Former Austrian peacekeeper appointed Middle East/Maghreb director

(BRUSSELS2) Christian Berger is the new director of the European diplomatic service (EEAS) for the Middle East, North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran and Iraq. It's official. EU High Representative Catherine Ashton confirmed this in a statement. It thus supports the entire southern neighborhood of the European Union, which constitutes a significant amount of tension and conflict (Israel-Palestine, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, etc.) further reinforced by the outbreak of "revolutions" Arabs (Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Bahrain...). He was, until today, the representative of the European Union to the Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and Gaza.

A specialist in the Middle East

Of Austrian nationality, Christian Berger is a specialist in the Middle East. He cut his teeth there and lived there for many years, first on behalf of the UN and then for the European Union. Fresh from the universities of law in Vienna and London, Christian Berger left as an officer in the battalion of Austrian blue helmets deployed in the Golan. An experience he will need in the diplomatic service 🙂

He then worked at the United Nations Office in Gaza and Jerusalem (1988-1994). Appointed Deputy Director of OSCE Services in 1994, he worked in particular on the question of the Conventional Forces Treaty. In 1997, he joined Brussels first at the Committee of the Regions then joined the European Commission in 1999 as head of relations with Syria at DG Relex. In 2001, he was appointed political adviser on Middle East issues, in particular on the peace process, then EU representative to the Quartet's special envoy, James Wolfensohn (2005-2006). It is a key moment with in particular the signing of several agreements, in particular on Rafah, on the border between Egypt and Gaza, and on freedom of movement. served as head of unit "crisis response and peace building" of the European Commission.

The post of Director "Middle East" was one of the last vacant management positions within the Diplomatic Service. Christian Berger the first Austrian to be appointed to a key post in the diplomatic service. It is placed under the direction of Hugues Mingarelli, its department director, with the particularity that they both have the same geographical scope of action.