Franz-Michael Skjold Mellbin (born November 11, 1958) is a Danish professional

foreign service officer A Foreign Service Officer (FSO) is a commissioned member of the United States Foreign Service. Foreign Service Officers formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. FSOs spend most of their careers overseas as members of U ...

currently serving as

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and

Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...

. He previously served as

of Denmark to the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

as well as being European Union Special Representative (EUSR) for

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and Head of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

Delegation to Afghanistan. In 2016 he facilitated the peace agreement between the Government of Afghanistan and Hezbi Islami and the return of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. From 2018 to 2022 Ambassador Franz-Michael Skjold Mellbin served in the

and

as well as being Denmark's Permanent Representative to

IRENA The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an intergovernmental organization mandated to facilitate cooperation, advance knowledge, and promote the adoption and sustainable use of renewable energy. It is the first international organis ...

. 2021 he was appointed Commissioner General for Denmark at

Expo 2020 Expo 2020 ( ar, إكسبو 2020) was a World Expo hosted by Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022. Originally scheduled for 20 October 2020 to 10 April 2021, it was postponed due to the COVID-19 ...

. In 2017 he was appointed Denmark's first Ambassador and Special Representative for Freedom of Religion or Belief. He stepped out of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2017 to work at the European External Action Service as European Union Special Representative (EUSR) for Afghanistan and Pakistan and Head of the

Delegation to Afghanistan. On November 7, 2013, he handed over his credentials to Afghan President

Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (; Pashto/ fa, حامد کرزی, , ; born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan statesman who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Repub ...

. His previous term of appointment as

began September 1, 2008 and ended September 1, 2011. He presented his credentials to the

Emperor of Japan The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial House of Japan, Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his positio ...

Akihito is a member of the Imperial House of Japan who reigned as the 125th emperor of Japan from 7 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. He presided over the Heisei era, ''Heisei'' being an expression of achieving peace worldwide. Bo ...

on November 4, 2008. Franz-Michael Skjold Mellbin was Denmark's first Ambassador to

from 2007 to 2008. He previously served abroad in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Throughout his career, Franz-Michael Skjold Mellbin has written political articles and speeches for different Danish

Cabinet ministers A cabinet is a body of high-ranking state officials, typically consisting of the executive branch's top leaders. Members of a cabinet are usually called cabinet ministers or secretaries. The function of a cabinet varies: in some countries ...

, including the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

, the minister for foreign affairs, the minister for development cooperation and the

minister of finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

. In 2008 Franz-Michael Skjold Mellbin was admitted into Kraks Blå Bog (Denmark's

Who's Who ''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biography, biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a gr ...

)Kraks Blå Bog, Copenhagen 2010 and in 2009 he received Japan's Cool Biz campaign award for his efforts to publicly promote energy savings and reductions. In 2017 Franz-Michael Skjold Mellbin was given the Ghazi Wazir Mohammad Akbar Khan Medal by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani for his exceptional role in strengthening the relations between Afghanistan and the EU. He has also received the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun, 1.st Class, 2011,

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known a ...

(R 1999; R1 2006) and the German Honour Cross in Red 1990. After graduating as a lawyer from the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

in 1983 he first worked at a law firm and later at the Ministry of Taxation (Finance) before joining the Danish Foreign Service in 1985. Franz-Michael Skjold Mellbin taught human rights and constitutional law for several years at the

. He has also worked as a consultant on

writing Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically Epigraphy, inscribed, Printing press, mechanically transferred, or Word processor, digitally represented Symbols (semiot ...

and

communication Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

. In 2011 he published the book ''Nu Gælder Det Danmark!'' together with his wife, Eva Fischer Mellbin. The book analyses modern Danish history as seen through the Danish Prime Minister's New Year's Speeches since 1940 and was well received by critics. Late 2011 he also joined the blog Copenhagen Cycle Chic on cycling. Twitter: @AmbMellbin

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mellbin, Franz-Michael Skjold 1958 births Living people Ambassadors of Denmark to Japan Ambassadors of Denmark to Afghanistan Ambassadors to the United Arab Emirates University of Copenhagen alumni Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun Ambassadors of the European Union to Afghanistan Danish officials of the European Union Danish civil servants Foreign relations of Denmark 21st-century Danish diplomats