Berhane Gebre-Christos (; born 1953) is an Ethiopian politician. He served as the
Minister of Foreign Affairs
A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...
of Ethiopia from 2010 to 2012. He was also the Foreign Spokesperson for the
Tigray People's Liberation Front
The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF; ti, ህዝባዊ ወያነ ሓርነት ትግራይ, lit=Popular Struggle for the Freedom of Tigray), also called the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, is a left-wing ethnic nationalist paramilitar ...
(TPLF) from 1979 to 1988.
Early life
Berhane was born in 1953 in
Mekelle
Mekelle ( ti, መቐለ, am, መቀሌ, mäqälle, mek’elē) or Mekele is a special zone and capital of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Mekelle was formerly the capital of Enderta awraja in Tigray. It is located around north of the Ethiopi ...
, Ethiopia and attended
General Wingate High School and subsequently the Haile Selassie I University (now
Addis Ababa University) from 1971 to 1974. Berhane also holds a master's degree in International Relations from the
University of Amsterdam
The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...
. He is married and has three children.
Political career
Berhane joined the TPLF in 1976. From 1977 to 1979, Berhane was responsible for administration and marshalling mass organisations for the front. After serving as Foreign Spokesperson, in 1983 he was elected to the leadership of the TPLF, and between 1988 and 1991 he headed the diplomatic mission in the
Foreign Relations Bureau. In this capacity, Berhane traveled throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, Canada and the United States and met with government officials, media, and the public, representing the interests of the TPLF.
After the fall of the
Derg, Berhane was appointed as Ambassador to the United States, a post he held from 1992 to 2002. This was a particularly important position as Ethiopia had not held diplomatic relations with the United States since 1978. From 2002 to 2010, Berhane served as Ambassador of Ethiopia to the European Union and Benelux (the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Kingdom of the Netherlands). Upon returning to Ethiopia, he was appointed State Minister for Foreign Affairs in October, 2010.
Berhane is a member of the Delegation of Think Tank Scholars of Developing Countries and meet with the Vice Foreign Minister of China on 24 March 2017 to discuss Ethiopia-China cooperation and relations.
Berhane was appointed as the Ambassador to China in August 2017. On December 5 of the same year, he presented his credentials to
Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, ...
along with other newly appointed ambassadors.
On 27 June 2018 Berhane presented his credentials to Kim Yong Nam as
non-resident ambassador to the DPRK.
See also
*
Ethiopia – United States relations
References
Profile of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ministry of Foreign Affairs website. (Accessed 21 August 2013)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gebre-Christos, Berhane
1953 births
Government ministers of Ethiopia
Living people
Addis Ababa University alumni
Foreign ministers of Ethiopia
Ambassadors of Ethiopia to China
Ambassadors of Ethiopia to North Korea
Ambassadors of Ethiopia to the United States
Tigray People's Liberation Front politicians
Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front politicians
People from Mekelle
21st-century Ethiopian politicians