Ambassador Michael B. CHRISTIDES has been appointed as Secretary General for a three-year term by the BSEC Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Chisinau, on 18 June 2015.

Ambassador CHRISTIDES held various key positions at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic and served in a number of Greek diplomatic and consular missions abroad, including in Tripoli, Naples, Milan, Sofia and Ankara. He served as the Ambassador of the Hellenic Republic to Bulgaria, Turkey, Argentina and Bolivia.

Ambassador CHRISTIDES participated in many international meetings and conferences, representing Greece, and spent more than 20 years dealing with Southeast European and Balkan issues. He was appointed as the Special Envoy of the Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs on Balkan Issues in 2008.

Before joining the BSEC PERMIS, Ambassador CHRISTIDES was the Representative of the Hellenic Republic to the BSEC Committee of Senior Officials. He served as the National Coordinator of the Hellenic BSEC Chairmanship-in-Office during the second semester of 2014.

A native speaker of Greek, Ambassador CHRISTIDES is fluent in English, German, French, Italian and Spanish.

Ambassador CHRISTIDES was honoured with a number of decorations, including the Grand Commander of the Order of Phoenix (Greece), the Madara Horseman Order – First Class (Bulgaria) and the Gran Cruz de la Orden de Mayo (Argentina).