OPR - Wednesday, 7th September, 2005

The President of Malta, H.E. Dr. Edward Fenech Adami, was presented with the letters of credence by H.E. Ms. Molly Bordonaro, Ambassador of the United States of America and H.E. Antonio Augusto Russo Dias, Ambassador of the Republic of Portugal.

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. Molly Bordonaro and H.E. Antonio Augusto Russo Dias follow.

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H.E. Ms Molly Bordonaro from Portland, Oregon was nominated by President George W. Bush to be United States Ambassador to Malta in May. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 16.

Ms Bordonaro was a Principal in the Portland office of the Gallatin Group, a leading public affairs strategy and strategic communications firm. Prior to that, she worked in commercial real estate in Portland and owned her own strategic consulting firm. From 2001 to 2004 she served on the Board of Directors of Fannie Mae Corporation, one of the largest mortgage lenders in the United States.

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

In addition, Ms Bordonaro has a distinguished career in public service. She was a member of the U.S. Congress’s commission on the Advancement of Women in Science and Technology. She was recognized in 2001 by the Portland Business Journal as one of the nine “People of the Year” for her community service and leadership and in 2002 as one of the “40 under 40” leader of the community.

Ms Bordonaro served as Pacific states chair for the Bush-Cheney presidential campaign in 2000 and as the Northwest regional chair in 2004. She was the 1998 Republican nominee for Congress in Oregon’s First District. She has also served on the boards of the Portland Family of Funds, the Oregon Children’s Scholarship Fund and the Portland Centre Stage.

Previously, Ms Bordonaro was Senior Legislative Director for the American Legislative Exchange Council in Washington, D.C. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Colorado. She and her husband Matthew Bordonaro have three children.

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H.E. Antonio Augusto Russo Dias was born on the 4^th September 1943 in Porto Amelia, Mozambique. He graduated in Law from the Lisbon University.

President Fenech Adami being presented with letters of credence by Ambassador Russo Dias

The Ambassador joined the Foreign Service in 1979 and two years later was appointed 3^rd Secretary at the Embassy of Portugal in Baghdad and promoted to 2^nd Secretary the following year. In 1983 he served as Consul in Versailles, France. The Ambassador held various high-ranking positions in the diplomatic field such as Head of Division, Department for European Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lisbon (1987) Deputy Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe (1994), Vice President of the Portuguese Institute for Cooperation and Development, Lisbon (1997) and was also promoted to Minister Plenipotentiary.

His Excellency was also Ambassador of Portugal to Guinea Bissau in 1999 while in 2001 he was Ambassador of Portugal to Serbia and Montenegro and accredited as non-resident to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.