The current ambassador of the European Union (EU) in Sarajevo, Johan Zatler, has been appointed as the new EU ambassador to Montenegro, Radio Free Europe (RSE) reports.
According to the media, the Secretary General of the EU Service for Foreign Affairs, Stefano Sanino, sent the member countries a list of ambassadors and special envoys appointed by the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borelj.
In the list that RSE had access to, it can be seen that a significant change has been made in the diplomatic staff related to the countries of the Western Balkans.
The EU External Affairs Service is expected to publish this list soon.
As part of the rotation in diplomatic positions of the EU, Miroslav Lajčak, the former facilitator of the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, was appointed by Borelj as the ambassador of the European Union to Switzerland.
This list does not include the name of Lajčak's successor in the role of EU Special Envoy for Kosovo-Serbia dialogue. It is expected that the EU External Affairs Service, in cooperation with member countries, will make a decision later, preferably during the summer.
The mandate of the head of the EU Office in Kosovo, who is also the EU's special representative for Kosovo, Tomas Sonong, will also end.
In his place, the EU Office in Pristina will be headed by the current ambassador of Estonia to the EU, Aivo Orav.
The future head of the EU Office in Kosovo has experience in the Balkan region, and previously he was the head of the EU delegation in North Macedonia and the head of the EU delegation in Montenegro.
As part of this rotation, Italian diplomat Luigi Soreka was appointed head of the EU Delegation in Sarajevo, which, in addition to Kosovo, is a higher position than ambassadors in other countries of the region, as he has the status of a special representative of the EU.
During his diplomatic career, Sorek was the EU ambassador to Albania.
The current EU ambassador in Sarajevo, Johan Zatler, remains in the region, because Borrell appointed him as EU ambassador to Montenegro.
The EU ambassador in North Macedonia will be the Greek diplomat Rokas Mihalis, who until now was the EU ambassador in Mexico.
Among the officials who held positions related to the Western Balkans is the one held by Angelina Einhorst, as Director General for Europe in the EU Service for External Affairs.
She was previously the Deputy Director General and her office was engaged in dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, before Lajcak was appointed as Special Envoy for Dialogue.
Angelina Einhorst has now been appointed EU Ambassador to Egypt.
From the list of those appointed by Borelj, it can be seen that the vast majority are either diplomats of member states or officials of the EU Foreign Affairs Service.
Although foreign policy is still the national responsibility of the member states, the EU has a common foreign and security policy and a fairly large diplomatic service around the world.
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