International

Kenneth Merten is Now U.S. Ambassador to Croatia

WASHINGTON, D.C. (defend.ht) - U.S. Ambassador Kenneth H. Merten has been moved to take over as the U.S. Ambassador to Croatia.

Merten was appointed by the U.S. President Barack Obama last month and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 30.

According to Merten's biography listed on the U.S. Embassy's Haiti website, he "considers Hudson Ohio his hometown."

Merten, who could not be reached for comment by his hometown paper, the Hudson Hub Times, appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in Washington, March 21.

"It is a privilege to appear before you today as President Obama's nominee to serve as the United States ambassador to the Republic of Croatia," Merten said. "I am honored by the confidence placed in me by the President and Secretary Clinton. If confirmed, I look forward to working with this Committee and the Congress in advancing U.S. interests in Croatia."

In recent weeks Merten played a role in the nationality investigation of President Michel Martelly, but has received much criticism from the opposition in his handling of it.

Merten began his term as ambassador to Haiti Aug. 24, 2009 and supervised the relief efforts in Haiti in 2010 after a magnitude-7 earthquake hit the country.

He joined the U.S. diplomatic corps in 1987 and has served two previous diplomatic assignments in Haiti. He has also served as deputy executive secretary to U.S. Secretaries of State Clinton and Rice.

Merten's overseas assignments include the U.S. Embassy in Paris, the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, the U.S. Mission to the European Union in Brussels and the U.S. Embassy in Bonn. Merten's Washington experience includes two assignments in the State Department Operations Center and stints with the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs and as a special advisor on Haiti from 1993 to 1994. Merten is married to Susan Greenman Merten and has two children.

Ambassador Merten, for his “extraordinary leadership in expeditious diplomacy” during and after the earthquake of January 12, 2010, was given the Ryan C. Crocker award in 2011.