Martina Strong, the United States’ next ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, took the oath of office this week, the State Department reported on Friday.

Strong was sworn in about a year after President Joe Biden appointed her to the position, in the presence of Acting Deputy Secretary of State Tori Nuland, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf, and other colleagues.

“Our strong cooperation reflects the close alignment of our countries’ core priorities that underpin our shared security and prosperity,” Strong said.

Strong is a career diplomat who previously served as the US Embassy in Saudi Arabia’s chargé d’affaires and interim ambassador.

She will succeed John Rakolta, who was chosen by outgoing President Donald Trump.

She formerly worked in US embassies in Bulgaria, Iraq, the Czech Republic, and Barbados, and she is fluent in Arabic, Czech, Polish, French, German, Russian, and Bosnian.

“From her childhood in communist Czechoslovakia, to a new life at age 14 in Fort Worth, Texas, to representing our nation as an Ambassador, Martina embodies the American Dream and will do a superb job in the UAE,” Nuland said in a post on X.