Gabriel Escobar, Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy Belgrade is expected to take next week the duty of Deputy Assistant Secretary at U.S.Department of State. 

The news was confirmed for the Serbian news agency Beta by the American Embassy in Belgrade. In this post is actually Matthew Palmer. 

But who is Gabriel Escobar?

He assumed his position as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy Belgrade in August 2019. He served as Charge Chargé d’affaires prior to the arrival of Ambassador Godfrey. Previously he was posted as Minister Counselor for Economic Affairs at U.S. Embassy Baghdad, where he served as Acting Deputy Chief of Mission for the majority of his tour.  His leadership positions include Coordinator for Cuban Affairs in the Department of State’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs from 2017‑2018, the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in La Paz, Bolivia 2014-2017, Consul General at the U.S. Consulate General in Peshawar, Pakistan 2013-2014, and Team Leader of the U.S. Provincial Reconstruction Team in Kirkuk, Iraq 2009-2010.

From 1998-2001, Gabriel completed four consecutive tours in the former Yugoslavia, including serving as the Chief of Staff for the Office of the High Representative in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Head of the Embassy Branch Office in Banja Luka, the Deputy Head of the U.S. Diplomatic Liaison Team in Podgorica, and Political Unit Chief in Belgrade shortly after the U.S. Embassy reopened in 2001.  In the Bureau of European Affairs, Gabriel has served as the Counselor for Political and Economic Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Lisbon, Deputy Political Counselor in Rome, and Political-Military Officer in Prague, and Vice-Consul in Moscow.

A career diplomat, he has been awarded the State Department’s Superior Honor Award six times and the Meritorious Honor Award once.  He has also been awarded the Department of State’s Expeditionary Service Award and the Department of the Army Superior Civilian Service Award.  Gabriel is a graduate of Columbia University in New York and speaks Spanish, Russian, Italian, Serbian, Czech, and Portuguese.