Christian Leffler

Former Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS)

Christian Leffler was born in Göteborg, Sweden, educated at the LSE and the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva Christian Leffler joined the Swedish Foreign Service in 1980. Postings to Cairo and Paris were followed by the Political Affairs Department of the Ministry in Stockholm. In 1991, he moved to Brussels to prepare and participate in Sweden’s accession negotiations with the EU which later opened the door to joining the European Commission in 1996. After various posts in Cabinets and external relations services, he joined the European External Action Service (EEAS), at its establishment in 2011 as the Managing Director for the Americas. He became Deputy Secretary-General for Economic and Global Issues in 2015 and served in this position until his retirement in March 2020.