GERMANEWS: Ambassador Dr. Baas, we welcome you to Indonesia. Our readers surely are interested in who will be representing the Federal Republic of Germany in the upcoming years. Would you please tell us about your personal background and your diplomatic career so far?

With pleasure. I am happy to be in Indonesia. Before I came here, I was German Ambassador to South Korea, where I spent threee years. Prior to this assignment I concentrated on Eastern Europe and I had the privilege of serving as a Special Envoy of the German Foreign Office on relations with Russia, Central Asia and the Caucasus. Among other responsibilities I was coordinator of the group of friends of the UN Secretary General dealing with the settlement of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict. From 1995 to 1998 I was Ambassador to Georgia. Before that I served in various posts abroad and in the Foreign Office including Moscow and relations with Central Europe and on security policy issues. My first assignment was the OECD-Mission in Paris, then followed by Bagdad. All my posts were very interesting and an enriching personal experience.