Lithuanian diplomat appointed as EU’s ambassador to Azerbaijan

“Yes, that is correct,” the Head of Political, Economics and Press and Information Section Denis Daniilidis told BNS in a telephone interview from Baku.

In his words, the European external action service had received a green light from Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry two days ago to appoint Jankauskas as ambassador.

Daniilidis said that the new head of the delegation would take office in September.

The term of current ambassador Malena Mard is expiring in late August.

Jankauskas has been serving at the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry since 1991 and has worked at the Embassy to the United States and the mission to the European Union.

In 2011, the diplomat was appointed as Lithuania’s ambassador to NATO. He has been heading the EU observer mission to Georgia since 2015.

Azerbaijan, which is not a member of the EU, is part of the community’s Eastern Partnership program. Baku is highly interested in closer energy ties with the EU.

Azerbaijan and the EU are currently in talks on a new treaty to define their relations, a document that should replace the 1991 agreement on partnership and cooperation.

Baku would want to approve the document at the EU Eastern Partnership summit in Brussels in November.