Diplomacy: three new Ambassadors from Slovenia, Peru and Niger, and appointment of General Delegate of Quebec

From left to right: Mr Massimo Michelis, Honorary Consul of Niger to Monaco; H.E. Mr Ado Elhadji Abou, Ambassador of the Republic of Niger; Ms Anne-Marie Boisbouvier, Advisor in the Prince’s Cabinet; Ms Michèle Boisvert, General Delegate of Quebec; Mr Laurent Anselmi, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation; H.E. Ms Cristina Ronquillo De Blodorn, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Peru; H.E. Ms Metka Ipavic, Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia, Mr Jean-Baptiste Pastor, Honorary Consul of Peru to Monaco; and
Mr Marc Lecourt, Honorary General Consul of Slovenia to Monaco © Government Communication Department/Manuel Vitali

On Monday 2 March, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Laurent Anselmi held a lunch at the Hotel Hermitage in honour of H.E. Ms Metka Ipavic, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Slovenia; H.E. Ms Cristina Ronquillo De Blodorn, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Peru, and H.E. Mr Ado Elhadji Abou, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Niger, who had been received by H.S.H. the Sovereign Prince during the morning for their accreditation ceremonies. Ms Michèle Boisvert, General Delegate of Quebec, who had presented her letter of appointment to the Sovereign, was also invited.

After completing a degree in Economic Sciences, H.E. Ms Metka Ipavic began her diplomatic career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia in 1992. She was appointed to a series of senior positions in her country’s Embassy in Belgium from 2002 to 2009, and at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2010 to 2013. From 2013, Ms Ipavic served as Deputy Permanent Representative of the Republic of Slovenia to the European Union. On returning to a post in Ljubljana in 2018, she was given responsibility for the energy sector as national coordinator within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, until her appointment as Ambassador.

H.E. Ms Cristina Ronquillo De Blodorn joined the Department of Political Affairs in Peru in 1976 and held posts within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and at various embassies, including in Europe. From the 2000s, she was appointed Minister Counsellor for the Special Commission on Administrative Modernisation in the Directorate General for Consular Affairs, Minister for the Sub-Directorate for Economic Affairs and International Negotiations, then Minister and Director for Hemispheric and Global Economic Relations at the Under-Secretariat for Economic Affairs. Promoted to Ambassador and Deputy Director of the Diplomatic Academy of Peru in 2005, she was then appointed as Peru’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium from 2011 to 2016.

Having joined Niger’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation in 1987, H.E. Mr Ado Elhadji Abou was appointed Head of the United Nations and International Conferences Department before being promoted to Director for the Middle East and Arab Nations. In 2005, he took on the role of Diplomatic Advisor then Deputy Secretary General to the President of the Republic. He also served as Minister Counsellor at Niger’s Embassies in Abuja and Brussels. In 2013, he was appointed to serve as his country’s Ambassador to the Swiss Confederation, Liechtenstein and Austria.

An economist by education and an associate professor at HEC Montréal, Ms Michèle Boisvert was Executive Vice-President, Business Outreach at the Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec (CDPQ) investment fund, while also serving as Executive Vice-President, Public Affairs and Strategic Communications from 2012 to 2015. During her most recent term of office, she was responsible for all entrepreneurial initiatives and provided CDPQ with a regional presence, supporting the investment teams. Until her appointment, Ms Boisvert was President of the Fondation de la Place des Arts and the Fondation du Centre Jacques-Cartier, and Deputy Chair of the Board of the Université de Montréal.