[Portrait] EEAS. First ambassador to Myanmar appointed

(BRUSSELS2) Roland Kobia will be the first ambassador of the European Union to Myanmar.

The appointment of Belgian (1) was announced this morning (Friday May 31) by the European diplomatic service. He will be the first to hold this position, the decision to open an EU delegation in Rangoon having only been taken last January. The country has been on the path to reforms since 2011. The opening of this embassy is part of the construction of normalized diplomatic relations with the former Burma (read also: Sanctions lifted on members of the Burmese government).

Roland Kobia the European

Kobia is first and foremost European. Now EU Ambassador to Azerbaijan, he has been working in the service of the European Union for twenty years, notably at the European Commission and, since its creation, at the European Diplomatic Service. Before his current position, he served as advisor on energy relations to Andris Piebalgs when the latter was commissioner in charge of energy. During this period he was particularly concerned with energy security, trade, links with supplier countries, etc. He was involved in negotiations on the Southern Corridor (gas). His diplomatic experience was also applied in the field since Kobia was number two in the mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya where he was responsible for the political section for the Horn of Africa region and the region of Big lakes. Previously, he held numerous positions at the Commission in the various Directorates-General (DG external relations, competition, internal market, etc.).

Roland Robia is a graduate of the College of Europe in Bruges, and in international nuclear law from the University of Montpellier. He was a visiting professor at the same university. He is a true polyglot since he speaks French, English, German, Italian and has some knowledge of Russian and Arabic.

(Thomas LeBihan)

(1) And not French as advertised by mistake