Where: Dialogue Society, London
Birger Riis-Jørgensen has been appointed Ambassador of Denmark to the Court of St. James’s from 1st September 2006.
Ambassador Birger Riis-Jørgensen has been State Secretary and as such member of the Foreign Service Senior Management Group in Copenhagen since 2000. He heads the Trade Council of Denmark responsible for Export and Investment Promotion and Multilateral Trade Policy. He is Danish Co-Chairman of the US-Greenland-Denmark Joint Committee.
Prior to 2000 Birger Riis-Jørgensen was Under Secretary, responsible for administration of Danish bilateral development assistance as well as political and economic relations with the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Latin America. During this period Birger Riis-Jørgensen also served on the Boards of various Investment Funds and Mixed Credit Schemes.
From 1991 to 1995 Birger Riis-Jørgensen was Head of Africa and subsequently Middle East and Latin America Department in the Foreign Ministry.
Birger Riis-Jørgensen has served twice in Brussels, first at the Danish Mission to NATO, where he was Denmark’s Representative on the Political Committee from 1979 – 1981 and on NATO’s Defence Review Committee and Executive Working Group from 1981 – 1983. Back in Copenhagen he became Secretary to the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament. During his second term in Brussels 1987-1988 he was detached to the newly created Joint Secretariat for European Foreign Policy Cooperation.
Birger Riis-Jørgensen holds an MA in History from the University of Copenhagen. Following a graduate fellowship at the University of New Mexico in 1974-75 he worked as a research librarian at the Royal Library and as an assistant professor (International Relations) at the University of Copenhagen. He joined the Foreign Service in 1976.
Birger Riis-Jørgensen is married to Karin Riis-Jørgensen MEP since 1994 (Liberals, ALDE Group) and has two sons.
Hobbies: Tennis, kayaking, bicycling, classical music and modern history.
To be kept updated of events and notices, please subscribe our newsletter.