Gyorgy Busztin (born 13 April 1955) is a career diplomat who was appointed Deputy Special Representative (ASG) of the

United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) was formed on 14 August 2003 by United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1500 at the request of the Iraqi government to support national development efforts. UNAMI's mandate includ ...

by Secretary-General of 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 ...

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was the South Korean minister ...

. He previously served the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in various capacities throughout

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, as ambassador on two occasions. In 2011, he served as 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 ...

President in Iran. He is fluent in six languages in addition to his native Hungarian.

Early life and education

Born in 1955 in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, Hungary, Busztin holds a degree in Arabic history from

Damascus University Damascus University () is the largest and oldest university in Syria, located in the capital Damascus, with campuses in other Syrian cities. It was founded in 1923 as the Syrian University () through the merger of the Faculty of Medicine of Dama ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

and a Doctorate in Arabic language and Semitic philology from Loránd Eötvös University in Hungary. In addition to his native language, he speaks English, French, Arabic, Farsi/Dari (Persian), Malay (Indonesian), and Russian. He first spent time in Indonesia as a grade school student and would later return to the island country as Hungary's Ambassador between 2001 and 2006.

Career

Busztin has served the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in various capacities for over three decades. He worked as a counselor in the Department of the Middle East and Africa between 1980 and 1986 prior to being appointed First Secretary at the Hungarian Embassy in Egypt between 1986 and 1991. He was later nominated Chargé d'Affaires in Libya between 1994 and 1998. He was appointed Hungary's Ambassador to Indonesia between 2001 and 2005 and subsequently to Iran between 2007 and 2011. His tenure in Iran coincided with Hungary's

Presidency of the Council of the European Union The presidency of the Council of the European Union is responsible for the functioning of the Council of the European Union, which is the co-legislator of the EU legislature alongside the European Parliament. It rotates among the member state ...

. In 2006, he was the Civilian Head of Mission for the Hungarian Provincial Reconstruction Team, at the time operating in Pol-i-Khumri, as part of Hungary's efforts to help stabilize conditions in Afghanistan. In a press release in December 2011, it was reported that United Nations Secretary-General

had appointed the Ambassador to succeed Jerzy Skuratowicz as the Deputy Special Representative for Iraq. At the level of Assistant Secretary-General, he heads the political, analytical, electoral and constitutional support component of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq. His condemnation of violence throughout the nation has frequently been the subject of, or reported by international news. In addition to his native Hungarian, he speaks English, French, Arabic, Farsi/Dari (Persian), Malay (Indonesian), and Russian. As "acting head" of

UNAMI Unami may refer to: * Unami people, one of the three main divisions of the Lenape Nation * Unami language, a Delaware language within the Algonquian language family *Unami Creek, a tributary of Perkiomen Creek in Pennsylvania *Unami Lodge, a Boy Sc ...

, he has been quoted on matters ranging from Iranian dissidents in Iraq to

violent extremism Violent extremism is a form of extremism that condones and enacts violence with Ideology, ideological or deliberate intent, such as Religious violence, religious or political violence. Violent extremist views often conflate with Religious violen ...

occurring in the onset of political turmoil.

Literature

He authored ''The Legacy of the Barang People: The Puzzling Similarities of the Hungarian and Malay languages''. The research shows close ties between the two languages and "postulates that the roots of Malay extend much deeper in time than previously thought."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Busztin, Gyorgy 1955 births Living people Eötvös Loránd University alumni Damascus University alumni Diplomats from Budapest Ambassadors of Hungary to Indonesia Ambassadors of Hungary to Iran United Nations operations in Iraq