Interim head of US embassy named

Jeffrey R. Cellars is a career diplomat US embassy, Bern

The United States government has chosen the official that will head its Swiss embassy in Bern before a new ambassador is named. Jeffrey R. Cellars, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, will take over as chargé d’affaires.

Cellars, who speaks German, Hungarian, and Serbo-Croatian, has spent much of his career in Europe and the Middle East. He served most recently as management counsellor in Belgrade, Serbia where he oversaw the move to a new embassy. 

He has also worked previously in the German foreign ministry as an exchange diplomat, followed by a spell as management officer at the US embassy in Berlin. 

Cellars’ other postings included Budapest, Manama, Munich and Nicosia. Prior to joining the State Department in 1989, he worked as a financial analyst at the Bank of America, a technical writer at Apple Computer and a consultant to IBM in Vienna.

The US government has yet to name a successor to Donald Beyer, who returned home at the end of May. Investment banker Azita Raji, who contributed significantly to the Obama re-election campaign, was rumoured to be the front-runner for the posting.