Ambassador Christina Kokkinakis took up her duties as Permanent Representative of the European Union to the OECD and UNESCO on 12 September 2023.

Ms. Kokkinakis joined the Austrian diplomatic service in 1995 and has been active on a range of multilateral as well as bilateral issues. From January 2022 to September 2023, she was Deputy Managing Director Global and Director for Values and Multilateral relations at the European External Action Service (EEAS) on 1 January 2022.

Prior to that assignment Ms. Kokkinakis served as the permanent Representative of Austria to the Political and Security Committee (PSC) of the European Union. From 2017 until 2019 she served as Director for the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) at the Austrian Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs. Before that she worked as Director for the EU Single Market and COREPER I at the Austrian MFA. From 2012 until 2016 Christina Kokkinakis worked for the European External Action Service (EEAS) where she was heading the Political Section – Human Rights at the European Union Delegation to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva.

From 2009 to 2012, she served as Head of Political Section at the Permanent Representation of Austria to the European Union. From 2005 to 2009, Ms. Kokkinakis was the Deputy Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva and Chargée d'affaires a.i. (February 2008 - July 2008) being responsible for delivering on Austria's contribution to the United Nations in terms of human rights, humanitarian affairs, health, labour issues, development and disarmament. Prior to that position Ms. Kokkinakis served as Senior Foreign Policy advisor on UN, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Council of Europe related matters as well as on bilateral relations with a special focus on the Middle East and Latin America to two Austrian Foreign Ministers.
Ms. Kokkinakis has had a variety of other responsibilities with the Austrian Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs, including serving as Deputy Head of Mission at the Austrian Embassy in Prague, Czech Republic (2001-2003). Ms. Kokkinakis has furthermore worked in the Department for United Nations (1997-1998) where she was responsible for the UN's 5th Committee, the Middle East and UN Security Council related matters as well as in the Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Vienna (1996-1997) and in the Permanent Mission to the OSCE. From 1996 to 1997 Ms. Kokkinakis served as Attachée at the Austrian Cultural Forum in London, UK.

Ms. Kokkinakis holds a Master in Internal Relations and a Master in Philosophy from the University of Vienna. She speaks German, Greek, English, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Arabic (basic).