BRUSSELS (Chatnewstv.com) — The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, on Saturday announced a sweeping round of senior diplomatic appointments, naming Patricia Llombart-Cussac as managing director for Africa at the European External Action Service, Philippe Bronchain as EU ambassador to Burkina Faso and Soren Liborius as deputy head of delegation to Russia.
Llombart-Cussac, currently the EU envoy to Morocco, will oversee the bloc’s Africa portfolio from Brussels. She previously served as EU ambassador to Colombia and as a senior director at the EEAS responsible for security, finance and infrastructure.
Bronchain, a Belgian diplomat and director for Sub-Saharan Africa at Belgium’s foreign ministry, moves to Ouagadougou after stints in Pakistan and Afghanistan. His appointment comes as the EU reassesses its role in the Sahel following a series of coups and security crises.
Liborius, a Danish national with previous service in Moscow, was tapped to become deputy head of the EU mission to Russia. He has worked in the EEAS division for strategic communications and earlier headed press and information at the EU’s Moscow delegation.
“The EU’s 145 delegations are our face to the world and our frontline in protecting European interests abroad,” Kallas said in a statement.
The shake-up included 36 ambassadorial appointments, two deputy heads of delegation and five senior management posts across the EU’s diplomatic corps.
Full List of Appointments as released by on EEAS, August 30, 2025
Senior Management
Hermann Martin Bille – Managing Director for Multilateral Relations, Human Rights and Democracy / Deputy Political Director
Patricia Llombart-Cussac – Managing Director for Africa
Emanuele Giaufret – Deputy Managing Director for Europe and Central Asia
Taneli Lahti – Deputy Managing Director for Global Issues
Matthew Reece – Deputy Managing Director for Policy Planning and Strategic Communication
Heads of Delegation / Ambassadors
Erik Høeg – Argentina
Marijana Kujundžić – Azerbaijan
Fiona Ramsey – Barbados
Philippe Bronchain – Burkina Faso
Sylvie Millot – Cabo Verde
François Roudié – Colombia
Razaaly Irchad – Côte d’Ivoire
Jens Urban – Cuba
Raul Fuentes Milani – Dominican Republic
Duccio Bandini – El Salvador
Joanna Darmanin – Eritrea
Johanna Karanko – Guatemala
Federico Bianchi – Guinea-Bissau
Xavier Sticker – Guinea Conakry
Luca Pierantoni – Guyana
Hélène Roos – Haiti
Klemens Sempter – Iraq
Michael Mann – Israel
Mette Sunnergren – Lesotho
Daniel Aristi Gaztelumendi – Malawi
Iwona Piorko Bermig – Moldova
Dimiter Tzantchev – Morocco
Marc Friedrich – Myanmar (Chargé d’affaires a.i.)
Raimundas Karoblis – Pakistan
Erika Hasznos – Papua New Guinea
Katja Afheldt – Paraguay
Andreas von Beckerath – Serbia
Artis Bertulis – Singapore
Francesca Di Mauro – Somalia
Ugo Astuto – South Korea
Per Enarsson – South Sudan
Andreas Künne – Switzerland
Radoslaw Darski – Tajikistan
Thorsten Bargfrede – Timor-Leste
Petros Mavromichalis – Uruguay
Deike Potzel – United Nations, Geneva
Patrick Simonnet – Yemen
Deputy Heads of Delegation
Soren Liborius – Russia
Gediminas Navickas – Ukraine
