The EU Council appointed, on 8 December, Alexander Rondos as EU special representative to the Horn of Africa. The task of the special representative is to actively contribute to regional and international efforts to achieve lasting peace, security and development in the region comprising Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda. The Council has asked the special representative to initially focus on Somalia and the regional dimensions of the conflict there, as well as on piracy, which has its root causes in the instability of Somalia. Rondos is a Greek diplomat  who has held senior posts in the Greek prime minister’s office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as in the World Bank.