UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced Tuesday the appointment of Jan Kubis of Slovakia as his Special Representative for Iraq and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).
Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric told the press during his daily briefing that Kubis succeeds Nickolay Mladenov of Bulgaria to whom the Secretary General "is grateful for his dedication and leadership of UNAMI, serving in one of the most challenging United Nations duty stations and at a time of important political and security developments in the country." Prior to his recent appointment, the ex-Foreign Minister of Slovakia Kubis served from 2012 - 2014 as Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). He brings with him several years of experience in diplomacy, foreign security policy, and international economic relations both internationally and in his own country, Dujarric added.
On his last briefing to the Security Council, Mladenov, who has completed his tenure as the Secretary General's Special Representative for Iraq, said that the Kuwaiti Government and people are "understandably" disappointed that nothing tangible has been achieved for many years on on the missing Kuwaitis and the Kuwaiti national archives, as he assured that UNAMI share the same disappointment.