A senior European Union source revealed the appointment of the German Mikhail Ohnmacht as the successor to the Romanian Dan Stoenescu, in the position of chargé d’affaires of the European Union Mission to Syria.
The source told Enab Baladi on Monday, April 29, that Ohnmacht’s selection takes into account that Germany is one of the largest donors to Syria among the EU countries, and that his appointment came as part of the natural periodic changes made by the Union to its envoys.
On April 16, the High Representative of the European Union, President of the European Commission, Josep Borrell, nominated Mikhail Ohnmacht for the job to succeed Dan Stoenescu, during the nomination of 44 heads of delegations, heads of offices, and acting heads of mission on behalf of the European Union worldwide.
Who is Mikhail Ohnmacht?
Born on January 21, 1970, Ohnmacht has worked for decades in the German diplomatic corps, and most recently held the position of German Ambassador to Libya since August 2021.
On April 9, Ohnmacht announced the end of his tenure as ambassador in Libya.
Before that position, he held a number of diplomatic posts in different countries around the world, serving as head of the Middle East department at the Foreign Office in Berlin between 2017 and 2021.
He was deputy head of the German Mission at the German Embassy in Riyadh, between 2013 and 2017, after serving as deputy to the General Secretary of Franco-German Cooperation, and as advisor to the French Minister for European Affairs, and deputy head of mission at the Foreign Ministry in Paris between 2010 and 2013.
Ohnmacht served as deputy head of the European mission in Beirut between 2009 and 2010, after being a political affairs advisor between 2006 and 2009, and before that as an official responsible for state visits and official visits as part of the protocol department, in the German Foreign Ministry between 2003 and 2006.
From 2000 to 2003, he served as head of the Press and Cultural Affairs department, and as a political affairs specialist at the German representation office to the Palestinian Authority in the city of Ramallah.
Replacing Dan Stoenescu
Since September 2021, the Romanian diplomat Dan Stoenescu has been serving as chargé d’affaires of the European Union mission, residing in Beirut.
Stoenescu held the position of Romanian Ambassador to Tunisia between 2017 and 2021, in addition to a number of assignments within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and also served as the Minister Plenipotentiary to the Romanian community abroad between 2015 and 2016.
Academically, he completed postgraduate studies in three continents, and obtained a PhD in Political Science from the University of Bucharest in 2009, his thesis discussed “Contemporary Arab Nationalism and Islamic Identity after 1987”, and he is fluent in seven languages, according to the profile on the official website of the European Union Mission to Syria.
Stoenescu conducted his latest visit to the Syrian capital, Damascus, last March, where he met officials of the missions and United Nations offices in Syria.