OPR - Thursday, 23rd February, 2006

The President of Malta, H.E. Dr. Edward Fenech Adami, was presented with the Letters of Credence by H.E. Mr Andrej Capuder, Ambassador of The Republic of Slovenia; H.E. Mr Samir Al-Kassir, Ambassador of The Syrian Arab Republic;  H.E. Mr Emil Karimov, Ambassador of The Republic of Azerbaijan and H.E. Mr Tomislav Vidosevic, Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia.

The ceremonies 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 San Anton Palace.

The curriculum vitae of the ambassadors follow.

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H.E. Mr Andrej Capuder, was born in Ljubljana in November, 1942.

The Ambassador obtained a Bachelor of Arts in French and Italian Languages and Literature from the University of Ljubljana in 1967. He attended a postgraduate course at the University of Nancy in France and furthered his studies at the University Aix-en-Provence during 1970 and 1971. In 1980 he obtained a Ph.D. in French literature.

 President Fenech Adami with Ambassador Capuder

His career started as a Teacher at the Ljubljana’s Gymnasium in 1968. Between 1973 and 1993 he was assistant, qualified University Teacher of French Literature at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Art. In 1990 he became a member of the Slovenian Parliament and was also appointed Minister of Culture. Between 1993 and 1997 he served as Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia to the Republic of France, to the Republic of Portugal and to the UNESCO. In 1997 up to last year he was Permanent Professor of French Literature at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts.

The Ambassador is the author of various novels and essays. He is married and has three daughters.

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H.E. Mr Samir Al-Kassir  was born in 1957 at Kafat in Syria.

During the years 1975 and 1979 he graduated in French Literature at the University of Damascus. In 1980 – 1981 he followed a course of studies at the International Institute of Public Administration in Paris. Between 1994 – 1995 he did a post-graduate course in Diplomatic Studies at the Oxford University in the UK.

The Ambassador’s diplomatic career started in 1980 when he started working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Damascus. During the period 1982 – 1988 he worked as Third Secretary at the Syrian Embassy in Rome, Italy, a posting which was followed by that of Second Secretary at the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Damascus.

 President Fenech Adami being presented with letters of credence by Ambassador Al-Kassir

In 1991 - 1996 he became First Secretary at the Embassy of Syria in London. During the period 1999 – 2000 he became Councillor and Head of the Cabinet of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2001 he became Charge’ d’Affairs at the Syrian Embassy in Stockholm. He was appointed Ambassador of the Syrian Republic in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland in 2003. Last year he became the Syrian Ambassador in Italy.

The Ambassador speaks Arab, French, Italian and English. He is married and has three children.

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H.E. Mr Emil Karimov was born in July 1966 in Baky, Azerbaijan.

He studied at the Faculty of History in Azerbaijan State University between the years 1983 – 1988. He then became a researcher at the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 1988.

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

He started his diplomatic career in 1995 when he served as third secretary at the Department of Europe, USA and Canada at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for three years. In 2002 he became Counsellor of the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Turkey.  Two years later he was appointed Deputy Director of the Second Territorial Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In September 2004 he was appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Italy. During the same year he became Permanent Representative of the Republic of Azerbaijan to UN FAO IAD WFP.

The Ambassador speaks English, Turkish and Russian. He is married with two daughters.

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H.E. Mr Tomislav Vidosevic was born in 1965.

He studied at the University of Zagreb where he specialised in Civil Law – Property. In 1998 he graduated from a One-year Diplomatic Course at the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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

In 1991 he joined the Croatian EUMM office as a liaison officer. A year later he was appointed negotiator for south Croatia by the head of the Croatian Government’s National Commission for the Exchange of Prisoners. In 1993 he was appointed coordinator of the National Commission for the Exchange of War Prisoners in South Croatia and later private secretary to the Croatian Prime Minister. In 1994 he served as advisor to Croatian Prime Minister. In 1998 he was appointed Head of Office for co-operation with OSCE. In December 2000 he became Head of the Office for Co-operation with International Institutions. His last appointment was that of February 2004 when he became Assistant Foreign Minister for Multilateral Affairs and International Organizations.

Ambassador Vidosevic speaks English and Italian and has working knowledge in French. He is married with three children.