Speaker

Since January 2023: Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Republic of Bulgaria. From July 2020 until July 2022, Irene Maria Plank has been the Director for Strategic Communication at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin. Before that she worked as the Head of Division „Business and Human Rights“ at the German Federal Foreign Office in Berlin. The division coordinates the implementation of the new German National Action Plan “Business and Human Rights” across the government and connects the German efforts in this field with the international agenda. Before that, Irene has mainly worked in security related areas and was Deputy Director of Cabinet of the NATO Secretary General in Brussels between 2012 and 2016. Between 2006 and 2009, she was Deputy Head of Mission at the German Embassy in Beirut. Previous posts include Congo/Kinshasa, Kabul and Seattle. She has also been Deputy Head of the Federal Foreign Offices division for Humanitarian Help between 2016 and 2017.