Speaker – HE Maria Adebahr

H.E. Maria Adebahr

Director for Cyber Foreign and Security Policy,
Federal Foreign Office
Germany

Biography

Maria Adebahr studied law and modern history in Paris, Halle, Siena, Florence, Berlin and New York. In 2004, after passing the second state law examination, she commenced work as a research fellow in the field of international law at the Freie Universität Berlin. In 2006 she entered the foreign service. Following her attaché training, Maria Adebahr took up her first post in the Afghanistan Task Force in Berlin. From 2009 she worked in the Press Division as a spokesperson for Afghanistan and Asia, before moving to the German Embassy in Tehran in 2011 to take up the post of Consul. In summer 2013 she moved to a new post in the political affairs section of the German Embassy in Washington, where she was responsible for the Middle East dossier. In 2016 Maria Adebahr returned to Berlin, joining the Federal Foreign Office Policy Planning Staff with responsibility for the United States. From February 2017 she served as Deputy Spokesperson for the Federal Foreign Office. She was appointed Spokesperson of the Federal Foreign Office in March 2018 before taking up service as Deputy Ambassador and Head of the Economic Department at the Embassy in Rome in September 2021.

She has held the post of Director for Cyber Foreign and Security Policy at the Federal Foreign Office since July 2024.

Maria Adebahr is married with two sons.