Roland Kobia (BE) is the Ambassador of the European Union to Ethiopia (2021-2024). Before that, he was the EU Special Envoy for Afghanistan (2017-21). He was elected by the 145 EU Ambassadors as their representative as President of the EU Ambassadors' Office.
Before that, he was the EU Special Envoy for Afghanistan (2017-21), EU Ambassador to Myanmar/Burma (2013-2017) and EU Ambassador to Azerbaijan (2009-2013). He was also Diplomatic Advisor in the office of the European Commissioner for Energy (2006-2009). He is a member of the European External Action Service (EEAS) Mediation Team, and was shortlisted by the UNSG, Antonio Guterres, to be UN Special Envoy for Myanmar.
Roland Kobia previously served as Deputy Head of Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (2000-2003), and Head of Regional Political Affairs in Kenya (2003-2006), covering political processes in 12 countries in the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes. He was EU negotiator for the accession of seven countries to the European Union (1991-2000), as well as EU negotiator at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva (1996-1998). He spent 10 years in the Directorates-General for Competition (DG COMP) and the Internal Market (DG MARKT) at the European Commission.
Roland Kobia holds a Master in European Politics from the College of Europe in Bruges and a Master in International Nuclear Law from the University of Montpellier 1, as well as a Law degree from the Université catholique de Louvain. He was a visiting professor at the University of Montpellier 1 and a lecturer at various universities and institutes. He continues to regularly publish academic articles in various international journals. He was offered a Fellowship by Harvard University, Boston.