Her Excellency Dr. Erja Askola started as the Head of the European Union Delegation to Jamaica, Belize and the Bahamas in September 2024.

Ambassador Askola is no stranger to the Caribbean, as she worked several years on the EU’s trade relations with African, Caribbean and Pacific partners and, among others, co-Chaired the CARIFORUM-EU Trade Committee within the Economic Partnership Agreement before taking up her diplomatic postings.

She has solid experience in the European Union’s external relations and diplomacy, from political and trade negotiations to matters relating to sustainable development and disaster relief. In the past few years, Ambassador Askola has developed a specific interest in Small Island Development States (SIDS), as her previous posting as deputy head of the EU Delegation for the Pacific in Fiji covered 13 Pacific Island Countries. Before entering a diplomatic career, she served in various functions in trade, development and competition departments of the European Commission, and worked, among others, as an international business lawyer at an American law firm in Paris.

Dr. Askola holds a PhD in Law from the European University Institute of Florence, Italy, with a semester-long research assignment in New York University. She earned Masters’ degrees from the Sorbonne University of Paris, the Graduate Institute of International Affairs of Geneva, and the University of Helsinki. She speaks Finnish, English, French, Spanish and Italian and has studied German, Swedish and Portuguese as well.