New Head of EU Delegation Luigi Soreca Takes Office on September 1st

(Patria) - Luigi Soreca has been appointed as the European Union Special Representative (EUSR) for Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), succeeding Johann Sattler, whose five-year term ends on August 31, 2024. He will take up his duties on September 1, 2024, with an initial term of two years.

Since the spring of 2022, Mr. Soreca has been the EU Special Envoy for the External Dimension of Migration, working at the European External Action Service in Brussels. Previously, he served as Head of the EU Delegation in Albania from 2018 to 2022.

His mandate will be to ensure continuous progress in the Stabilization and Association Process, aiming for a stable, sustainable, peaceful, multi-ethnic, and united BiH, which will cooperate peacefully with its neighbors on its path to EU membership. He will also support the implementation of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in BiH.

Ambassador Luigi SORECA was appointed by the High Representative-Vice President of the European Commission Josep Borrell in the spring of 2022 as the EU Special Envoy for the External Dimension of Migration, working at the European External Action Service in Brussels.

Between 2018 and 2022, Luigi Soreca was the EU Ambassador, Head of the EU Delegation in Albania. During his tenure in Tirana, the Council of the EU made the historic decision on March 24, 2020, to open accession negotiations with Albania, and on July 19, 2022, the first Intergovernmental Conference was held, opening a new chapter in EU-Albania relations. He also coordinated the EU's on-the-ground response to the tragic earthquake that hit Albania in November 2019.

Between 2014 and 2018, Mr. Soreca served as Director for Security at the European Commission, responsible for combating terrorism and radicalization, organized crime, human trafficking and smuggling of migrants, drug trafficking, corruption, and cybercrime. During his mandate, he had the privilege of coordinating the preparation, adoption, and implementation of the European Agenda on Security in 2015 and the EU's response to the terrorist attacks of 2015-2017 in terms of new legislative and policy initiatives.

During the migration crisis in the summer of 2016, he was appointed as the Commission's Special Envoy for Italy to initiate the process of relocating refugees and migrants and to coordinate the work of the relevant Commission services and EU agencies.

From 2007 to 2013, he was responsible for the international dimension of migration at the European Commission's DG HOME. From this position, he had the privilege of coordinating the launch and implementation of the visa liberalization dialogue with the Western Balkan and Eastern Partnership countries. He also managed the implementation of the Global Approach to Migration and Mobility, including the preparation, negotiation, and implementation of migration and mobility partnerships, including successful conclusions of partnerships with Morocco and Tunisia.

Luigi Soreca joined the European Commission in 1998. He is married and a lawyer by profession, holding a law degree from L.U.I.S.S. University in Rome, Italy.