Silvia Kofler
Spokesperson, Head of Press and Public Diplomacy
Delegation of the European Union to the United States

Silvia Kofler is a veteran public diplomat who has worked in some of the most dynamic media centers in Europe, Asia, and North America. 

Currently, she serves as the Spokesperson and Head of Press and Public Diplomacy at the Delegation of the European Union to the United States, where she oversees media relations, public outreach, academic and cultural programs, long-term relationship building initiatives, and information products and services.

Prior to joining the EU Delegation in Washington, Ms. Kofler spent four years leading press, public, and cultural affairs at the European Commission Delegation in Tokyo.  During her time in Japan, she was instrumental in launching an education program that reached more than 50,000 Japanese schoolchildren.

From 2004 until 2006, Ms. Kofler was posted in Brussels, where she streamlined communications efforts regarding EU trade policy.

Ms. Kofler also headed press and information operations at the European Commission Delegation in Moscow, where she was posted from 2000 until 2004.  While in Russia, she helped create a permanent symbol of the links between St. Petersburg and European countries through the establishment of St. Petersburg's "European Walkway," commemorating the city's 300th anniversary.

Ms. Kofler first joined the European Communities in Brussels in 1992, working on development policy issues for EU Council of Ministers before moving to the Council's press office.  From 1994 to 2000, she attended every meeting of both the EU Foreign Ministers and the EU Finance Ministers, giving her unique insight into the workings of the European integration process at ministerial level.

Ms. Kofler launched her career in 1986 in the banking centers of Luxembourg and Milan, where she became an authority on ECU bond markets.  She studied law in Austria (Innsbruck) and Italy (Padua) before earning a degree in international law from the University of Padua.

Ms. Kofler was born into a German-speaking family in the Italian Dolomites and speaks five EU languages fluently. She is also fluent in Russian.