Bridget A. Brink

Bridget Ann Brink[1] is an American diplomat serving as the United States ambassador to Slovakia. She was appointed by President Donald Trump on May 29, 2019 and presented her credentials August 20, 2019. In April 2022, she was nominated by President Joe Biden as the United States ambassador to Ukraine.

This article is about the American diplomat. For the British diplomat of a similar name, see Bridget Brind.

Bridget Brink
United States Ambassador to Ukraine
Nominee
Assuming office
TBD
PresidentJoe Biden
SucceedingKristina Kvien (Chargé d'affaires)
United States Ambassador to Slovakia
Assumed office
August 20, 2019
PresidentDonald Trump
Joe Biden
Preceded byAdam H. Sterling
Personal details
EducationKenyon College (BA)
London School of Economics (MS)

Early life and education

Brink is a native of Michigan, the daughter of John and Gwen Brink.[2] She graduated from East Grand Rapids High School in 1987.[3] Brink earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Kenyon College and a master's in international relations and political theory from the London School of Economics.[4]

Career

Brink joined the United States Department of State in 1996. She served as a consular political officer in the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade from 1997 to 1999. She then served as a Cyprus desk officer until 2002. She then served as a special assistant for Europe to the under secretary of state for political affairs until 2004. From 2005 to 2008, Brink served as political-economic chief in Tbilisi.

She then became the deputy director for southern European affairs at the U.S. Department of State. She then joined the United States National Security Council as director for the Aegean and South Caucasus, where she helped coordinate U.S. foreign policy and advance U.S. interests with Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. In 2011, she returned to Georgia as deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi.

Brink served as deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from 2014 until August 2015, when she became deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs.[4] In 2018, Foreign Policy reported, quoting unnamed United States officials, that Brink was at that time slated to be nominated as the US ambassador to Georgia, but the Georgian Dream government rebuffed her because of Brink's alleged predisposition toward the former Georgian President and then-the opposition leader Mikheil Saakashvili.[5]

Ambassador to Slovakia

President Donald Trump nominated Brink to become the ambassador to Slovakia.[6] Hearings were held before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on May 16, 2019. The committee favorably reported her nomination to the Senate floor on May 22, 2019. Brink was confirmed by the entire Senate via voice vote on May 23, 2019.[7]

Brink presented her credentials to President Zuzana Čaputová on August 20, 2019.[8]

Ambassadorship to Ukraine

In February 2022, it was reported that President Joe Biden would nominate Brink as the United States ambassador to Ukraine.[9] On April 25, 2022, Brink was nominated to serve in the position.[10] On April 26, 2022, her nomination has been sent to the Senate. Her nomination is pending before the United States Senate Foreign Relation Committee.

Personal life

Brink speaks English, Russian, Serbian, Georgian, and French.

See also

References
  1. "Students discussed current topics with the US Ambassador". University of Economics in Brataslava. November 19, 2019. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  2. U.S. Senate, "Statement of Bridget A. Brink Ambassador-Nominee to the Slovak Republic Senate Foreign Relations Committee Thursday, May 16, 2019", accessed Nov. 5, 2019,
  3. "East Grand Rapids native nominated as ambassador to Ukraine". WOODTV.com. April 25, 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  4. U.S. Department of State, Biography of Bridget A. Brink, accessed Nov. 5, 2019,
  5. Gramer, Robbie; Mackinnon, Amy (December 10, 2018). "Georgia Rebuffs U.S. Ambassador Pick as Too Pro-Saakashvili". Foreign Policy. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  6. Brink Bridget A. – Slovak Republic – April 2019 Certificate of Competency, May 15, 2019,
  7. "PN520 — Bridget A. Brink — Department of State 116th Congress (2019-2020)". US Congress. May 23, 2019. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  8. The Slovak Spectator, "Ambassador Brink: A new chapter in our story of freedom" Sept. 12, 2019,
  9. "Biden expected to name veteran diplomat as Ukraine envoy". AP. February 2022. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
  10. "President Biden Announces Nominee for Ambassador to Ukraine". The White House. April 25, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.