Bergdís Ellertsdóttir (born 1962) is an Icelandic diplomat. She is the current ambassador of

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. She was a permanent representative of Iceland to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

2018–2019. Since 1991, when she joined Iceland's

Ministry for Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral rela ...

, she has had a diplomatic career with assignments covering

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

EFTA The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is a regional trade organization and free trade area consisting of four European states: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. The organization operates in parallel with the European Union ...

, and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. She has also served as Iceland's ambassador to Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland and San Marino.

Early life and education

Born in Iceland in 1962, Bergdís Ellertsdóttir attended the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...

in Germany where she studied German (1982–1983) followed by political science, English and history (1983–1985). She went on to study political science and English at the

University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland, and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' school to a modern co ...

graduating in 1987. She completed her studies at the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, it is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. The university comprises three camp ...

where she received an M.A. in European Studies in 1989.

Career

In 1991, Bergdís Ellertsdóttir joined Iceland's Ministry for Foreign Affairs where she was first secretary in the trade department. She then joined the Icelandic Embassy in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

, Germany, where she was deputy head of mission. From 2000 to 2003, she was deputy director of the political department dealing with security issues, NATO, OSCE and bilateral relations with the United States, Canada and Russia. In 2003, she became deputy director general in the foreign affairs ministry's trade department, becoming director-general for international security and development in 2007. The same year she was appointed deputy secretary general of

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, serving until 2012. She was the chief negotiator in the Iceland-China Free Trade Agreement in September 2012. In September 2014, she was appointed head of the Icelandic Mission to the European Union as well as ambassador of Iceland to Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland and San Marino. In August 2018, Bergdís Ellertsdóttir was appointed Iceland's permanent representative to the United Nations. The following October it was announced that she would be Iceland's ambassador to the United States from 1 August 2019.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellertsdottir, Bergdis 1962 births Living people Bergdis Ellertsdottir Bergdis Ellertsdottir Bergdis Ellertsdottir Bergdis Ellertsdottir Bergdis Ellertsdottir Bergdis Ellertsdottir Alumni of the University of Essex Bergdis Ellertsdottir Bergdis Ellertsdottir