Royal Dutch Shell in Berlin, Hamburg and Rotterdam and later at management consultancy firm McKinsey & Company, where he became a partner in 2015.

He was elected to the Senate in 2011 and served as Vice-Chairman of the Finance Committee between 2015 and the end of his membership of the senate in 2017. After the parliamentary elections in 2021 he was also both member of parliament and CDA political leader. As minister of Foreign Affairs his portfolio consist of foreign policy, Europe and international cultural policy. H.E. Mr. Wopke Hoekstra is married having four children.

Bulgarian authorities take down online investment scam

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Bulgarian authorities take down online investment scam

The online investment scam was responsible for losses of more than EUR 10 million. The scammers operated through bogus websites and call centres in Bulgaria and targeted victims in Germany and Greece

Judicial and law enforcement authorities in Bulgaria, supported by Europol and Eurojust, have taken down a network of online investment fraudsters involved in money laundering. On the action day on 26 January, officers from the Bulgarian National Police arrested one suspect for defrauding mainly German and Greek investors of at least EUR 10 million. During the action day, a total of 24 locations were searched, while officers interrogated 66 witnesses in Sofia and Burgas. Furthermore, a variety of electronic equipment, financial information and recordings were seized. 

Europol deployed two experts on the ground in Bulgaria to facilitate the information exchange and provide real-time operational analysis and technical expertise. Eurojust coordinated the joint action day and provided cross-border judicial support. The national authorities deployed around one hundred officers and prosecutors during the action day.

The scam was exposed after complaints were made by German and Greek investors who had lost all of the deposits they had invested in the online scam. The organised crime group responsible had set up websites and call centres that appeared to be legitimate but were actually fraudulent. 

The fraudulent activity was conducted by two call centres. While acting as financial consultants, call operators speaking German, Greek, English and Spanish contacted potential investors with promises of significant profits. As a result, several hundred victims made substantial investments but subsequently lost all of their money. 

In 2019, Bulgarian authorities started investigations and Eurojust set up a joint investigation team (JIT) between Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Serbia and Europol. Following five coordination meetings with Europol and Eurojust, the JIT members were able to identify the two fraudulent call centres in Bulgaria. The Bulgarian police, supported by the Serbian* authorities, dismantled both call centres on the action day.

In 2020, a similar modus operandi was used in another case and a coordinated action day led to the dismantling of two other call centres.

The following authorities participated in the operation:

Law enforcement authorities:

  • Bulgaria: Economic Crime Department, General Directorate National Police; National State Security Authority and Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Interior – Burgas.
  • Germany: Criminal Investigation Department Bayreuth: Federal Criminal Police Office, Wiesbaden
  • Greece: Cybercrime Division of the Hellenic Police
  • Serbia: Criminal Police Directorate, Service for Combating Organized Crime, Department for Cyber Crime

Judicial authorities:

  • Bulgaria: Specialized Prosecution Office of Sofia
  • Germany: Office of the Public Prosecutor General of Bamberg; Bavarian Central Office for Prosecution of Cybercrime Greece:  General Prosecutor’s Office of the Supreme Court;
  • Greece: Special Investigative Judge for Mutual Legal Assistance in criminal matters at the Court of First Instance of Athens, the competent Investigative Judge of the Court of First Instance of Athens, the competent Investigative Judge of the Court of First Instance of Thessaloniki
  • Republic Public Prosecution Office and Special Prosecution Office for High-Tech Crime of Serbia

Serbia is one of the ten third countries with a Liaison Prosecutor at Eurojust.

This operation was carried out as part of the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT).

The Ambassador of Cuba, H.E. Ms. Anet Pino Rivero

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The Ambassador of Cuba, H.E. Ms. Anet Pino Rivero

H.E. Mrs. Anet Pino Rivero is the newly appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. She presented her credentials to His Majesty King Willem-Alexander on January 26th, 2022. 

Mrs. Pino Rivero began her professional career with a background in law. She obtained a law degree in 1997 at her hometown’s university, the University of Havana. Upon graduating, she was in social services as a judge in the San José de las Lajas Court for two years. 

From this point onward, Mrs. Pino Rivero became more involved in diplomacy. She was briefly an official in the postgraduate course for diplomatic attaches at the Raúl Roa García Higher Institute of International Relations. In 2001, she embarked on her first mission abroad as a Diplomatic Attache in the Cuban Embassy to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. When she returned, she became an official with the rank of Third Secretary in the Legal Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). The rest of Mrs. Pino Rivero’s time in the MOFA up to today would see her maintaining her specialization in law. 

In 2007, she was assigned to another mission abroad; this time it was as First Secretary in the Cuban Permanent Mission to the UN. Upon completing her term, she returned to the Legal Division in 2009 as Deputy Director with the rank of Advisor. For the next 10 years, Mrs. Pino Rivero focused her efforts on working domestically. In 2011, she became Deputy-Director with the rank of Advisor in the International Law Division of the MOFA. Five years later, she was promoted to Director with the rank of Minister-Advisor. 

Nevertheless, Mrs. Pino Rivero still traveled frequently as a member of various official Cuban delegations. These include delegations in high-level visits to Belarus and Angola, and those to intergovernmental organizations, such as the UN and the International Seabed Authority. Additionally, while continuing her work, Mrs. Pino Rivero pursued a Master’s Degree in International Humanitarian Law. She obtained her degree in 2017 at the Center for International Humanitarian Law of the University of Medical Sciences of Havana. 

Mrs. Pino Rivero is beginning her tenure as Ambassador on a well-timed occasion as 2022 marks the 120th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the Netherlands. 

The diplomat community in The Hague sends a warm welcome to Ambassador Pino Rivero and wishes her all the best in her new term. 

Cuban ambassador Pino Rivero presented credentials

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Cuban ambassador Pino Rivero presented credentials

2022 marks the 120th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Cuba & the Netherlands

The Hague, Wednesday January 26, 2022 – The Republic of Cuba’s top envoy to the Netherlands H.E. Ms Anet Pino Rivero, was accredited today after presenting credentials  in a traditional Dutch ceremony, to King Willem Alexander, Head of State of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The king received the Credentials of Ambassador Pino Rivero, who was accompanied by her spouse and Counsellor Isaura Cabañas Vera, accrediting her as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Cuba before the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The occasion was propitious to reiterate the commitment to continue fostering the ties of cooperation between Cuba and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and to remember that the year 2022 marks the 120th anniversary of diplomatic relations between both nations.

The Ambassador of Cuba, Anet Pino Rivero with her spouse and the King chamberlain going from the Cuban residence to Noordeinde Palace.

The ceremony took place at the Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, the seat of the Royal Office. Noordeinde Palace is a Dutch Baroque architecture building, a gift from the State to the widow of William of Orange in 1609.

H.E. Ms. Anet Pino Rivero, Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba to the Kingdom of the Netherlands accompanied by her spouse and a chamberlain of the King at the Cuban residence after the presentation of her credentials to King Willem Alexander.

The Ambassador of the Republic of Kosovo, H.E. Dr Dren Doli

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The Ambassador of the Republic of Kosovo, H.E. Dr Dren Doli

H.E. Dr. Dren Doli is the incoming Ambassador of the Republic of Kosovo to the Kingdom of the Netherlands presenting its credential before of the King of the Netherlands, on January 26 2022. Before his appointment, Ambassador Doli was a Professor of International Organizations, International Human Rights Law, and Diplomatic and Consular Law at the University of Pristina.

Passionate about the public policy and civic activism, his portfolio of work includes managing, implementing and advising the USAID, EU, CoE, GIZ, IFC and other donor-funded programs, leading civil society organizations (CSOs) focused on innovative public policy choices and open data solutions, advising government institutions on public administration, civil service, and EU integration reforms.

Ambassador Doli is a co-founder of the Group for Legal and Political Studies, one of the most reputable Think Tank organizations in Kosovo. From 2010-2021 served in different positions within GLPS, including a Program Director, Senior Research Fellow and Research Director.

Dr. Doli also served as a Senior Legal Officer for EU legislation at the Kosovo Prime Minister Office, Research Co-director at Universum University College, and a Lecturer in Political System of Kosovo at University of Business and Technology. Ambassador Doli is author/co-author of many articles, contributions to edited books, and 2 books. His publications have appeared amongst others in the renowned International Journal of Constitutional Law, International Review of Administrative Sciences, Electoral Studies, German Law Journal, International Journal of Public Administration, European Yearbook of Human Rights, International Human Rights Review, European Public Law, Pace International Law Review, Vienna International Constitutional Law Journal, etc.

Ambassador Doli earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Law from the University of Prishtina, a Master’s Degree in European Legal Studies, with distinction, from Europa-Kolleg Hamburg, University of Hamburg, and holds a Doctorate in Public International Law from the University of Hamburg. Ambassador Doli is fluent in Albanian and English.

Dr. Doli is married and has two children.

Donald J. Johnston the new President of IFIMES Advisory Board

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Donald J. Johnston the new President of IFIMES Advisory Board

LJUBLJANA/OTTAWA, 26. January 2022 – Former Secretary-General of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Honorable Donald J. Johnston, has become president of Advisory Board of the International Institute for Middle East and Balkan Studies (IFIMES)[1]. Johnston was Canada’s senior minister under several Prime Ministers in 1980s and 1990s, president of the Liberal Party of Canada from 1990 to 1994 and the first non-European to become the OECD Secretary-General (1996-2006). As a member of the Cabinet of the Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre Trudeau, from 1980 to 1984, Johnston successively held the positions of Chairman of the Treasury Committee, Secretary of State for Science and Technology and Secretary of State for Economic and Regional Development. Johnston also held other senior government positions, such as the Secretary of Justice and the Attorney General of Canada.

As one of the most dynamic OECD heads, Johnston will be remembered by expanding the institutional engagement with than emerging economies of China, Russia, India and Brazil as well as by introducing the matrix of so-called Corporate Social Responsibility – as one of the essential pillars of Sustainable Development. Right upon his arrival to Paris headquarters of the OECD, Johnston created the Education Directorate which introduced the famous PISA (Program of International Student Assessment), now the leading reference for international educational comparisons, even beyond the OECD membership.

Directors of IFIMES Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zijad Bećirović and Bakhatyar Aljaf are convinced that Donald J. Johnston, as President of the IFIMES Advisory Board, will strengthen the institute with his reputation, experience, influence and commitment, especially because the IFIMES has Special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC/UN).

“It is a great honor that the institute has new president, Donald J. Johnston. He is a world-renowned figure and it is difficult to find a more experienced, qualified and distinguished figure than President Johnston. We are proud that President Johnston has taken over the chairmanship of the IFIMES Advisory Board.”

Head of IFIMES Mission in Vienna, Prof. Dr. Anis H. Bajrektarević underlined the importance of the Advisory Board in the work of IFIMES and the importance of President Johnston, who in his career participated in decisions on key challenges of the modern world: “The OECD is a unique organization that brings together the most developed countries and democracies, which are the model and future of the modern world. Therefore, I am convinced that our joint action will strengthen IFIMES activities in other parts of the world, especially in the Middle East and the Balkans, which are important and sensitive areas that can also contribute to a better future.”

President Bukele’s state visit to Ankara

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President Bukele’s state visit to Ankara

In the context of President Bukele’s state visit, Salvadoran Foreign Minister Alexandra Hill and her Turkish counterpart, Mevlüt Çavuşoglu, presided over the official opening ceremony of the Salvadoran embassy in Ankara.

Minister Hill thanked her counterpart for the support given by the government and people of Turkey in initiatives in the health sector, such as the restoration of the Benjamin Bloom National Children’s Hospital and the strengthening of the capacities of its doctors in specialties such as pediatrics. El Salvador and Turkey have a long-standing relationship.

The President of the Republic of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The Foreign Affairs Minister of El Salvador, Alexandra Hill, the Turkish counterpart, Mevlüt Çavuşoglu and H.E. Agustin Vazquez Gomez, first Ambassador of El Salvador to Turkey and other diplomats from both countries members of the delegation.


Ambassador Agustín Vásquez Gómez, acting as host of the event, was the first ambassador of the Republic of El Salvador in Turkey. Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu announced that, in the coming months, his government will open the embassy in San Salvador. “This emotion is shared among the foreign ministries. Dear Minister Alexandra Hill, thank you for inviting me to inaugurate the embassy, ​​it has been a pleasure and an honor”, ​​highlighted the Turkish diplomat.

President Erdoğan received Bukele with honours

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President Erdoğan received Bukele with honours

The President of the Republic of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, was received with honors on January 20, 2022 by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, upon his arrival at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, as part of a State visit to the Republic of Turkey.

The Salvadoran president traveled to the presidential complex in the Turkish capital, after placing a wreath at the Mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Turkey. Both presidents toured the ceremonial square of the Presidential Palace reviewing the honor guard. Subsequently, they  greeted the official delegations from both countries, led by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Alexandra Hill and Mevlut Cavusoglu.


The President of the Republic of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

During the meeting, both leaders discussed strategic investments and support in technology and education. They also witnessed the signing of cooperation agreements in matters of protocol, diplomatic academies, economic affairs, law of the sea and the defense industry.

El Salvador is committed to cooperation to expand its network of ports, renewable energy projects, as well as sending a Salvadoran satellite into space with Turkish technology.

Gordan Bakota encounters Premier Ramelow 

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Gordan Bakota encounters Premier Ramelow 

Thursday, 20 January 2022, Erfurt, Free State of Thuringia, Germany: Croatian top envoy, Dr. Gordan Bakota, Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia, paid an inaugural visit to the Thuringian State Chancellery.

The meeting served as a formal setting to becoming acquainted to Premier Bodo Ramelow, moreover questions of cooperation concerning the deepening of relations with Thuringia were discussed, in particular in the framework of the thirtieth anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties between Germany and Croatia. 

During his stay in Erfurt, Dr. Bakota likewise held a meeting with the city’s mayor Andreas Bausewein, and wrote in the city’s guestbook for dignitaries. Further Ambassador Bakota encountered  the Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Team Leader Mark Bremer to explore possibilities to intensifying economic ties. 
Gordan Bakota serves as head of mission in Germany since 7 January 2020.

Previously he held the helm at the Embassy of Croatia in Austria, and has likewise been head of mission in Turkey (covering Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) as well as in Serbia. In addition to his native Croatian, he speaks English and German. 

For further information:
Embassy of Croatia in Germany: https://mvep.gov.hr/de

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