At 9.30 this morning, the Holy Father Francis received in audience H.E. Mr. Dejan Šahović, ambassador of Serbia to the Holy See, on the occasion of the presentation of his credential letters.

The following is a brief biography of the new ambassador:

H.E. Mr. Dejan Šahović
Ambassador of Serbia to the Holy See

H.E. Mr. Dejan Šahović was born in 1955, and is married with two children.

He holds a degree in Law from the Faculty of Law in Belgrade. He has held the following offices, among others: Junior staff in the Yugoslav Bank for Foreign Economic Cooperation, Department for Political Risk Insurance (1981-1986); Third Secretary at the Federal Secretariat for Foreign Affairs of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1986); Third Secretary and subsequently Second Secretary at the Embassy at the United Nations in New York (1987-1991); Second Secretary at the Federal Secretariat for Foreign Affairs of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1986); political official in the field Missions of the United Nations in Cambodia, South Africa and Tajikistan (1992-1996); Attorney (1996-2000); advisor at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2000); Permanent Representative of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia at the United Nations in New York (2001-2004); Permanent Representative of the State of the Union of Serbia and Montenegro at the United Nations in Geneva (2004-2006); Assistant Minister in charge of multilateral affairs (2006); National Coordinator for the Presidency of Serbia of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (2007); Ambassador of Serbia in Hungary (2008-2012); Deputy Head of the Cabinet of the President for the 67th Session of the United Nations General Assembly; Head of the Task Force for the Presidency of OSCE 2015 of Serbia (2013-2015); and since 2016, Ambassador in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Foreign languages spoken: English.