On April 20, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Julie Fisher to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Belarus, the White House reports.
Julie Fisher currently serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Western Europe and the European Union in the State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs.
She earned her B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.P.P. from Princeton University. The diplomat speaks Russian, French, and Georgian.
Previously, Ms. Fisher was the Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Mission to NATO; the Chief of Staff to the State Department’s Deputy Secretary for Management and Resources; and the Director of the State Department Operations Center. Earlier assignments include service as Deputy Director of the Private Office of the Secretary General of NATO and, before that, as Counselor for Political and Economic Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia.
She also served on special assignment as Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the U.S. Embassy in Russia.
To head the embassy in Belarus, the diplomat needs to get approval from the U.S. Senate. According to AFP, her nomination is not drawing the fire of US lawmakers. However, it is unknown when the candidacy might be considered.
When meeting with President Alyaksandr Lukashenka in February, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Washington would soon appoint an ambassador to Belarus. In turn, Belarusian Foreign Minister Uladzimir Makey confirmed the country’s readiness to send its ambassador to the United States in the near future.
In September 2019, top U.S. official David Hale held negotiations with Alyaksandr Lukashenka and Uladzimir Makey. As a result, the two countries announced their decision to renew diplomatic representation. Earlier, Belarus cut the U.S. Embassy staff to 5 from 35 persons; in 2008, the states recalled their ambassadors.
belsat.eu, via whitehouse.gov
