OPR - Tuesday, 20th September, 2005

The President of Malta, H.E. Dr. Edward Fenech Adami, was presented with the letters of credence by H.E. Mr. Jean-Marc Rives, Ambassador of the Republic of France, H.E. Mr. Abdelkarim Mahmoud Soliman, Ambassador of the Republic of Egypt and H.E. Stavros A. Epaminondas, High Commissioner of the Republic of Cyprus.

The ceremony took place in the Ambassadors’ Room at The Palace, Valletta.

This afternoon, the President and Mrs. Fenech Adami will host the newly accredited Ambassadors to an official luncheon at the Verdala Palace.

The curriculum vitae of H.E. Mr. Jean-Marc Rives, H.E. Mr. Abdelkarim Mahmoud Soliman and H.E. Stavros A. Epaminondas follows.

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H.E. Mr. Jean-Marc Rives was born on 26^th October, 1951.

Mr. Jean-Marc graduated in Law, diploma in upper education of Public Law and a diploma in the institute of Political Studies. His diplomatic career started in 24 April 1978 when he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was posted at the Americas Section. In 1981 he was posted as Vice-Counsul in New Orleans and this was followed by other postings, which include that of Second Secretary at the French Mission in Washington, First Secretary at the French mission in Islamabad and that of First Secretary at the French Mission in Helsinki.

President Fenech Adami being presented with letters of credence by Ambassador Rives

During the period 1998-2002 he served as assistant director of Southern Europe Section, including Malta, and since 2002 he served as counsellor to the French Mission in Madrid.

The Ambassador speaks French, English and Spanish. He is married with two children.

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H.E. Mr. Abdelkarim Mahmoud Soliman was born on 1st October 1955.

He received his education at the University of Cairo in Egypt from where he subsequently obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Political Sciences. He also holds a Diploma in International Relations from the University of Nairobi and a Master’s Degree in Political Sociology, which he attained in 1987 as a result of his studies at Hungarian Academy for Sciences.

President Fenech Adami being presented with letters of credence by Ambassador Soliman

As a career diplomat he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1981 where he occupied various posts in that Ministry as well as in the following diplomatic missions; Budapest, Khartoum, New York (Consul) and Bucharest (Deputy Chief of Mission). Ambassador Soliman has just relinquished a position of Deputy Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Diplomatic and Consular Affairs.

Ambassador Soliman has a good command of both English and French languages, and is married with two sons and two daughters.

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H.E. Stavros A. Epaminondas was born in Nicosia, Cyprus in 1952.

He graduated from the Law Faculty of the University of Athens in Public Law and Political Science.

His diplomatic career started in 1979 when he joined the Foreign Service of the Republic of Cyprus as attaché, European Community Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nicosia. He was posted in various Embassies and High Commissions including that of that of Canberra in Australia (First Secretary/Consul) in 1980, London as Counsellor and Consul-General in Thessaloniki in Greece as Consul-General in 1992.

Other high-ranking positions in the diplomatic field followed. During 1993-1997 he served as High Commissioner/Ambassador of Cyprus to India and concurrently accredited to Bangladesh, Brunei, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. In 2002 – 2005 he was Ambassador to Austria and concurrently accredited to Croatia, Liechtenstein, Slovak Republic and Slovenia. During this period he also served as Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the United Nations in Vienna and other International Organisations in Vienna.

President Fenech Adami being presented with letters of credence by Ambassador Epaminondas

He represented Cyprus in many international conferences and meetings, participated in numerous seminars and lectured extensively on issues relating to International Relations.

He wrote numerous articles and was the contributing author of a paper on Cyprus and of two publications.

The Ambassador is married to Chrysanthe Hadjinicolas and has two daughters.