Ms. Thessalia Salina Shambos, presented credentials as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Cyprus to HE the President of the State of Israel Reuven Riblin, on August 6, 2015.
Ms Shambos joined the Diplomatic Service of the Republic of Cyprus in September 1998, serving for four years at the Multilateral Department of the Political Division, with competence in UN issues such as Human Rights, Women’s issues and addressing global terrorism.
From 2002 to 2006 Ms. Shambos was posted at the Embassy of Cyprus in Greece, where, from 2003 onwards she served as Deputy Head of Mission, covering also Romania and Albania.
In 2006 she was posted as Deputy Head of Mission/Consul General at the Embassy of Cyprus in Rome, which included parallel accreditations to Malta, the Swiss Confederation and San Marino.
In September 2008 Ms. Shambos returned to Cyprus and was placed at the Department of Bilateral relations with EU partners and neighbouring countries, as Deputy Head, with responsibilities for Eastern Europe, the Russian Federation and Central Asia desks.
In September 2009, she was appointed as Head of the aforementioned department, which concurrently covers the EU perspective of the Western Balkans, and EU relations with Eastern Partnership countries, the Russian Federation, South Caucasus, and Central Asia, the position which she held till July 2015.
Ms. Shambos has represented Cyprus in a number of expert committees and conferences at regional, EU and UN levels and was part of the Nicosia core team for the 2012 EU Council Presidency of Cyprus. She has also attended numerous courses on diplomacy and International relations.
Ms. Shambos holds the position of Minister Counsellor, and has been awarded the rank of Officer in the Order of Merit of the Hellenic Republic.
Ms. Shambos studied Political Science at Pace University in New York, USA, graduating summa cum laude, in 1995, and was granted the Political Science Award. She holds a Master’s Degree in Social Studies – Political Science from Stockholm University, Sweden. She also has a background in Biomedical sciences from Aberdeen University, UK.
She is fluent in both Greek and English, and has knowledge of French and Italian.
She is married to Dr. Stavros Bashiardes (Ph.D. Genetics). She has two sons, Phaedon (age 4) and Alexandros (age 2).
She was born in Athens on January 14, 1973.