Council appoints new EU Special Representatives

The Council appointed four new EU Special Representatives (EUSR) for Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the Great Lakes Region, Kosovo*, and the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia.

Great Lakes Region 

The Council appointed Johan Borgstam as the EUSR for the Great Lakes Region. Mr Borgstam will take up his duties on 1 September, with an initial mandate of 12 months.

Mr Borgstam is a Swedish diplomat with extensive national and EU experience across a wide range of positions. He has served as the Head of the EU Delegation to Ethiopia, as well as ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya and Greece.

As EUSR for the Great Lakes Region, Mr Borgstam will support the High Representative in the implementation of the EU’s foreign policy objectives in the Great Lakes Region, in line with the Council conclusions of 20 February 2023. He will contribute to building a stronger, comprehensive and more strategic partnership with the countries in the region, maintaining close contact also with key regional organisations and fora, such as the African Union and the East African Community, as well as the United Nations, the International Financial Institutions, and non-state actors when relevant.

• CV of Johan Borgstam 

South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia

The Council also appointed Magdalena Grono as EUSR for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia. Ms Grono succeeds Toivo Klaar whose tenure of over 6 years comes to an end on 31 August. She will take up her duties on 1 September 2024 for an initial period of 12 months.

As new EUSR, Ms Grono will continue the work of her predecessors, contributing to the implementation of the EU foreign policy objectives in the region. She will contribute to the peaceful settlement of conflicts, including the crisis in Georgia and the normalisation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan, in close coordination with the UN and the OSCE. She will engage with the main interested actors regarding the region and will develop contacts with governments, parliaments, other key political actors and civil society, encouraging and facilitating cooperation on regional themes of common interest.

Ms Grono, a Czech national, currently serves as Chief Diplomatic Adviser to the President of the European Council, Charles Michel. She has worked on foreign policy and conflict resolution issues for the past 25 years, including in high-level diplomatic posts for the EU as well as in think-tank capacities, with a strong emphasis on the former Soviet space and the South Caucasus in particular. Before joining President Michel's Cabinet, she was a foreign policy adviser to former President of the European Council Donald Tusk. Previously, she was the Europe and Central Asia Director at International Crisis Group.

• CV of Magdalena Grono 

Kosovo*

The new EUSR in Kosovo* will be Aivo Orav, an Estonian diplomat with extensive national and EU experience across a wide range of positions. He will take up his duties on 1 September 2024 for an initial period of two years, succeeding Mr Tomáš Szunyog, who had been in the post since 2020.

Mr Orav is currently Estonia’s Permanent Representative to the EU, and previously he served as Head of EU Delegations to Montenegro and North Macedonia.

Mr Orav will play a leading role in promoting a stable, peaceful, democratic and multi-ethnic Kosovo which cooperates with the region. He will also support Kosovo’s European perspective and rapprochement with the EU, and monitor, assist and facilitate progress on political, economic and European priorities.

• CV of Aivo Orav 

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Mr Luigi Soreca was appointed as the EUSR for Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) succeeding Mr Johann Sattler, whose mandate of 5 years comes to an end on 31 August 2024. He will take up his duties on 1 September 2024 for an initial period of two years. 

As of spring 2022, Mr Soreca has been the EU Special Envoy for the External Dimension of Migration, working at the European External Action Service in Brussels. He was previously the Head of the EU Delegation to Albania from 2018 to 2022.

His mandate will be to ensure continued progress in the Stabilisation and Association Process, with the aim of a stable, viable, peaceful and multi-ethnic and united BiH, cooperating peacefully with its neighbours on track towards membership of the EU. He also supports the implementation of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in BiH.