István Kovács

Born August 1956, Budapest, Hungary.

Graduate of the State University of Maryland / College Park, Md., USA.

1977-78 Teacher´s Assistant at the University of Maryland.

From December 1978 : works at the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

• 1978-1980 at the Political Department  for Africa,
• 1980-81 at the Political Department for the Middle-East,
• 1981-85 Cultural and Press Attaché at the Hungarian Embassy in Baghdad,
• 1985-86 Desk Officer for the Hungarian-French relations,
• 1987-88 Desk Officer for the Hungarian-Italian relations,
• 1988-1993 Deputy-Chief of Mission at the Hungarian  Embassy in Rome
• 1990-1991 Consul-General  to the Republic of  San Marino
• 1993, Director of the Political Department No. 8  /Southern-Western Europe/,
• 1994, Director of the Political Department No.1 /North-America, Northern-Europe and Israel/.
• 1995-1999 Consul-General  in New York
• 1999 Deputy Director, Department of EU Political Relations / in charge of Internal and External EU communication strategy
• July 2002 Director, Department for EU Communication
• February 2003-October 2007 Ambassador to Italy, Malta and San Marino
• From October 15, 2007 Head of the Foreign Minister’s Cabinet
• April, 2009 nominated Permanent Representative to NATO

Speaks English, French, Italian and Spanish.

Has two sons and two daughters.