Agenda
Riina Kionka
Chief Foreign Policy Adviser to European Council President Donald Tusk
Riina Kionka has been named one of the most influential Estonian officials in the EU. In 1993 Kionka joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where she held various positions. In 2005 she joined
the EU Council Secretariat in Brussels, focusing on transatlantic affairs, counterterrorism, and the UN. In 2007, EU High Representative Javier Solana named Kionka his Personal Representative for Human Rights. After the European External Action Service (EEAS) was established in 2009, Kionka ran the divisions on human rights and later on Central Asia. She has published widely on Baltic and broader European security issues and is a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations. Kionka has been decorated with the Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle (1995), the German Great Service Cross with Star and Band (2000) and the Estonian White Cross, III class (2004), the last for her contribution to Estonia’s accession to NATO and the EU. In 2010, President Toomas Hendrik Ilves awarded Kionka, a career diplomat, the lifelong rank of Ambassador.
Subjects:
Balkans, Eastern Partnership, Europe, European Union, Future, Middle East, NATO, Transatlantic relations, United States
Updated: March 15, 2019
