Martina Strong is the new US Ambassador to UAE

Image: Twitter/USAinUAE

Martina Anna Tkadlec Strong has been confirmed by the US Senate as Ambassador to the UAE.

Strong, a career member of the Foreign Service from Texas will lead the US diplomatic core in the UAE, a post which has been vacant since 2021.

Congratulations to Martina Strong who has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the Ambassador-Designate to the United Arab Emirates. We look forward to welcoming her to the UAE soon!#UnitedPartners ???? pic.twitter.com/Corqhvlsam

— US Mission to UAE (@USAinUAE) July 31, 2023

Strong’s nomination was received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations in January this year.

Ambassador posts vacant due to political tussle

The US State Department spoke on the confirmation at the press briefing with reporters in Washington DC. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller addressed the issue of vacant diplomatic posts which have been held up either due to US Congress blocking the nominations, as it is held by the Republican party or by certain Republican senators in the US Senate.

Miller said, “With respect to the delays in Congress, obviously that was something we were very frustrated by. We were quite public with that. (US State Department) Secretary Blinken came to this podium to speak to our concerns about holds that had been placed by certain senators on ambassadors, including career ambassadors, who were being held up for issues that had nothing to do with their qualifications for the job to which they were nominated.”

“We were heartened that a number – I think it was 14, I may be off by one or two nominees – ambassador nominees were confirmed in – last Friday, the last day that the Senate was in session before adjourning for August.”

Miller added that a number of ambassadorial nominations remain pending on the floor. “We will continue to work with members of Congress and hope that we can get all of our nominees confirmed expeditiously.”