Visit by US Ambassador Sheila Gwaltney

On 19 April, the US Ambassador Ms Sheila Gwaltney paid a visit to the OSCE Academy in Bishkek to meet students and give a talk on history, realities and perspectives of the Kyrgyz-US relations. Ms Gwaltney started her lecture with a short but comprehensive overview of the 25-year history of Kyrgyz-US relations. Following her remark on early US recognition of the sovereignty of the Kyrgyz Republic in 1991, she reflected on the many activities and projects of USAID, on the cultural and educational programmes as well as on the net of American resource centres and corners throughout the country. Ambassador Gwaltney further stressed the continuous US commitment to productive and mutually beneficial cooperation with Kyrgyzstan and the willingness to support the development of and the democratic process in the country.
The lecture was followed by a 40-minut Q/A session that largely focused on internal and external US policies, prospects for developments under the new administration and the situation in Afghanistan. We cordially thank Ambassador Ms Sheila Gwaltney for her visit!

Ms. Sheila Gwaltney is the U.S. Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic since September 2015.
Since joining the Department of State in 1984, Ms. Gwaltney has held a variety of positions.  She served as Deputy Director for the Office of Russian Affairs at the Department of State, as the Special Assistant to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs, and as the Director of Country Affairs for Eurasia in the Office of the Coordinator for Assistance to Europe and Eurasia.Ms. Gwaltney graduated from the University of California at Davis with a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from George Washington University in Washington, DC.  She is the recipient of several Department of State Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards.

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