Bridget A. Brink

Last updated

Bridget A. Brink's voice
Brink's opening statement at her confirmation hearing to be United States ambassador to Ukraine
Recorded May 10, 2022
Bridget Brink
Bridget A. Brink, U.S. Ambassador.jpg
Brink in 2022
United States Ambassador to Ukraine
Assumed office
May 30, 2022

Bridget Ann Brink is an American diplomat serving as the United States Ambassador to Ukraine. In April 2022, she was nominated by President Joe Biden to be the United States ambassador to Ukraine, and presented her credentials in May 2022. She previously served as the United States Ambassador to Slovakia from August 20, 2019, until May 18, 2022.

Contents

Early life and education

Brink is a native of Michigan, the daughter of John and Gwen Brink. [1] She graduated from East Grand Rapids High School in 1987. [2] 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. [3]

Career

After joining the United States Department of State in 1996, Brink 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, and 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.

From 2008 to 2009, Brink served as the deputy director for southern European affairs at the U.S. Department of State. She then joined the United States National Security Council and from 2009 to 2010, she served 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, Brink 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. [3] In 2018, Foreign Policy reported that Brink was slated to be nominated as the US ambassador to Georgia, but the Georgian Dream government rebuffed her due to her alleged predisposition toward former Georgian President and then-opposition leader Mikheil Saakashvili. [4]

U.S. ambassador to Slovakia

President Donald Trump nominated Brink to become the ambassador to Slovakia. [5] 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. [6]

Brink presented her credentials to President Zuzana Čaputová on August 20, 2019. [7]

U.S. ambassador to Ukraine

Brink with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in May 2022 Secretary Blinken Meets with Ambassador Brink (52087359130).jpg
Brink with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in May 2022
Brink with Prosecutor General of Ukraine Iryna Venediktova in Borodianka in June 2022 Ambassador Brink visited Borodyanka, Ukraine, June 4, 2022 (52135974634).jpg
Brink with Prosecutor General of Ukraine Iryna Venediktova in Borodianka in June 2022

In February 2022, it was reported that President Joe Biden would nominate Brink as the United States ambassador to Ukraine. [8] On April 25, 2022, Brink was nominated to serve in that position. [9] Hearings took place on May 10, 2022, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. [10] On May 18, 2022, the committee reported her favorably to the Senate floor. Her nomination process was fast-tracked and she was unanimously confirmed by the entire Senate via voice vote later that day. [11] She presented her credentials on May 30, 2022, and took office during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. [12]

Russian invasion of Ukraine

Brink has supported Ukraine throughout the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On July 22, Brink stated that the United States would continue to "support Ukraine for as long as it takes." She made these statements after the White House announced they would send $270 million for military assistance to Ukraine. [13] On July 26, she met with Jonathan Markovitch, the Chief Rabbi of Kyiv. [14] In December it was reported that she had met with President Zelensky in person to securely coordinate his 9.5 hour visit to Washington, D.C., on December 23. [15]

Personal life

She is the mother of two boys, and her husband, Nicholas Higgins, also works for the U.S. Foreign Service. Brink speaks English, Russian, Serbian, Georgian and French.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John F. Tefft</span> American diplomat

John F. Tefft is an American diplomat who has served as a Foreign Service Officer since 1972. He was the United States Ambassador to Russia between July 31, 2014 and September 28, 2017. He had previously served as the United States' ambassador to Ukraine, Georgia, and Lithuania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philip S. Goldberg</span> American diplomat (born 1956)

Philip Seth Goldberg is an American diplomat and government official who has served as United States ambassador to South Korea since 2022. He served previously as ambassador to the Philippines, Bolivia and Colombia and chief of the U.S. mission in UN-administered Kosovo during the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations. He has served in Washington as assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research. In 2022, he was nominated by President Joe Biden to be the U.S. ambassador to South Korea and was confirmed on May 5, 2022 by the United States Senate through a voice vote.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herro Mustafa</span> Kurdish-American diplomat (born 1973)

Herro Kader Mustafa Garg is an American diplomat who has served as the United States ambassador to Egypt since November 2023. She served as the United States ambassador to Bulgaria from October 2019 to March 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embassy of the United States, Kyiv</span> Diplomatic mission of the US in Ukraine

The Embassy of the United States of America in Kyiv is the diplomatic mission of the United States to Ukraine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claire D. Cronin</span> American politician and diplomat (born 1960)

Claire D. Cronin is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who currently serves as the United States Ambassador to Ireland. She previously served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from the 11th Plymouth district from 2013 to 2022. Cronin was the first woman to serve as House Majority Leader.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane D. Hartley</span> American business executive and diplomat (born 1950)

Jane Dorothy Hartley is an American business executive and diplomat who has served as the United States ambassador to the United Kingdom in the Joe Biden administration since 2022. She served as the United States ambassador to France and Monaco from 2014 until 2017 during the Barack Obama administration. She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linda Thomas-Greenfield</span> American diplomat (born 1952)

Linda Thomas-Greenfield is an American diplomat who serves as the United States ambassador to the United Nations under President Joe Biden. She served as the U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs from 2013 to 2017. Thomas-Greenfield then worked in the private sector as a senior vice president at business strategy firm Albright Stonebridge Group in Washington, D.C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephanie S. Sullivan</span> American diplomat (born 1958)

Stephanie Sanders Sullivan is an American diplomat and the previous ambassador to Ghana. She served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Central African Affairs and Security Affairs for the Bureau of African Affairs from January 2017 to November 2018. She previously served as United States Ambassador to the Republic of the Congo, having been nominated by President Obama on June 13, 2013, confirmed by the Senate on August 1, 2013, and served through January 20, 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia E. Palmer</span> American diplomat (born 1963)

Virginia Evelyn Palmer is an American diplomat who has served as the United States ambassador to Ghana since 2022. Palmer is the former United States ambassador to Malawi. She was nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate, beginning the assignment in January 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynne M. Tracy</span> American diplomat

Lynne M. Tracy is an American diplomat who is the United States ambassador to Russia, serving since January 2023. She formerly served as the United States ambassador to Armenia from 2019 to 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patricia A. Mahoney</span> American diplomat (born 1959)

Patricia Alice Mahoney is an American diplomat serving as the United States Ambassador to the Central African Republic. She previously served as the United States Ambassador to Benin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kristina Kvien</span> American diplomat

Kristina A. Kvien is an American diplomat who has served as United States ambassador to Armenia since February 2023. She previously served as United States chargé d’affaires to Ukraine from May to June 2019 and from January 2020 to May 2022. From June 2019 to January 2020, she was deputy chief of mission at the Embassy of the United States in Kyiv.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George P. Kent</span> American diplomat

George P. Kent is an American diplomat. He is ambassador to Estonia since February 21, 2023. George Kent served as deputy assistant secretary of state for the European and Eurasian Affairs from 2018 to 2021. As a United States Foreign Service officer, his early service has included assignments in the U.S. diplomatic missions to Poland, Thailand and Uzbekistan. In 2004, he was assigned to serve as deputy political counselor in Kyiv, Ukraine, and was deputy chief of mission in Kyiv from 2015 to 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kent D. Logsdon</span> American diplomat

Kent Doyle Logsdon is an American diplomat who has served as the U.S. ambassador to Moldova since February 2022. He previously served as the U.S. chargé d'affaires for Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie D. Fisher</span> American diplomat

Julie D. Fisher is an American diplomat who has served as the United States ambassador to Cyprus since February 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MaryKay Carlson</span> American diplomat

MaryKay Loss Carlson is an American diplomat who has served as the United States ambassador to the Philippines since 2022. She was previously the United States chargé d'affaires in Argentina from 2021 to 2022, after having served as the Deputy Chief of Mission in the country from September 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gautam A. Rana</span> American diplomat

Gautam A. Rana is an American lawyer and diplomat who has served as the United States ambassador to Slovakia since September 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marie C. Damour</span> American diplomat

Marie C. Damour is an American diplomat who is the current Ambassador to Fiji, serving concurrently as the ambassador to Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga, and Tuvalu. She previously served as Consul General of the U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathleen A. Kavalec</span> American diplomat

Kathleen Ann Kavalec is an American diplomat who has served as the United States ambassador to Romania since February 2023. She is a former nominee to be the United States ambassador to Albania under President Donald Trump.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martina A. Strong</span> American diplomat

Martina Anna Tkadlec Strong is an American diplomat who has served as the United States ambassador to the United Arab Emirates since October 4, 2023. She previously served as the de facto United States ambassador to Saudi Arabia from January 20, 2021 until April 16, 2023.

References

  1. ↑ 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,
  2. ↑ "East Grand Rapids native nominated as ambassador to Ukraine". WOODTV.com. April 25, 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  3. 1 2 U.S. Department of State, Biography of Bridget A. Brink, accessed Nov. 5, 2019,
  4. ↑ Gramer, Robbie; Mackinnon, Amy (December 10, 2018). "Georgia Rebuffs U.S. Ambassador Pick as Too Pro-Saakashvili". Foreign Policy. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  5. ↑ Brink Bridget A. – Slovak Republic – April 2019 Certificate of Competency, May 15, 2019,
  6. ↑ "PN520 — Bridget A. Brink — Department of State 116th Congress (2019-2020)". US Congress. May 23, 2019. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  7. ↑ The Slovak Spectator, "Ambassador Brink: A new chapter in our story of freedom" Sept. 12, 2019,
  8. ↑ "Biden expected to name veteran diplomat as Ukraine envoy". AP. February 2022. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
  9. ↑ "President Biden Announces Nominee for Ambassador to Ukraine". The White House. April 25, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
  10. ↑ "PN1999 — Bridget A. Brink — Department of State 117th Congress (2021-2022)". US Congress. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  11. ↑ Andrew Desiderio (May 18, 2022). "Senate unanimously confirms Brink as Ukraine ambassador". POLITICO. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  12. ↑ "New US ambassador to Ukraine arrives in Kyiv in symbolic move". the Guardian. May 30, 2022. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  13. ↑ Yehoshyna, Valeria. "Exclusive: U.S. Ambassador To Ukraine Says Washington Will Support Kyiv 'For As Long As It Takes'". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  14. ↑ "U.S. ambassador to Ukraine meets with chief rabbi of Kyiv". www.ukrinform.net. July 27, 2022. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  15. ↑ Pager, Tyler; Abutaleb, Yasmeen (December 22, 2022). "Deep secrecy, high risk: How Zelensky's improbable D.C. visit came together". The Washington Post . Retrieved December 23, 2022.
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by United States Ambassador to Slovakia
2019–2022		Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Ambassador to Ukraine
2022–present		Incumbent
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.