Who is Who - Peter Sorensen: Solana's representative as the new EU Envoy for Dialogue?

Peter Sorensen from Denmark, who is expected to be appointed as the EU Special Envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue by the end of January, has more diplomatic experience in the Western Balkans than a political career in his home country. The Dane has served in Pristina, Skopje, Sarajevo, Zagreb, and also stayed in Belgrade as the personal representative of Javier Solana.
Sorensen holds a bachelor's and master's degree in law from the University of Aarhus in Denmark. He started his career as a lawyer and also served as an officer in the Danish army.
He is currently the EU Ambassador to the United Nations Office in Geneva. According to Radio Free Europe, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kalas, has chosen him to succeed Miroslav Lajcak, whose mandate expires on January 31 after five years.
Internationally, Sorensen has an impressive CV. He was an advisor to the United Nations Special Envoy for the Balkans, head of the Political Affairs Department at the OSCE Mission in Croatia, and legal advisor to the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Carl Bildt, as well as the European Community Monitoring Mission in Sarajevo. While working in Geneva, he oversaw a wide range of political issues, including human rights, technology, research, development, health, humanitarian aid, asylum, migration, and economics.
Kosovo is not unfamiliar to Sorensen, as from 2002 to 2006 he served as the deputy head of UNMIK Pillar IV (reconstruction and development) and director of the European Office.
From Pristina, his career took him to Belgrade, where from 2009 to 2011 he was the personal representative of the then EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in Belgrade, Javier Solana.
In March 2011, Sorensen, as Head of the EU Delegation in Skopje, presented his credentials to the President of Macedonia, Gjorge Ivanov.
"I will invest all efforts and capacities to assist your country in its efforts to achieve a perspective in the European Union. Also, let's create the most effective relationships with EU institutions," said the Dane, officially starting his diplomatic mission in Macedonia.
However, he left there with unfinished business, as in September of the same year, he moved to Sarajevo after being appointed as the EU Special Representative and Head of the EU Delegation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Before arriving in Sarajevo, he assessed that "Dayton is a thing of the past" and the agreement was "of those" circumstances, which, as he said, was "necessary."
His first official visit to Banja Luka was marked by a diplomatic scandal. During a meeting with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Srpska, Aleksandar Dzombic, Sorensen requested the removal of the flag of the Republic of Srpska, which Dzombic refused. Consequently, the meeting between the Prime Minister of the Republic of Srpska and the European diplomat was not commemorated with a photograph.
Sorensen said he takes over his new role with the conviction that certain changes are necessary in Bosnia and Herzegovina and that what he intends to do will be "a look into the future, not the past."
He has often stated that Bosnia and Herzegovina and other Western Balkan countries, which have a clear membership perspective, belong to the European Union.
Three years later, at his farewell press conference, Sorensen stated that he was leaving Bosnia and Herzegovina with a sense of regret over missed opportunities.
"We did what we could," Sorensen said, noting that the main responsibility lies with the politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that any new government they establish will face the same problems and tasks.
0 comments