Bern chooses former intelligence officer as US ambassador
High-ranking diplomat and former intelligence coordinator Jacques Pitteloud has been named the next Swiss ambassador to the United States.
Pitteloud currently heads the Swiss foreign ministry’s directorate for securing and managing resourcesExternal link and already has the title of ambassador. He replaces the present incumbent in the US, Martin Dahinden, who will retire. Pitteloud’s posting, which will start in 2019, was announced on FridayExternal link.
Switzerland’s new man in Washington has a varied career behind him, having notably been appointed Intelligence Coordinator in the year 2000, aged 38.
After a reorganisation of this department, he joined the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) in 2006, which was at that time led by Micheline Calmy-Rey.
Recently Pitteloud was at the centre of allegations of corruption, stemming from his stint as Swiss ambassador to Kenya from 2010 to 2015. The investigation, which started in 2016, ended in spring this year, with no action deemed necessary. The brothers who made the allegations have filed an appeal.
+Read more about the investigation in this archive article
Pitteloud’s successor at the FDFA will be Tania Dussey-CavassiniExternal link, who will take up her post on July 1, 2019. She worked for the FDFA from 1996-2006 and has private sector experience. She currently runs her own advisory company.
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