Who is Who - Aivo Orav: He knows the Balkans well, having served for eight years in Skopje and Podgorica

The EU officially confirmed today that Estonian diplomat Aivo Orav will succeed Tomasz Szunyog as the EU Ambassador to Kosovo. Orav will assume his duties on September 1st. The EU statement emphasizes that he is a diplomat with extensive national experience.

"Orav will play a leading role in promoting a stable, peaceful, democratic, and multi-ethnic Kosovo that cooperates with the region. He will also support Kosovo's European perspective and its closer alignment with the EU, and monitor, assist, and facilitate progress regarding political, economic, and European priorities," the statement reads.

How Estonia Views Kosovo

Strahinja Subotic, a program manager at the Center for European Policy, believes that the appointment of Estonian politicians to some top EU positions will complicate the progress of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue because Estonia unequivocally supports Kosovo's independence. However, he suggests that EU officials could compensate for this by appointing a chief mediator who will respect the EU's neutral stance on this issue.

"We from the Center for European Policy recently visited Estonia and the entire Baltic region and can say that they are very knowledgeable about Kosovo, strongly supporting its independence, which is good for Kosovo but bad for Serbia. Considering that Estonia is subjective in this regard, it is expected that Estonia will insist more on satisfying the interests of Kosovo, or rather Pristina, and less on Belgrade, which will make the dialogue more difficult," Subotic told Kosovo Online.

Political Analyst from Pristina

Afrim Hoti, a political analyst from Pristina, told Kosovo Online that Estonian politicians, including Kaja Kallas as the new foreign minister and Aivo Orav as the new head of the EU Office in Pristina, despite their country being among the first to recognize Kosovo's independence, will have to follow the EU's neutral policy towards the dialogue.

"Definitely, whoever comes from Europe will lead the process under the auspices of the European Union, and it is not at all relevant whether that person comes from Estonia or Slovakia. They must maintain a neutral position as the EU has so far," Hoti emphasized.

"Wiretapping" Scandal in North Macedonia

In 2015, Aivo Orav, then EU Ambassador to Macedonia, submitted a protest note on behalf of the European Union to the Macedonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs due to the wiretapping of ambassadors. In the protest note, Orav requested that Macedonia respect the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. His reaction followed after several EU member state ambassadors received transcripts of their wiretapped conversations from the opposition Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM).

This was not the only "incident" during his mandate in North Macedonia. In 2012, he referred to Macedonians as "Slav Macedonians" in a statement.

"We in EU institutions understand how sensitive this issue is, and I personally understand it," Orav said to Macedonian media at the time.

Mediation Between Zaev and Gruevski

When he left the position of EU Ambassador to Montenegro in 2020, Orav reflected on his service in North Macedonia.

"The work there was very demanding – mediating talks between Gruevski and Zaev. Under Commissioner Hahn's leadership, the Przino Agreement was signed in July 2015, but it also needed to be implemented. My dear colleague Jess Baily, the US Ambassador to Skopje, and I had to make efforts for every millimeter of its implementation. It sounds simple, but in practice, it meant that during 2015-2016, days and nights merged into one, and the word 'weekend' disappeared from my vocabulary," Orav said at the time.

Regarding Montenegro

Orav was the EU Ambassador to Montenegro from 2016 to 2020. Upon his departure from Podgorica to a new position, he said the following:

"Montenegro remains the undisputed leader to this day. A month ago, it opened the last negotiation chapter with the EU. Montenegro, along with Albania, is the only Western Balkan country that has consistently aligned with 100% of the EU's foreign policy positions, including sanctions. Montenegro recognized Kosovo. Montenegro became a NATO member," said the Estonian diplomat.

Rich Career

Orav is currently Estonia's permanent representative to the EU. From 2016 to 2020, he was the head of the EU delegation in Montenegro, and from 2012 to 2016, he was the head of the EU delegation in North Macedonia. He has served as an ambassador in Lebanon, Azerbaijan (with residence in Turkey), Turkey, political director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, ambassador to North Macedonia (with residence in Poland, Estonia, and Turkey), ambassador to Bulgaria (with residence in Poland), ambassador to Romania (with residence in Poland), ambassador to Poland, director of the Department (security policy and international organizations) in the Political Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, first secretary (NATO, WEU) in the Political Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, first secretary of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Estonia to the OSCE in Vienna, second secretary (OSCE) in the Political Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, and a teacher at Gymnasium No. 1 "Education and Training Kuressaare".

Languages

He graduated from the University of Tartu, Faculty of Physics and Chemistry. He speaks English, Russian, French, and Bulgarian. He is married and has three children.