He holds a Doctorate in Law from the University of Bonn and joined the German Foreign Office in 1988. Since then, he has worked at the Consulate General St. Petersburg (1990), was Political Desk Officer for Russia at the German Foreign Office (1992), and held positions at the Permanent Representation to the United Nations, New York (1996), and the International Law Division in Bonn (1999). He became Deputy Head of Division for EU Policy and Institutional Issues in 2000, followed by the position of Deputy Director of the Private Office of NATO Secretary General in 2003. He was appointed Head of Division for Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and Eastern Partnership in 2007. After that, he became Ambassador in Pristina (2011), followed by the position of the Foreign Office Special Envoy for South-Eastern Europe, Turkey and the EFTA States (2013). Before his assignment in Athens, he was Ambassador in Kyiv (2016-2019). Ernst Reichel was born in 1960 in Lagos, Nigeria; he is married and has two daughters.