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Jakob Kellenberger

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Person.png Jakob Kellenberger   Amazon C-SPAN PrabookRdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
(diplomat)
Jakob Kellenberger.jpg
Born19 October 1944
Heiden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Switzerland
NationalitySwiss
Alma materUniversity of Zurich, Graduate Institute of International Studies
SpouseElisabeth Kellenberger-Jossi
Swiss diplomat and chief negotiator of bilateral treaties with the EU, then attended Bilderberg/1993. Later President of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Jakob Kellenberger is a Swiss diplomat. He joined the Swiss diplomatic service in 1974 and held various posts in Europe. As the chief negotiator of his home country, he led Switzerland's negotiations with the European Union on the first Bilateral Treaties between Switzerland and the EU. From 2000 to 2012 he was President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Education

Jakob Kellenberger was born in 1944. He studied French and Spanish literature and linguistics in Zurich, Tours and Granada, and graduated with a doctorate from the University of Zurich. He also studied at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva between 1974 and 1975. He started working for the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) in 1974. From 1975 to 1976 he was an attaché for the Swiss Embassy in Madrid, then from 1976 to 1981 he was embassy Secretary at the Swiss Mission to the European Communities (EC) in Brussels. He then worked for the Swiss Embassy in London until 1984.

Diplomatic career

From 1984 to 1992, he headed the Integration Office of Switzerland, a joint service of the FDFA and the Federal Department of Economic Affairs (FDEA), which was responsible for Switzerland's relations with the EU and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). In 1992 he was promoted to State Secretary and head of the Political Directorate of the FDFA. From 1989 to 1991 he was Switzerland's chief negotiator in the transit negotiations with the EC, and between 1994 and 1998 he headed the Swiss delegation in the bilateral negotiations with the European Union.

Red Cross

On August 27, 1998, he was elected to succeed Cornelio Sommaruga as President of the International Committee of the Red Cross. After the departure of Sommaruga at the end of [[[1999]], he took over the post with the beginning of the following year. Shortly after the beginning of his term of office, six ICRC employees were murdered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 26 April 2001. Like his predecessor, Kellenberger was confronted with the challenge of a loss of authority of the ICRC, especially in internal conflicts, which began with the global political upheavals since 1990.

In the years from 2003 to 2005, he met several times for confidential talks with US President George W. Bush, US Secretary of State Colin Powell, US Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his deputy Paul Wolfowitz about the mistreatment of prisoners in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and in the detention camp at the US military base Guantánamo Bay on Cuba.

On July 1, 2012, Peter Maurer took over the office as President from Jakob Kellenberger.[1]

In May 2013, Kellenberger was elected as the new Chairman of the Foundation Board by the Swiss Peace Foundation Swisspeace on September 10, 2013.[2]

Kellenberger has been married to since his student days. Together they have two daughters.


 

Events Participated in

EventStartEndLocation(s)Description
Bilderberg/199322 April 199325 April 1993Greece
Nafsika Astir Palace Hotel
Vouliagmeni
The 41st Bilderberg, held in Greece
WEF/Annual Meeting/200421 January 200425 January 2004Switzerland
WEF
2069 billionaires, CEOs and their politicians and "civil society" leaders met under the slogan Partnering for Prosperity and Security. "We have the people who matter," said World Economic Forum Co-Chief Executive Officer José María Figueres.
WEF/Annual Meeting/200923 January 200927 January 2009Switzerland
WEF
Chairman Klaus Schwab outlined five objectives driving the Forum’s efforts to shape the global agenda, including letting the banks that caused the 2008 economic crisis keep writing the rules, the climate change agenda, over-national government structures, taking control over businesses with the stakeholder agenda, and a "new charter for the global economic order".
WEF/Annual Meeting/201126 January 201130 January 2011Switzerland
WEF
2229 guests in Davos, with the theme: "Shared Norms for the New Reality".
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References