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Erik Høeg, Head of the EU Monitoring Mission, completes his work in Georgia

31.12.2019
Today, Erik Høeg formally ended his tenure as Head of the EU Monitoring Mission (EUMM) in Georgia - a position he held from December 2017, having previously been Acting Head of Mission since September of the same year. Prior to this, from April 2015, Mr. Høeg served as Deputy Head of the Mission for 2 and 1/2 years.

Before joining EUMM, Mr. Høeg worked for 16 years in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, both in bilateral and multilateral diplomacy. He held management positions in Copenhagen and at missions abroad.

During his time as Head of Mission, Mr. Høeg co-facilitated the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) in Ergneti together with the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the South Caucasus. He also participated in Gali’s IPRM meetings. Mr. Høeg attended the Geneva International Discussions (GID) - as other HoMs before him - providing the EUMM assessment of the security situation on the ground to participants.

Before leaving the Mission, Erik Høeg held a number of farewell talks with ministers and high officials - including the Minister for Internal Affairs, the Head of the State Security Services of Georgia, the State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality and the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Georgian interlocutors expressed gratitude for the role of the Mission in maintaining stability on the ground under the leadership of Mr. Høeg. 

On his last day in EUMM Mr. Høeg offered the following statement: 

“It has been a privilege to lead EUMM Georgia. The Mission promotes security on the ground. The importance of its monitoring, reporting and mediation efforts is undisputed. This is also reflected in the support provided by EU member states. As of today, EUMM is the first CSDP Mission ever to include staff from all 28 EU nations. EUMM is presently increasing its staff and developing its monitoring approach to handle a more challenging security environment at the Administrative Boundary Lines. I am confident that EUMM, with its committed and highly professional staff, will remain efficient in promoting regional stability". 

Mr. Høeg assumes a new role as Ambassador of Denmark in the Republic of Colombia from January 2020. 

Ms. Kate Fearon will be Acting Head of Mission until a new Head of Mission is deployed to EUMM Georgia. 


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