This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(April 2011) |
وزارة الخارجية | |
Ministry overview | |
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Type | Government Ministry |
Jurisdiction | Cabinet of Bahrain |
Headquarters | Government Road, Manama 26°14′15.96″N50°34′42.14″E / 26.2377667°N 50.5783722°E |
Minister responsible |
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Website | mofa.gov.bh |
Member State of the Arab League |
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Judiciary |
Administrative divisions (governorates) |
Bahrainportal |
The Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs was established in 1971 by an Amiri Decree which also defined its duties and responsibilities and was followed in the same year by Amiri Decree No. (4) for the Year 1971 Regulating the Diplomatic and Consular Corps. Under the decree, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs assumed the responsibility of coordinating and implementing all matters related to the state's foreign policy and its international relations with other countries and international organizations as well as looking after and protecting the interests of Bahraini citizens abroad.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has operated within the premises of the Government House (Dar Al Hukuma) until 1983, when it moved to its current own building.
Soon after the establishment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Kingdom of Bahrain began participating in the Arab summits and meetings of the Arab Foreign Ministers, the United Nations General Assembly Sessions (UNGA), the ministerial meetings of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and summits and ministerial meetings of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
The early missions of the Kingdom of Bahrain were to New York, London and Cairo. Salman bin Daij was the first ambassador to London. Taqi Al Baharna headed the first mission to the Arab Republic of Egypt, assisted by Ibrahim Ali Ibrahim and Mustapha Kamal, while the first Bahraini ambassador to the United Nations was Salman Al Saffar.
# | Name | Picture | Took office | Left office |
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1 | Muhammad ibn Mubarak ibn Hamad Al Khalifah | 12 January 1969 | 29 September 2005 | |
2 | Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa | 29 September 2005 | 11 February 2020 | |
3 | Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid AlZayani | 11 February 2020 | Present | |
Source: [1]
Bahrain plays a modest, moderating role in regional politics and adheres to the views of the Arab League on Middle East peace and Palestinian rights. Since achieving independence in 1971, Bahrain has maintained friendly relations with most of its neighbours and with the world community. It generally pursues a policy of close consultation with neighbouring states and works to narrow areas of disagreement.
Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa is King of Bahrain since 14 February 2002, after ruling as Emir of Bahrain from 6 March 1999.
Tawfeeq Ahmed Khalil Almansoor is a Bahraini diplomat. He served as the permanent Ambassador to the United Nations for Bahrain from 2003 to 2011. He presented his credentials to the Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan on 21 May 2003. He also served as Vice-President of the General Assembly of the United Nations.
The State of Bahrain was the name of Bahrain from 1971 to 2002. On 15 August 1971, Bahrain declared independence and signed a new treaty of friendship with the United Kingdom. Bahrain joined the United Nations and the Arab League later in the year. The oil boom of the 1970s benefited Bahrain greatly, although the subsequent downturn hurt the economy. The country had already begun diversification of its economy and benefited further from Lebanese Civil War in the 1970s and 1980s, when Bahrain replaced Beirut as the Middle East's financial hub after Lebanon's large banking sector was driven out of the country by the war.
Sabika bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa is the first wife and consort of the king of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. She is the mother of Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
Houda Ezra Ebrahim Nonoo served as the Bahraini Ambassador to the United States from 2008 to 2013. She was appointed to the position by decree of Foreign Affairs Minister Khaled Ben Ahmad Al-Khalifa. Nonoo is the first Jew, and third woman, to be appointed ambassador of Bahrain. She is also the first Jewish ambassador of any Middle Eastern Arab country, and the first female Bahraini ambassador to the United States.
Extremely strong and cordial relations exist between Bahrain and Pakistan. Bahrain maintains an embassy in Islamabad and a Consulate-General in Karachi, whilst Pakistan maintains an embassy in Manama. Both countries are members of the OIC and of the G 77.
Bahrain is divided into four Governorates: the Capital, Northern, Southern and Muharraq. Until September 2014, there were five, when the Central Governorate was abolished.
Alexander Vladimirovich Yakovenko is a Russian diplomat. He served as the Ambassador of Russia to the United Kingdom between January 2011 and August 2019. Since August 2019, he has been rector of the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He is a former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia. While working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow, he was in charge of multilateral diplomacy. A graduate of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1976, he later gained a Doctor of Law degree. Yakovenko holds the diplomatic rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, and speaks Russian, English and French.
Relations exist between the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Relations between the two countries are close and friendly, with the U.A.E. having an embassy in Manama while Bahrain maintains its embassy in Abu Dhabi. Both states are geographically a part of the Persian Gulf and lie in close proximity to one another; both are also members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
Jameel Humaidan is the current Minister of Labor and Social Development of Bahrain.
Ibrahim Omar Dabbashi is a Libyan diplomat who formerly served as the Libyan Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. Dabbashi led the country's UN mission in opposing the continued rule of Muammar Gaddafi.
Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani is a Bahraini engineer and retired lieutenant general. He is the foreign minister, having formerly been the secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) from 1 April 2011 to February 2020. He was the fifth GCC secretary general and the first with military background since the GCC was established.
Bilateral relations exist between the State of Qatar and the Kingdom of Bahrain. They first began in 1971.
Muhammad Abdul Ghaffar Abdulla is a Bahraini ambassador.
Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa is a Bahraini member of the House of Khalifa and since 2015 has been Bahrain's Ambassador to the United Kingdom. He is the eldest prince of the Kingdom of Bahrain and the brother of Shaikh Bin Salman Al Khalifa.
Historic and current bilateral relationship exist between Bahrain and Japan. Diplomatic relations were first established in 1972, and since then they have had increasing economic, cultural, and military cooperation, with Japan becoming one of the major trading partners of Bahrain. Several high-level official visits have taken place, including by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to Japan in 2012, Crown Prince Salman in 2013, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Bahrain in 2013, with the governments of both countries expressing their intent to continue to increase their bilateral relations.
The Ministry of Finance & National Economy (MOFNE) is responsible for formulating and implementing the financial policies of the Kingdom of Bahrain within the overall vision of the Bahrain Government. The Ministry prepares the state general budget in coordination with other ministries and public entities in a way that reflects the financial and economic objectives of the Kingdom, particularly regarding improving living standards and increasing levels of economic growth.
The Bahrain–Israel normalization agreement, officially Abraham Accords: Declaration of Peace, Cooperation, and Constructive Diplomatic and Friendly Relations, is an agreement to normalize diplomatic and other relations between Bahrain and Israel. The agreement was announced by President Donald Trump on September 11, 2020, and followed on from a joint statement, officially referred to as the Abraham Accords, by the United States, Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on August 13, 2020. It was formally signed on September 15, 2020, at the White House in Washington, D.C., and made Bahrain the fourth Arab state to recognize Israel and the second within a month.
Ahmed bin Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa is a Bahraini diplomat from the House of Khalifa, the ruling family of the Kingdom. His father is Khalifa bin Salman bin Ahmed Al Khalifa.