New Permanent Representative of Cyprus Presents Credentials to the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva

Μaria Papakyriakou, the new Permanent Representative of the Republic of Cyprus to the United Nations Office at Geneva, today presented her credentials to Tatiana Valovaya, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva.

Prior to her appointment to Geneva, Ms. Papakyriakou had been serving since 2021 as Ambassador of Cyprus to Germany.

She has held several high-level positions throughout her career in the Cypriot foreign service, including Director for Strategic Policy Planning, Diplomatic Advisor to the Minister of Defence, Director for Multilateral Affairs and International Organizations, Director of the Permanent Secretary’s Office, and Security Policy Director.

She also served as Ambassador of Cyprus to Denmark with parallel accreditation to Iceland from 2014 to 2018, as Political Counsellor in the Cyprus High Commission to the United Kingdom from 2006 to 2010, and as Political Officer at the Embassy of Cyprus in Germany in her first foreign posting from 1999 to 2004, including as Deputy Head of Mission for the last two years.  She joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1997.

Ms. Papakyriakou was born in Limassol, Cyprus. She holds graduate and postgraduate degrees in European studies from the Université d’Aix-Marseille III, France, and a pre-doctorate degree in political science from the Université Robert Schuman, Strasbourg, and the Institut d’Études Politiques de Strasbourg, France.  In addition to her native Greek, she speaks English, French and German fluently, and is proficient in Italian.  She is married to Cypriot diplomat Evangelos Savva and has two daughters.

___________

Produced by the United Nations Information Service in Geneva for use of the media; 
not an official record. English and French versions of our releases are different as they are the product of two separate coverage teams that work independently.

CR26.024E