About the Ambassador
Meet the Ambassador of the EU Delegation to South Africa, Mr Kristian Schmidt.
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CopyrightEU Delegation
Welcome to the European Union Delegation! We hope you find this website to be like an open window, transparently letting in the light to let you see us at work. You may even decide to come knocking on our door!
Navigating this website, you will discover what South Africa and the European Union and our Member States are up to, our agreements, partnerships and common projects.
You will see that South Africa and the European Union share a remarkable partnership that today is stronger than ever – in fact, our partnership is a new model for mutually beneficial partnerships founded on trust and respect. You will discover that our relationship is built on equality and a shared commitment to democracy, human rights, the green transition, multilateralism and respect for international law.
Browsing the links, you will see that our partnership covers all areas: growth, trade and investment; science, technology and innovation; climate change and the just energy transition; infrastructure development on national, regional and global corridors; skills development and job creation; and peace, security and defence.
You will also realise the significant impact of Team Europe in South Africa. The European Union and its Member States are South Africa’s most important trade and investment partner, with balanced trade relations. In South Africa, more than 1,700 European companies directly and indirectly sustain some 2 million jobs. Hundreds of thousands of Europeans and South Africans travel our respective regions each year, and every year some 800 South African students travel to the EU to study at European universities.
You will finally get to know the European Union better, and the debates and choices facing Europeans and our wider place and partnerships in the world. In doing so, you will realise that we share the same challenges. With cooperation and faith in humanity, we shall overcome them together.
So Welcome!
It is a great honour to take up this post, and to be back in Africa – a continent I cherish and respect. I will work relentlessly to further strengthen our ties and build a relationship of trust, reliability and friendship between the European Union and the Republic and peoples of South Africa. Please join the journey!
Biography
H.E. Kristian Schmidt is the Ambassador-Designate of the European Union to South Africa as of 1 September 2026.
His diplomatic career, initiated at the Danish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, includes postings at the UN New York (1997-1999) as well as EU Ambassador to Uganda (2013-2017) and EU Ambassador to Myanmar (2017-2020).
As a Senior Official of the European Commission, he served as Deputy Head of Cabinet to Vice-President Siim Kallas (2004-2010) and as Deputy Head of Cabinet to EU Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Poul Nielson (1999-2004). From 2010 to 2013, he was the Director for Human and Society Development at the Directorate-General for International Development Cooperation. From 2021 to 2026, he was the Director in charge of Land Transport at the Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport.
Ambassador-Designate H.E. Kristian Schmidt holds a master's degree in economics from the University of Copenhagen, a bachelor's degree in economics from the Université d’Aix-en-Provence and a master's degree in international relations with distinction from the University of Cambridge. He also studied at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris and Università di Bologna.