Alexandros P. Mallias, Greece’s Ambassador to the United States, presented his credentials to President Bush in October 2005;

Joining the Greek Foreign Service in 1976, Ambassador Mallias has been at the forefront of Greece’s stabilizing role in the Balkans, serving as Director of the Southeastern Europe (Balkan Affairs) Department at the Foreign Ministry in Athens in various capacities, and as Ambassador to Albania, Head of the first Mission in FYROM, and Head of the European Community Monitor Mission Regional Office in Sofia. He also served in Libya and at the Greek Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, as First Counselor for Political Affairs. He has also participated in many negotiating teams, such as the Greek Delegation to the Charter of Paris for a New Europe (CSCE), Deputy Head of the delegation in 1990. During his long career, Ambassador Mallias has served in many other positions, including the Department of Middle East Affairs, the General Inspection Division, the Department of Western European Affairs, the Permanent Mission of Greece to the United Nations in Geneva, and as Public Affairs Officer at the Information Center for the European Community in Athens.

A proponent of public diplomacy, Ambassador Mallias has made people-to-people diplomacy an integral part of his mission in the United States, reaching beyond the bounds of Washington politics. To this effect, he continues to travel extensively throughout the United States, meeting with state officials and citizens, speaking at universities, colleges and think-tanks, not only on issues relating to Greece, but the broader Southeastern European region, to create links between the people of that region and the United States. Ambassador Mallias also continues to devote much effort to the promotion of human rights and to combating human trafficking, an egregious act of abuse against life and human dignity, and a contemporary form of slavery.

His great respect for the American Civil Rights Movement and the legacy of Martin Luther King led to the Greek Embassy’s adoption of the Brunetta C. Hill Elementary School of Birmingham, Alabama, creating a mutually beneficial relationship with the 5th grade students of the school, who visit Washington annually at his invitation.

A recipient of many awards, including the Order of the Phoenix (Greece), the National Order for Merit (Romania), the Order of Madara Knight (Bulgaria), and the ECMM Medal for Service in the former Yugoslavia, Ambassador was particularly humbled by the “Martin Luther King Legacy Award for International Service”, bestowed upon him in January 2007. On 13 April 2007, Ambassador Mallias received a distinction from B’nai B’rith International for his commitment to advancing Greece’s relations with American Jewish organizations.

Born in 1949, with origins from the town of Stemnitsa, in the high mountains of Arcadia, Ambassador Mallias graduated with a degree in Economics from the University of Athens, with post-graduate studies in Geneva. He is married to Françoise-Anne Mallias and they have two daughters, who share his commitment to public service and combating all abuses to life and dignity.

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