Bulgarian diplomat Nataliya Apostolova has been appointed as Head of the European Union Border Assistance Mission for the Rafah Crossing Point (EUBAM Rafah) by the European Council and assumed office on 1 November 2023.
She has served over 25 years both in her national diplomatic administration and in the European External Action Service (EEAS).
Just before joining EUBAM Rafah, she concluded her three-year tenure as Head of Mission of EUPOL COPPS, the other EU CSDP Mission based and operational in the Palestinian Territories.
Nataliya Apostolova was holding high level positions in the Bulgarian state administration, including managing the EU accession negotiations of Bulgaria in three main fields – transport, information society and Trans-European networks.
She has been holding diplomatic positions in the Permanent Representation of Bulgaria to Word Trade Organization (WTO), Geneva and in the Permanent Representation of Bulgaria to the EU.
From 2010 until 2020, Nataliya Apostolova served in the EEAS holding senior posts in Egypt (as Deputy Head of the EU Delegation), in Libya (Ambassador/ Head of the EU Delegation in Tripoli), in Kosovo as EU Special Representative (EUSR)/Head of ffice of the EU in Pristina.
Nataliya Apostolova is a law graduate, she has one daughter.
