Riina Kionka (EE) is currently Principal Adviser in the European External Action Service (EEAS), supporting High Representative/Vice President Kaja Kallas with political communications. Before that, Riina Kionka served as EU Ambassador to Pakistan (2022-2025) and to South Africa (2019-2022). She has acquired a deep and broad understanding of diplomacy in her 37 years of professional experience in international affairs. She has served three EU principals (High Representative/Vice-President Kaja Kallas, President of the European Council Donald Tusk, Secretary-General/High Representative Javier Solana); has worked both as a national and EU diplomat; has done so both at home and from postings abroad; and has covered international matters as an academic, journalist and analyst.
Her move to EU delegations came after many years working on foreign policy at EU headquarters in Brussels: she served as Chief Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of the European Council Donald Tusk (2014-2019), led the Central Asia Division at the EEAS (2012-2014), led on Human Rights for the EEAS and earlier at the EU’s Council Secretariat (2007-2012), serving as Secretary General/High Representative Javier Solana’s Personal Representative for Human Rights. Predating this, Riina Kionka deputised for the Director dealing with the United Nations, the Americas, counterterrorism and human rights at the EU Council Secretariat (from 2005-2006).
Before she joined the EU Institutions, Riina Kionka served at the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tallinn as Chief of Policy Planning (1993), then Political Director (1995). Her first external posting was as Estonia’s Ambassador to Germany (2000). In 2004, she returned to the Ministry as Undersecretary for EU Affairs.
Riina Kionka started her working career as a research analyst on Estonian affairs at Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty in Munich, Germany (1989-1993). She earned an MA and Ph.D. in International Relations from Columbia University in New York City and a BA in International Relations and German Literature at Michigan State University.