U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has appointed Robin Dunnigan to oversee the U.S. State Department’s Central and Eastern European policy, which includes Ukraine.
Dunnigan, a career diplomat who previously served as the assistant secretary for energy diplomacy at the U.S. State Department from 2014 to 2017, took the position on Sept. 7, 2021.
She first joined the State Department in 1992, serving at U.S. embassies in Vietnam, Chile, Turkey, Cuba, and El Salvador. In Washington D.C., she had numerous roles, including Director of the Office of Europe, the Western Hemisphere and Africa in the Energy Bureau. She was also a member of the Secretary of State’s staff in the department’s Operations Center.
In 2018, she arrived in Vienna to assume the position of Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Austria.
Her work will shape American policy towards Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
Dunnigan’s energy credentials may prove critical to Ukrainian foreign policy. Dunnigan is known for her criticism of the Russian-German Nord Stream 2 project, which will deprive Ukraine of $1.5 billion annually.
In a speech delivered at a conference in November 2015, Dunnigan asked “Why would you support Ukraine with one hand and strangle it with the other?…”
“Nord Stream 2 actually threatens not only Ukraine’s survivability and their resources, but it is a risk to fuel diversification in Europe,” Dunnigan added.
She has also been critical of China’s growing soft power in Europe, warning the Austrian press that “China has the power to threaten our lifestyle.”
Dunnigan replaces Deputy Assistant Secretary George Kent. The move has taken place as part of routine rotations of staff at the State Department.
