The Ambassador

Mr. George Psiachas was born in London, on December 15, 1968, where he grew up until the age of six. He then followed his parents to Damascus for three years, where he attended the American international Damascus Community School. He next moved to Jerusalem, spending eight years in the English international Anglican School, reaching an early graduation with honours in 1985, then completed 12th Grade in the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate High School of Jerusalem, from which he graduated with distinction, in 1986.

He went on to study at the University of Athens where he obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Law, and spent a year in Strasbourg specialising in European Law & Human Rights (Maîtrise level) in the framework of an Erasmus scholarship in the Robert Schuman University, while at the same time being employed by the Press Centre of the European Parliament for plenary sessions. After returning to Greece to complete his military service in the Artillery of the Hellenic Armed Forces, he took up a Master’s degree in Applied European Studies (awarded with Distinction) in South Bank University, then continued to a second Master’s degree, in Mediterranean Studies, at the War Studies Department, King’s College, both in London.

Following seven months working as a journalist covering the European Union in Brussels, Mr. Psiachas entered the diplomatic service of the Hellenic Foreign Ministry in 1998. After completing his training in the Diplomatic Academy in 1999, he was assigned as Attaché to the Protocol Department. In 2000, after being promoted to Third Secretary, he was transferred to the Embassy of Greece in Tripoli, Libya, as Head of the Consular Office and Deputy Head of Mission. In 2002 he was posted to the Permanent Mission of Greece to the United Nations, in New York, where he served until 2007. During this tour of duty, which included a two-year term on the UN Security Council, he was promoted successively to Second Secretary, then First Secretary. Returning to Greece in early 2007, Mr. Psiachas was briefly assigned to the A10 Department for Asia and Oceania, but soon thereafter was appointed Head of the Cabinet of the Secretary-General for European Affairs. In 2008 he was promoted to Second Counsellor, then posted as Consul of Greece in Niš, Serbia. After the Consulate suspended its operations in 2010, which coincided with his promotion to First Counsellor, he was seconded for six months to the Embassy of Greece in Belgrade. In 2011 he was posted to the Embassy of Greece in Tbilisi, as Deputy Head of Mission. Mr. Psiachas returned to Athens in 2016 where he assumed duties as Director of the Diplomatic Cabinet of the Deputy Foreign Minister responsible for Cultural and Religious Affairs. In December 2018 he was posted as Consul-General of Greece in Adelaide, South Australia. In June 2023 he was promoted to the Ambassadorial rank of Minister Plenipotentiary and, in July 2024, he returned to Athens. On December 31, 2024 he assumed his current role as Ambassador of Greece to Kenya and, while resident in Nairobi, he is also designated Ambassador to Burundi, Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania & Uganda. He is also Permanent Representative of Greece to UNON, UNEP and UN-Habitat.

Mr. Psiachas has been decorated with the Commander of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Silver Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Golden Cross of the Apostle Saint Andrew from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia.

He is a native speaker in Greek and English, but also speaks French and Spanish, has a working knowledge of Russian, basic Italian and elementary Hebrew and Arabic.

In his leisure, he likes travelling, reading, and pursues various hobbies such as photography and numismatics (he has been awarded the Numismatic Scholar Diploma from the American Numismatic Association). He also shows an active interest in learning about safety and security issues, and has followed various seminars and training in this field.

Mr. Psiachas is married to Jelena Stankovic, from Serbia, with whom he has a daughter, Laura (b. 2018) and a son, Michael-Nicholas (b. 2021).