Friis Arne Petersen (born November 25, 1952) is a Danish diplomat who since 2015 has been Denmark's ambassador to

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 ...

. From the Embassy in Berlin, Petersen is also accredited as Denmark's ambassador to Switzerland and

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarch ...

Career

Petersen was educated as Cand.polit. from the

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

in 1978. After completing his education, he was appointed Secretary of the National Audit Office for two years. In 1979 he was employed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in the same year was appointed as a clerk. From 1981 to Petersen was posted at the Danish embassy in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

. In 1986 he became Head of the Foreign Minister's office

Uffe Ellemann-Jensen Uffe Ellemann-Jensen (, informal: ; 1 November 1941 – 18 June 2022) was a Danish politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark in the Conservative-led Poul Schlüter Administration from 1982 to 1993. He was leader of the Da ...

, and continued in 1993 under

Niels Helveg Petersen Niels Lolk Helveg Petersen (; informally Niels Helveg; 17 January 1939 – 3 June 2017) was a Danish politician. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1993 to 2000, having previously held the role of Minister for Economic Affairs between 1988 ...

. In 1994 he became Head of Office with responsibility for

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...

, before being appointed Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1997. Petersen was sent to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

in 2005 when he was to succeed Ulrik Federspiel as Denmark's ambassador to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. An office he held until 2010, when he was appointed as ambassador to China. Here he was also an ambassador for five years before, with effect from 15 August 2015, became Denmark's ambassador to Germany, and accredited ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Søren Gade, Robert M

Honours

* : Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown * : Grand Cross of the

Order of the Southern Cross Emperor Pedro I of Brazil founded the National Order of the Southern Cross ( pt, Ordem Nacional do Cruzeiro do Sul) as a Brazilian order of chivalry on 1 December 1822. The order aimed to commemorate the independence of Brazil (7 September 18 ...

* : Grand Cross of the Stara Planina 1st class * : Commander's Cross 1st Class of the Order of the Dannebrog * : Cross of the

Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana The Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana ( et, Maarjamaa Risti teenetemärk, sometimes translated as the Order of the Cross of St. Mary's Land) was instituted by the President of Estonia, Lennart Meri, on 16 May 1995 to honour the independence of t ...

2nd Class * : Grand Commander's Cross of the Order of the Republic * : Grand Cross of the Order of the Lion * : Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

* :

Nersornaat Greenland Medal for Meritorious Service ( kl, Nersornaat, lit=Deserved; da, Grønlands Hjemmestyres Fortjenstmedalje), is awarded by the Greenland Home Rule government. It is the highest award based in Greenland. The medal was instituted on 1 May ...

in gold * : Order of the Rising Sun 1st Class * : Grand Cross of the

Order of Independence Order of Independence or Independence Order ( vi, Huân chương Độc lập) is a Vietnamese decoration. Criteria The Vietnamese government states that the decoration "shall be conferred or posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthum ...

1st Class * : Grand Commander's Cross of the

Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas The Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas is the Lithuanian Presidential Award which was re-instituted to honour the citizens of Lithuania for outstanding performance in civil and public offices. Foreign nationals may also be awarded this O ...

* : Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg The Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (French: ''Ordre de Mérite du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg'') is an order of merit of Luxembourg, instituted on 23 January 1961 by Grand Duchess Charlotte. Grand Master of the order is the Grand ...

* : Knight of the

Order of Ouissam Alaouite Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

* : Commander of the Order of St. Olav * : Grand Cross of the

National Order of Faithful Service The National Order of Faithful Service ( ro, Ordinul Național "Serviciul Credincios") is the second highest national order of Romania, with the Order of the Star of Romania being the highest national order. Originally it was established as the Me ...

* : Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of the White Elephant __NOTOC__ The Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant ( th, เครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์อันเป็นที่เชิดชูยิ่งช้างเผือก; ) is an order of Thailand. It wa ...

* : Honorary Knight Grand Cross of Order of St Michael and St George

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petersen, Friis Arne 1952 births Living people People from Skagen Ambassadors of Denmark to the United States University of Copenhagen alumni Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Commanders First Class of the Order of the Dannebrog Recipients of Nersornaat Recipients of the Order of the Lion of Finland Recipients of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George