Movers & Shakers

The government of the Czech Republic has appointed Martin Povejšil as its permanent representative to the EU, replacing Milena Vicenová, who had been in the role since 2008. Povejšil, who began on 3 September, was previously the Czech ambassador to NATO. 

Kristinn Árnason has been appointed secretary-general of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), replacing Kåre Bryn of Norway, from 1 September. Árnason has served as Iceland’s permanent representative to EFTA and the World Trade Organization.

Christian Korn has become president of APEAL, the Association of European Producers of Steel for Packaging. Korn, who is vice-president commercial at US Steel Košice, based in Slovakia, takes over from Robert Beltz.

Joris Nachtergaele who was APEAL’s deputy managing director, has been appointed director for external affairs at Metal Packaging Europe.

The communications consultancy Fleishman-Hillard has recruited Martin Bresson as a senior policy adviser on financial services. He joins from the permanent representation of Denmark to the EU, where he was counsellor on financial services during Denmark’s presidency of the EU. From 2003-11 he was head of division at the Danish ministry of business and economics.

Peter Wells has been appointed chairman of the Global Alliance for Veterinary Medicines (GALVmed). He is a former head of research and development at Novartis Animal Health and was GALVmed’s interim chief executive for six months from November 2011. The new interim chief executive is Andy Peters.

The European Commission has appointed Graham Blythe to head its office in Edinburgh, Scotland, and Colette Fitzgerald to head its office in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR) has appointed Jacob Moroza-Rasmussen as its secretary-general. The Dane, who has been living for the past five years in Lithuania, is a former secretary-general and former president of the International Federation of Liberal Youth.

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