Stefano Sannino

Mr Stefano Sannino is the Secretary-General of the European External Action Service
(EEAS) of the European Union since 1 January 2021.
He held the post of the Deputy Secretary General for Economic and Global Issues at the
EEAS from April 2020 to December 2021.

From March 2016 to April 2020 he was Ambassador of Italy to Spain and Andorra.
From July 2013 until March 2016 he held the position of Permanent Representative of Italy
to the EU in Brussels.

After a period at the Cabinet of the President of the Commission (from 2002 to 2004) he
joined the Directorate General for External Relations as Director for Crisis Management and
Representative at PSC (2004-2006), then Director for Latin America (2008-2009) and finally
as Deputy Director General for Asia and Latin America (2009-2010). In 2010 he moved to
the Directorate General for Enlargement as Deputy Director General and later as Director
General, a position he held until June 2013.

From 2006 to 2008 he was the Diplomatic Advisor to the Italian Prime Minister and his
Personal Representative to G8 summits.

He has also held the position of Ambassador and Head of the OSCE Mission in Belgrade
from 2001 to 2002 and within the Italian Diplomatic Service: Deputy Head of Mission of the
Italian Embassy in Belgrade (1994-1996), Head of the Secretariat of the Under-Secretary of
State for Foreign Affairs (1996-1998), Diplomatic Advisor and Head of the Cabinet of the
Minister of Foreign Trade (1998-2001).

Mr Sannino is fluent in Spanish, English and French beyond his native Italian.