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U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, A. Elizabeth Jones to Visit Vilnius on July 15, 2002

July 12, 2002

Vilnius, July 11, 2002 -- The Embassy of the United States of America in Vilnius is pleased to announce that the Head of the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs of the United States Department of State, Assistant Secretary of State A. Elizabeth Jones, will visit Vilnius on Monday, July 15, 2002.

Assistant Secretary Jones will meet with American Embassy officials, President Valdas Adamkus, Chairman of Seimas Arturas Paulauskas, Vice Minister of Defense Jonas Gečas, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Antanas Valionis.

The Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs is responsible for developing, coordinating, and implementing U.S. foreign policy on a variety of issues that deal with national security, economic prosperity, democracy, human rights, protection of the environment, halting the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and combating terrorism and international crime.

Assistant Secretary A.E. Jones will depart for Tallinn, Estonia, following her one-day official visit to Lithuania.

Biography

A. Elizabeth Jones
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs
Term of Appointment: 05/31/2001 to present

A. Elizabeth Jones, of Bethesda, Maryland, was sworn in as Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs on May 31, 2001. Previously, she served as Senior Advisor for Caspian Basin Energy Diplomacy after having been Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (1998-2000). Ms. Jones was Ambassador to the Republic of Kazakhstan (1995-98) and Executive Assistant to Secretary of State Warren Christopher (1993-94). Her other Washington assignments include Deputy Director for Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq (1983-84), Lebanon Desk Officer (1981-83), and public affairs officer in the Near East and South Asia Bureau (1972-73).

Her overseas assignments were concentrated in the Middle East, South Asia, and Germany. She was Deputy Chief of Mission in Bonn, Germany (1992-93) and in Islamabad, Pakistan (1988-92). She headed the Economic/Commercial Section in the U.S. Mission in West Berlin (1985-88). She served as Deputy Principal Officer in the U.S. Interests Section in Baghdad, Iraq (1979-80), Political Officer in Amman, Jordan (1977-79) and in Cairo, Egypt (1973-75). She studied Arabic in Beirut, Tunis, and Cairo (1975-77). Her first Foreign Service post was Kabul, Afghanistan (1971-72); she joined the Foreign Service in October 1970.

Ambassador Jones was born in Germany in 1948, while her parents were assigned there with the U.S. Foreign Service. She attended local high schools in Moscow, U.S.S.R., and West Berlin, Germany, while her parents were on diplomatic assignments there. She graduated from Swarthmore College in 1970 with a B.A. in history and in 1986 earned a Masters degree in international relations from Boston University's overseas program in Berlin. Ambassador Jones speaks Russian, German, and Arabic and is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Career Minister. She is married and has two children.