NATO continues selection of new Special Representative for Caucasus and Central Asia

The selection process of the NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia is ongoing, Tobias Lorentzson, Ambassador of Sweden to Azrbaijan, who also fulfills the functions of one of the ambassadors of the NATO Contact Point Embassies (CPE) in Baku, said in an interview with Report.

The diplomat voiced hope that the alliance will soon have a new special representative in the South Caucasus region.

"The appointment will be an important opportunity to further strengthen NATO's partnership with Azerbaijan and the wider South Caucasus," Lorentzson added.

Slovakian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Elčin Gasymov also heads the NATO Contact Point Embassy in Baku. He noted that the Alliance is closely watching the current situation in the region.

"NATO welcomes the recent completion of negotiations on the peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and looks forward to the treaty being signed and ratified. This is a significant step forward in the normalisation process and a boon to regional security," Gasymov said.

The position of Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia was established in 2004 following the NATO summit in Istanbul. The representative is responsible for implementing the Alliance"s policy in these strategically important regions, engaging with the governments of partner countries-Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan-and coordinating cooperation programs.

The previous holder of the post, Javier Colomina, received a new appointment in July 2024 as NATO"s Special Representative for the Southern Neighbourhood.

In 2025–2026, the functions of NATO Contact Point Embassies (CPE) in Azerbaijan are carried out by the diplomatic missions of Slovakia and Sweden.

The full version of the interview with the ambassadors is available here.