Amb. Juris Poikans

Ambassador Juris Poikāns has served as Ambassador of Latvia to Ukraine since December 2015. He joined Latvian Foreign Service in 1996 as an expert on Russia and Eastern European countries. For the following ten years he covered the region both in Riga and during his postings in Moscow and Minsk. During his career in Latvian Foreign Service he has served as a member of the Policy Planning Group and Deputy Political Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ambassador Poikāns has also served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the Latvian Embassy to the United States, Ambassador of Latvia to Slovenia, non-resident Ambassador of Latvia to Moldova, Bosnia – Herzegovina, and Kosovo. Prior to his posting to Ukraine, Juris Poikāns was Ambassador-at-Large for Eastern Partnership at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As Ambassador-at-Large during the Latvian Presidency of the European Council in 2015 he was in charge of organizing the Fourth Eastern Partnership Summit in Riga.