Ms Gabriella Sancisi is the Director of Protocol and Host Country Affairs Department (DPG). After graduating from Leiden University with a degree in International Law and degree in Italian Language and Literature, she started her diplomatic career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands in 1997. She served in various positions in The Hague and abroad: among others at the Conculate General of The Netherlands in New York as Consul for Press- and Cultural affairs, at  the Ministry as Senior Policy Advisor for Western and Central Europe, as Private Secretary to the Minister for European Affairs Timmermans, and consecutively to Minister of Foreign Affairs Rosenthal. From 2011 to 2014 she was posted as Deputy Head of Mission at the Netherlands Embassy in Zagreb, Croatia, followed by 7 years at the Royal House of The Netherlands as Private Secretary to H.M. Queen Maxima of The Netherlands (2014-2021). Prior to taking up her current position as Director of Protocol and Host Country Affairs she served as Ambassador of The Netherlands to Slovakia from 2021 until 2024.